Sunday March 1 Antigua to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

A terrible ride this morning, that kept getting better and better all the way to Quetzaltenango. On a recomendation from one of my hostel roommates who had been in Antigua 3 months, I went to a really nice and surprisingly inexpensive breakfast place, situated in the courtyard of a hotel in a 500 year old building. A plate of eggs and beans with an english muffin and some more of that amazing café (con leché) ran me a whopping 25Q, about $3.

It was cold and overcast when I left, and as I headed up the road into the high mountain passes, it got cold, overcast, and wet. One of my big frustrations with riding in this part of the world is the buses, trucks, and older cars, but most specifically the old school-bus style ¨chicken buses¨ that are all painted up and will stop just about anywhere. They belch out giant clouds of black smoke and, unlike most of the trucks, their exhaust pipes are about 2 feet from the ground. They go very slowly when I want to go fast, and they go whizzing by when I need to slow down on slippery curves or gravel stretches.

There's a huge, multi-lane, well marked highway from Antigua to Xela - that is currently being built. Today I had the pleasure of driving all along this massive construction site, with long stretches of a gravel, dirt, and/or mud, and with very thin lanes.

As I went along, the road improved, and so did the weather. At this point I realized how beautiful this part of the country is, with its mountains, volcanoes, and alpine towns. Xela is one of the largest of these towns, and shares the same scenery of towering volcanoes that peak well over 10,000 ft. Although not quite as old as Antigua, many of the streets are cobblestone, and the architecture is the same, with everything gated off the street, and the world's narrowest sidewalks.

After learning much about the geography and street layout of the town, I finally found the house of the director of ICA Spanish School who, ironically, speaks very little english. He was very good at making himself clear and understood, and repeated things as many times as I needed. I left Big Mama at his house, probably not to be ridden much in the next couple weeks.

After meeting my family who I will be living and eating with, I went out with some of the other students, who had all been here for a very long time, 8 weeks and more. Apparently, which I've heard from other sources as well, these spanish schools don't work so well if you're hanging out every night speaking English with your friends - it's best to be out in the city, talking to locals and doing things with your family.

It feels a little strange to be at a sort of destination, not to be riding for a little while, but this is also a bit of a relief too - riding hundreds of miles a day is difficult, tiresome, and risky. I'll have a while to stay here and decide what to do next, but there probably won't be too many blog articles coming out. It will probably continue when I get back on the road (or if something really crazy happens, or if I get a digital camera and want to post pictures).