Wonderful Tikal

My days in Guatemala were counted and I really didn't have much time, enough time. There are just too many things to see in this wonderful country and I didn't like the way how I had to rush through to see at least some.
I moved around on shuttles most of the time, usually I hate shuttles, because they are more expensive and you miss a lot of the essential experience of the country you travel in, but I wanted to get from one place to the other as fast as possible so I had no choice. This next transport I took went from Semuc to Flores, a small town on an island in Peten, the most northern province of the country from where I was going to visit the legendary Maya ruins of Tikal. The trip took about eight hours but I shared the bus with a lot of people I knew from the hostel and former shared shuttles which made the trip more fun, even though it was still very exhausting. I also met new people with whom I shared a dorm in Flores and who wanted to join me for my Tikal trip the next day.
I had to say goodbye to Thalida and Elisa that night, who were on their way to Belize and didn't have time for the ruins. The time we shared together was a lot of fun and I am very happy that I met them, they made my long shuttle rides feel a lot shorter than they were and good company in Semuc.
My new travel mates for the next days were Brenda from Argentina and Garrett from the US, both wonderful people who brought me back to buying my own food and preparing lunches and so on, which was a lot cheaper and also more fun.
We got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to get the first shuttle to the ruins so that we could enjoy them without the crowds but that seemed to be a common thing and our shuttle there was already full with people. It wasn't all too bad though because the park is huge and we roamed it all by ourselves without seeing very many people. The bus to the park took about an hour and the entrance fee was 150 Q (about 20$) which is very expensive for Guatemalan standards but it was an official ticket and definitely worth the money in the end.
It was quite cold in the morning and foggy and it only cleared up when we left the park in the afternoon but it was good that way because when the sun did come out it was almost unbearably hot. Unfortunately it concealed the views from the top of the big temples but you can't have everything, can you?
The park was amazing! We decided against hiring a guide and walked the trail the opposite way than most people do to avoid the crowds and save the best part, the central plaza for the end. The whole area is so incredibly big, I think it was something about 16 sq km, and there are temples and ruins everywhere, some uncovered but some also still underneath a big pile of jungle. The Maya seemed to have built a new set of temples every 20 years to celebrate the end of a ka'tun and leave the old ones where they were which meant that there were a lot of simple temple complexes with two medium sized pyramids facing east to west and two altars in the north and the south, all over the place.
Temple IV seemed very unspectacular at first before we looked up over the tree tops and found the tip of the temple high above us in the clouds. It is the highest building (I think it was 64m) in Tikal and the lower half is still covered with vegetation  but you can climb it and the views from the top are amazing, even on a cloudy day.

The view from temple IV

It was incredible to walk through those grounds and see the huge temples and structures, some of which the Maya had built over 2000 years ago, and still be in the middle of the jungle, almost by yourself. We saw monkeys and bush turkeys, a capybara and hundreds of birds and for long periods of time we didn't see any other humans at all.
We saw the plaza of the seven temples, the lost world (the place with pyramids from a much earlier period, the pre-classic, around 700 BC), the big temple of the south and of course the main plaza with it the massive acropolis and the beautiful and world famous temple of the jaguar.
The main plaza is really beautiful and the views from the high temple are breathtaking. You can see other structures poke out of the surrounding canopy, the temple of the jaguar in its full glory and the plaza where in Tikal's prime more than 100 000 people gathered for celebrations.

Year of construction: 700 BC

Temple V

The temple of the jaguar and the north acropolis on the left

Temple of the jaguar

A picture of me 2000 years ago...

The north acropolis

Brenda, Garrett and I were reading our way through most of the information and I think a guide would have been helpful to understand more of the things we saw but we loved it to be on our own and roam the grounds how we wanted to. Our little group was in great harmony, sometimes slow, sometimes a bit faster we got around the whole park in about 8 hours and I am very happy, that I had those two with me that day. It was very special.
Tired but very happy we left the site at three with the shuttle. We stopped in Santa Elena, a town only separated from Flores by the lake, to get food and organize our next steps. Brenda was going west, Garrett east and I was heading south the following day. It was more than 12 hours after we had left, that we arrived back at our hostel, my legs aching and my head full of those beautiful images I was lucky enough to see.
I am very glad that I decided to come here after all and that I had this great day with those wonderful friends, even though that meant not getting much sleep and being on buses for more than 18 hours.

Semuc Champey

I decided to take a shuttle to my next destination because it was somewhere in the nowhere that is the center of Guatemala and even the shuttle took eight hours to get there not to speak of public buses with transfers and heaps of crazy people packed around me. Max helped me to find a 'cheap' company and it turned out to be a real advantage to speak Spanish, not only because you understand what everyone is talking about but also because it is a lot faster.
Of course the bus was late but that gave me enough time to wake up and prepare mentally for the tour. I was the first one to get on the bus and we picked up six other people, four of who were German, before we finally left Antigua. The ride was terribly long and the seats were very uncomfortable and didn't have any headrests which made it even worse but I enjoyed the company of my fellow travellers a lot and we tried to make the best out of it.
Everything in my body was hurting when we finally arrived in Lanquin, after over an hour on an offroad track without suspensions, at my hostel, the Zephyr Lodge. It was a beautiful place on top of a hill with a 360° view on the surrounding fields and mountains, an open air bar and common area and a very friendly vibe. I checked in together with Thalida and Elisa, two German girls from the bus with whom I got along well. The dorms were packed and there was hardly any space to put my bag but I didn't spend a lot of time in there anyways.
I was still not feeling very well and really exhausted from the long trip so I went to bed early and tried to sleep while the party outside was just getting started.
I had put my name down for the legendary "candle-cave" and Semuc Champey tour, however when I woke up the next day I was told that there were not enough people and that they wouldn't do it. I was very disappointed because that was why I had come here in the first place but Thalida and Elisa were doing a tour as well but with a travel agent from town and so I joined them because I didn't have enough time to wait one day. I didn't end up going with the two girls but I still had a great group and we had a lot of fun together.
We were picked up by a pick-up truck and driven down to Semuc Champey all cramped on the back. The drive was almost an hour long and I was happy to be there when we arrived at the entrance to the caves. Everyone changed into their swimmers and we followed our guide Carlos (he liked to call himself Santana) to a big swing over the river. I was the first to go because I was keen to do it, I had worked my way to the front with pushing and shoving, but I think that most people appreciated that someone was willing to test how safe the thing actually was.
It was safe. And great fun! The trick was to let go at the very last moment to get almost 5 meters into the air and then pray for a good landing. My second time I tried a back flip-sort-of-thing which went wrong and I only turned halfway and landed on my face but I wasn't the worst. People were hitting the surface in every thinkable way and some of them looked very painful.
After everyone was happy we went back to the "camp" where we got a small candle in our hand each and walked to the cave. We got a short introduction and were sent into the cave with lit candles and our guide at our tail. It was almost spooky at first but the deeper we entered the cave and the more we waded, climbed and swam, the better it got. Sometimes you had to put the candle between your teeth and climb up a narrow ladder underneath a small waterfall with the water pounding on your back or even the tallest of us lost the ground underneath their feet and had to swim, one armed, through the darkness. At the end we got to a place where we could jump off a narrow and slippery ledge into a whole that wasn't very wide at all before we turned around and went back the way we came from.
It was an incredible feeling to be in that cave without any other light than that of our candles and swim through pitch black water. I loved the tour and was very happy that I had decided to spend the money on it. And it wasn't quite over yet.
We tubed down the river for a while which was relaxing but not very exiting and got a little bit cold after a while before we crossed the river and had lunch. After the lunch break we entered the national park of Semuc Champey and hiked up to the view point "El Mirador" from where we could see the amazing limestone pools from high above. It was an incredible sensation to step out on to the platform and look down to see this natural wonder and I don't think that I can describe what I saw so I'll just leave that part to the pictures.

The pools from above

This is the river flowing in underneath the pools

I departed from the group a little and followed the path down to the pools where I saw, that the majority of the rivers water actually went through underneath the pools. It was a powerful rapid that would kill anyone who jumped or fell into it and stood in such a contrast to the tranquil pools that were lying there in quietness and a light peaceful turquoise. I walked further down to the top most pool where I undressed and dived into the beautiful clear water. The water cascaded down from pool to pool and you could jump and slide down little waterfalls into the next basin. We spent over an hour swimming, jumping and sliding and until the end I found it hard to believe this perfect beauty that was pure nature.
It wasn't warm at all though and we packed our stuff together and left when the first fingers and lips turned purple. On the way back I bought a piece of locally made chocolate which had a very interesting taste, not particularly good or bad, and huddled together with everyone else on the back of the pick-up truck that took us home.
I got off at another hostel where some people from my group were staying who had invited me to join them in their sauna. It was a tiny little room with a fire place outside that heated up quite well and it was right at the river which was nice to cool down in. I stayed there until I felt warm enough and walked back to my hostel to get some food where I met up with Elisa and Thalida again who had just come back from their trip as well. We had a lot of fun that night and met a lot of great people, I learned a new game, and had three lovely wood oven pizzas. To round of this almost perfect day one of the hostel staff, who had been a chef somewhere, came out of the kitchen with a tray of the best brownies I have ever tasted. It was like biting into pure soft and airy chocolate with big chunks of more chocolate in it. Amazing!
It had been a good day with a lot of fun with new and old friends, a lot of adventure and great food at the end of it. What could you possibly want more...

Max

Only two days after I had left La Antigua my cousin Lennart told me that my good friend Max was there at the moment, volunteering and traveling through Central America. What a surprise... He had been there for a while and I was there too but had no idea that he was there. We even were in the same town at the same time but didn't meet. I contacted him and we agreed to meet in Antigua on Thursday which was also on my way to the north of the country.
Before that I went back to Helga and the kids who I was missing a lot and who had asked whether I wanted to come back for another day or two. I took the boat back in the afternoon and surprised the kids (Helga hadn't told them that I was coming back) when they came back from school. It was nice to see them again and we played around, walked the dog and went out and had an ice cream together. The next day we had to say goodbye again but it was a happy goodbye. I had lunch with Juan and Olga and took off around noon to get to Antigua.
I got a ride from a nice Guatemalan lady, Mary, who had been visiting a German friend at the lake who hooked us up, which I was very thankful for because it spared me from a 3 hour ride on a chicken bus. She dropped me off at the parque central the meeting point Max and I had agreed on at 5pm but I had a look for a hostel first to get rid of my bags. I ended up staying in the same place I had stayed before, even though I didn't really like the place due to the staff that didn't seem to like me very much either (I think because I didn't drink and buy them drinks...), because they had breakfast included and it was a very good breakfast...
30 minutes later I walked back to the park but failed to find Max. He was a bit late himself and when he came to the park, he found me (funny enough) listening to a wind ensemble that was playing nearby. Max and I who had been playing together in a similar ensemble for about 4 years met, in Guatemala, in a park full of people in that spot... Life certainly is comical.
It was great to catch up with Max. He was living with a local woman and had taken a month of intense Spanish lessons which made him a good Spanish speaker to my untrained ears (he said he was still really bad), he was teaching stuff like English and maths in a local Mayan school and when he had enough time he went for weekend trips to cool places in Guatemala. His stay was coming to its end and he was done with his teaching job so he had a lot of time and he was going to Cuba for a week after the weekend. We went to his place where he ate before we went over to a German friend from Hamburg, Kati, who was doing a similar thing there. We drunk cheap rum(2.60Euro), talked about Germany and I listened to them go on about all those foreigners (mainly Germans) coming to Antigua and making it impossible to learn decent Spanish. Later at night we went to a Salsa bar in town that had live music and was packed with people. It was good fun and I was quite buzzed, for the first time in Central America, when we were kicked out by the security when they closed at 1 o'clock. Max took me back to my hostel where I fell into my very uncomfortable bed for a long and (seemingly) never ending roller coaster ride...
The next morning was hell! I woke up feeling sick and I spent most of the following 5 hours running between my bed and the toilet. I don't know if it was the alcohol (diarrhea rum how Max called it) or because of a bug that I had caught because I hadn't been very careful about what I ate but what I know is that I don't want to experience something like that again. I won't go into all the details (even though I know that some of you are waiting for exactly that... :)) but it was bad!
The whole thing was accompanied by a nasty headache and wobbly knees but I couldn't let Max down when he came for the third or fourth time that day to pick me up. We went for a slow walk and the air and the movement did me good because I felt so much better, that we could even go to the market where the smells, good, bad and neutral alike are very strong.
I somehow made it through the rest of the day feeling better and better as time went. We bought a movie and watched it with Kati (ironically it was about being sick) and had a quiet night. I hung out with Max for one more day and we had a great time. He is such a cool person to hang out with and it was so much fun that I met him so far away from home and he could show me around his Antigua for a few days. He is one of those friends to me that I don't hang out with very often but when we do, we have the best time and get along really well. I hope that I can see him more often when I get back to Germany because he is a very good friend!

Jaibalito

I didn't really like Panajachel as a town, it was loud, dusty and smelly and I hoped that I would find some peace in one of the smaller towns around the lake. I picked out two that looked quiet and went with the cheaper option, the "Posada Jaibalito" which was owned by a German guy who baked his own bread. Very curious about the last I boarded a boat from one of the docks at around noon which took me to Jaibalito. As I stood on the pier where the boat had dropped me off and the sound of it's motor disappeared towards San Pedro La Laguna it seemed to be completely quiet for a second. I breathed cleaner air, I had as much time I wanted and I felt good! For the first time back on the road it felt like I had found what I was looking for, not because I didn't like the earlier stages but because for the first time I could really kick back, relax and see what the day would bring for me.
The "Posada Jaibalito" is a small hostel not far away from the lake with a few shared rooms, hammocks in a nice chilled atmosphere. The trees give a lot of shade which makes the place seem colder than others which is nice during the day but can get a bit chilly in the evenings. I checked in and had a late breakfast (traditional Guatemalan with eggs, rice, beans and cheese) that came with a slice of good looking bread. The bread really was amazing, probably the best I had tasted in months, even though it was simple without too much trara.
I did nothing for a while before I wrote a bit on my blog and continued to do nothing. Isn't life wonderful? Rune, my Norwegian room mate showed up sometime in the afternoon, he was a very interesting guy, and we had a nice conversation, dinner and a beer together.
I woke up early the next day to do Yoga and meditate, Rune did that every day, but I had a hard time getting up so I only joined him for the meditation. We chose a spot right at the lake that had amazing views and he told me what to do. I don't know if I did it right or if what I did deserves to be called meditating but to focus the mind and try to forget about everything that is around you was a nice way to start into the day. My attempt was interrupted by a young dog jumping on my back, playfully trying to bite my head but Rune also had to leave and it was a lot harder to do by myself.
I went for a hike to the next town, Santa Cruz La Laguna, and beyond until the trail stopped halfway up a headland and left me no choice but to turn around. The trail wound along the edge of the lake passing beautiful properties and revealing scenic views of the lake and its surroundings.

Since I have no photographs that I took myself to show you I will try to draw you a mental picture of what I saw: standing on a hill, maybe 30 meters above the water the lake spread out underneath me, gleaming and glittering in the sunlight. It is big enough that I have to turn my head to see from one end to the other and still some corners and pockets are hidden behind headlands and hills. Three volcano peaks (actually it is only two, the "Atitlan" and the "Toliman" which has two peaks)line up perfectly across from me in a straight line looking almost the same and a smaller uprising closer to the lake, the "Cerro de Oro" that looks exactly like the "snake that swallowed an elephant" from the story "The Little Prince". Further to the right another volcano rises close to the shore, its shape forming a perfect triangle, at its foot the village of San Pedro la Laguna which shares its name with the mountain. All around the lake it is easy to spot the small villages and cities, white dots on the line that separates lake and highland and where there is no village the surrounding hills come down to meet the lake. It is a clear day, only a few clods crib the perfectly blue sky but close to the water a refreshing wind blows without which it would be too hot for a hike. It is a majestic view from where I stand, simple beauty in its pure form and I almost feel something like sadness that I can't share this moment with someone else.
The rest of my day went by like the last one had ended, with good food and company and loud 'gospel' music from one of the six different churches in town. I really enjoyed the quiet time that I had in Jaibalito where I discovered just a tiny bit more of myself and found the peace that I needed to fully recover from the trip here and settle back in into the backpacking life.

My Guatemalan family

Helga, the mother of the CS family had given me directions to their house and I found it after some looking, in a slightly nicer area, near the market. She had stayed home to welcome me and showed me to my room and around the house which surprisingly reminded me a lot of a German row home. Helga was trying to get some work done and I lay down for a nice siesta before the kids came home from school. Juan Miguel, the boy and the middle child, and I got of to a very good start playing Hacky Sack and talking about football. The two girls, Maria-Sarah and Olga, were a bit more quiet but very sweet once I got to know them a bit better. All of them were growing up speaking three languages, Spanish, German and English and were learning the Mayan language at school. Helga is a real power woman who manages her work as a psychologist and English teacher and is involved in community work next to being a great mom to her three kids, her two cats and her big dog.
I played a lot outside with the kids, teaching them how to hack the sack or just kicking football around. They invited me to share their meals, which is not at all to be taken for granted and I was involved in their family life right from the start. I walked the dog Lobo with Helga who was a very pleasant conversational partner, helped the kids clean the dishes after a meal and looked after them when Helga was at work. It was a great experience and I am really glad, that I met this wonderful family that reminded me a bit of my own a few years ago.
I went for a first swim in the lake which was refreshing but not as nice as I had thought because the water was quite polluted and I had to was it of under a shower back home. My bank gave me a headache and didn't let me withdraw money from my German card which was very annoying because the Australian bank charges me a lot more and I don't even know, what the problem was and I still haven't solved it...
I walked around town a lot, having a look at all the different vendors and bars that are far too many for the number of tourists passing through because the prime time of Panajachel is long over. It is almost sad to see all those colorful and nice looking places go down, seizing away with the tourism and the numbers of tourists in this area.
I made a veggie quiche on Saturday night and once again I was surprised by the low prices for produce in this country. I bought 3 big carrots, 2 zucchinis, spinach, 2 red peppers and a head of broccoli for about 1.50$ at the local market and each of them tasted better than the ones you buy in the supermarket! Helga had invited another German friend over to play some Skat which made me very happy because I hadn't played in a long time and it was one of my favorite games back in Germany. Unfortunately I had a bad day and lost to both of them by at least a hundred points...
On Sunday morning I joined Helga on a walk to Santa Catarina, a village about 4 km away. It was a nice little walk on the road along the lake offering great views onto the lake and it's surrounding volcanoes and villages. The highlight of the trip was a house on a cliff right above the lake that had a balcony extending out over the lake with a breathtaking view. We stood there for a while and I realized that this was when I actually fell in love with the lake. I had read a lot about it and that people had called it "heaven" and "one of the most beautiful places in the world" but I hadn't quite seen the beauty for myself. I have been to a few truly beautiful places and this was nice but not quite in the same league. Standing on top of that cliff overlooking the lake and it's surroundings everything changed for me. It was beautiful and majestic and it was only now that I could comprehend what the people I quoted before had meant.
We had very nice breakfast, delicious french toast made by Olga and my first coffee since I left the US, and a relaxing Sunday. In the later afternoon we visited a friend's dog and I went for another swim in the lake with Juan and when it got dark we played hide and seek outside.
I left them on Monday, one day later than I had planned, and I was sad to leave this beautiful family already because they had been so kind to me and offered me a wonderful time. Even the kids attempt to adopt me as an older brother didn't work (we were unsure about the legal issues) and so I had to say goodbye already but I was invited back whenever I was around in the area and I might even see them some time in Germany. Hopefully!

First steps

After a long and well earned sleep in a comfortable bed I had breakfast with Ancer and Katalina, packed my stuff together and followed Ancer a few blocks down the road to the next bus stop. He invited me to come back to his place when I was back in Guatemala City to pick up my check and showed me to the right bus.

I took one of the famous so called "chicken buses", old US school buses, that were very colorfully painted and decorated and by far the cheapest way to get around Central America. But the low price has a reason: Those buses get filled up until there is literally no space left at all and you have to share your seat with at least three other people and the drivers go nuts on the narrow and bendy roads. Most of the luggage gets  thrown on top of the roof where it sits during the hell ride without being tied down or secured at all. It definitely isn't something for the faint hearted or for someone who doesn't like to come close to other people (you are cuddling with strangers all the time) or expects some comfort but it is authentic, a real experience and quite amusing once you get over the being sat on.
The first bus I took wasn't even very full and the one hour ride to La Antigua Guatemala cost me just over 1$. I got off somewhere where I thought that it was Antigua (I was lucky that it actually was Antigua because there were no signs, it just felt right to get off) and started walking in the direction of the "Parque Central". I checked in at the "El gato negro" hostel close to the town center where I shared a dorm with a Norwegian and an American. I had been walking around with my backpacks for quite a bit  and that makes really hungry so I went to the market to get some fresh fruit. I scored 5 medium sized Mangoes for about 60 cents and feasted over them back at the hostel. The belly full with delicious and healthy fruits it was time for a siesta before I took off for a walk through town. Antigua was the old Spanish capital of Guatemala and it's beautiful houses and churches line the narrow streets and are overlooked by two majestic volcanoes in the south. The town is laid out in a logical grid system (like every planned city) with straight roads but it wasn't logical to me and every corner looked exactly the same to me and the fact that I couldn't find any street names made it very hard for me to to find my way around without loosing my orientation.
The Norwegian guy, Torbjorn and Nic, a girl from New Zealand joined me for dinner at a place that sold yummy mediteranian style like food. It felt good to be together with other travelers again, to share stories and give advice to one another. On our way back we stopped at a local bar for a Mojito from a nice English bar tender and heard a story from a guy who had been robbed that day, trying to climb one of the volcanoes on his own.
I had decided to leave the next day because, even though Anligua was pretty, I was looking for something different. A family from Panajachel on the shores of lake Atitlan had replied to my open couch request and invited me to stay with them for a couple of nights. The mother was from Germany and looking for someone who would speak German with her kids. I had been wanting to speak some German for quite a while (I felt that it was slipping my mind a little) so I accepted the invite gladly.
After a huge breakfast with Nic and Torblorn the latter joined me for the bus ride to the lake. We had to take a combination of different chicken buses and I was glad to have someone with me after all the stories and articles about robberies and kidnapping on public buses that people had sent me... We had to transfer three times and this time the buses were packed with locals but we made it in about three hours. Unfortunately I didn't look after my bag well enough and had my camera stolen out of the pocket. I only noticed it too late and I was really bummed about it. The camera had still been quite new and I had fallen in love with it, especially with the underwater mode. That explains the lack of pictures in this and the coming blog entries but I'll try to get some of other travelers  and the internet.

From Devils and Angels

It was my first day of traveling again after almost 2 months when bad luck hit me with what seemed to be all its might.
After only two and a half hours of sleep my alarm went of and I had to force myself to get out of bed even though my whole body was fighting that move. I showered and packed the last of my belongings into my bags before I woke up Dani and Michael who had agreed to take me to the airport. The drive there was horrible because my body was still protesting the fact that I had gotten up and I felt sick but my mind was exited and a bit anxious about the coming day and everything that was lying ahead of me.
Saying goodbye to Dani was very sad. During my month long stay we had built up a nice dynamic, almost like brother and sister, and we had really gotten used to each other being around.
I waited in line for a while and when it was my turn the lady at the front desk told me that I needed a ticket out of the country before they would let me board the plain and that I only had half an hour to get it before they closed the check in. Still tired, shocked and very annoyed I went to look for Internet but my search was unsuccessful and I returned to the ticketing counter where I bought an expensive (350$) but fully refundable ticket from Guatemala City to San Salvador.
A little bit more relaxed I boarded my flight and was surprised by pancakes and Yogurt for breakfast which lifted my spirits and made at least the hunger go away that I could try to sleep a bit.
After four hours I arrived in San Salvador where I waited for my connecting flight to Guatemala City. There was something wrong with the wheels of the plane and the stopover was more than an hour longer than it was supposed to but the flight itself was very short. We popped up through the clouds for only a very short time before the nose of the plane pointed downwards again and we touched down in Guatemala City.
I wanted to get the money for my ticket back as soon as possible and went looking for a TACA office (the airline I flew with). I only found the check in counters and the woman working there told me that I had to go to one of the TACA centers in the city to refund my ticket. She wrote down the locations and I had to take a completely overpriced taxi for the extremely short way to get there.
At TACA the next blow wasn't far. They didn't have any money and said that it would take at least two weeks to get everything processed and that I would have to come back then to pick up a cheque. There was nothing they could do about it and it was getting close to sunset so I had a look for a wifi hot spot to check the net for a cheap place to stay. I had hared and read a lot of warnings not to travel at night and especially not around the capital and to be honest with you I was getting a bit nervous and anxious with the night closing in and without a place to stay. The CS host who had already accepted me didn't get back to me about his address so I looked for hostels near the airport from where I could easily take a shuttle to Antigua the next day.
Checking my e-mail I then stumbled upon the invite of another CSer from Guatemala City who had contacted me while I was on the plane.
This is when things turned around and my usual luck kicked in that I had missed so badly...

I wrote down his number and went back to the TACA office where I asked to use their phone. After a brief chat with the CSer who still wanted to host me, I asked the woman who had brought me the phone and who's name was Ana Lucia, if she could talk to him to get the address because his directions were very confusing to me. She wrote it down and told me that a taxi would cost about 15$ and that if I wanted to save the money I could wait until the office closed (in two hours) and get a ride with her. I couldn't believe that she had just offered to take me, a complete stranger, in her car and drive me there and happy that things started to work out  I sat down and waited.
At about eight o'clock we left with another college in the back, whom Ana was giving a lift as well. The two of them gave me a little city tour through zone 1, the historic part of the city, with the cathedral and the huge presidents palace which now is a museum and that everyone calls "the avocado" due to its greenish color.
We dropped of her college and went through the drive in of a fast food restaurant (I hadn't eaten since 6 o'clock in the morning) where Ana insisted to buy me a burrito and a drink. I was baffled by the friendliness of this angel and offered her gas money and to invite her to the food but she said that she was just happy to help and that my destination was on her way back home. I left her with only her e-mail and the promise that she would always have a place to stay if she ever came to Germany which felt like a weak thank you for all she had done for me.
My host, Ancer, was a really cool guy with good English, a nice apartment and a beautiful Swedish girlfriend. After a refreshing shower we had a nice chat until 11 o'clock when I fell into bed and slept like a stone until Ancer woke me up in the morning. Unfortunately he was very busy and couldn't host me another night because I had a good time with him and he seemed to be a good guy.
Looking back that day was just one of those travel days that I already wrote about in an earlier post. It started off horribly and at times I thought that it couldn't come much worse but at the end of the day I was safe and snuggled up under a warm blanket with new friends. It really couldn't have been too bad...
I also realized once again that day, that a lot of problems come from the systems, the rules and the guidelines that our society has established but not from the people. Most people are really nice and even if they stand in your way sometimes it mostly is because they have to and not because they want.