Friday, December 11, 2015

Follow You Into the Dark

After a relaxing night at the hostel, we woke up and decided... another relaxing day was in order. It's hard to get moving too quickly at a place as comfortable as Greengo's - it was another place that, if I felt like I could stay anywhere for a long time, this would be one of the places. There's a few things to do nearby, but mostly it's just about hanging out and chilling with the cool people there. Honestly, I would have stayed two nights even if I had nothing to do, just to put off getting back on that horrible road one more day.

Nonetheless, late in the morning we made plans to head to the Semuc Champey caves, the other main attraction in the area.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Gringos at Greengos

I woke up with the sun. Well, really, I woke up with the roosters a few hours before the sun, and then drifted in and out of half sleep as they continued making noise until the sun started to come up. As I came out of the semi-haze of a night filled with dreams, my brain began to separate which parts of the past twenty-four hours were dreams and which actually happened.

No, my friend hadn't flown all the way down to Guatemala because they thought I'd died. Yes, I was sleeping in some random family's hammock on the side of the road. No, I hadn't been stuck in rural Guatemala for a year and taken up farming. Yes, I might have a busted radiator that would prevent me from riding anywhere and require me to hitch a ride somewhere for parts.

Okay. I can handle this.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Goodwill Positioning System (GPS)

I glanced back over my shoulder to see where the whistle had come from. It had very quickly gotten dark with the thick cloud cover, and I already couldn't recognize faces or even make out how many people were over there, but I was sure I'd heard a whistle. I was trying to determine if it was meant for me, so I shut off the engine and yelled a "What?" back over my shoulder, before realizing they wouldn't understand and yelling in Spanish.

Silence in return. I turned the engine back on and looked at the rocks lit up by my headlights, planning my line through them when I heard the whistle again, followed by a yell. I killed the engine and looked down at the gauges, then glanced back over my shoulder. I wasn't sure, but it looked like they were all staring at me. Maybe 6 or 7? It seemed like just the last few minutes had taken us from dusk to flat-out darkness, and it was hard to see even forty feet.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Warning Signs

Sometimes I make plans to get things done, and then life gets in the way. Other times I make plans to get things done, and I get in the way. I got a little of both in Flores.


Monday, December 7, 2015

Flowers

After spending five hours at the ruins of Tikal, I got back on the motorcycle and headed for my next destination: Flores, the city on an island.