Central America 2008, part 14. deo (Guatemala: Huehuetanango, Sololá, Panajachel, Lake Atitlán)
When on a chicken bus I got to the first bigger place in Guatemala nicknamed Huehue from the full name of Huehuetanango and as I started to leave the bus there was already an assistant driver from a bus heading for Guatemala City which was exactly what I needed. I was already advised at the first chicken bus always to try to sit right behind the driver, for there was most room for my legs there and here that seat was free, so I sat there. Still, I also took the opportunity along the way to take a photo of the vamped up chicken bus that I was to take now – I think this one had the front part of a truck added, presumably with a better and more powerful engine.
So, I took my seat right behind the driver and soon we were on our way. The idea was to transfer to the place called Los Encuentros, some 3 hours farther down the road, where I would get off at a crossroad in order to catch another bus to the place called Sololá. What I want to say is that my adventure with buses and transfers to the final destination of the day was in full swing.
When we left Huehue, the bus first stopped at a petrol station on the outskirts of the small town, not to get fuel, but rather the assistant driver ran out of the bus very quickly and came back with two huge buckets full of water. I was confused. However, very soon it all became clear. The water was needed in order to cool the engine. When I realised this, I almost doubled with laughter.
If I hadn’t had the photo and video, I think that nobody would have believed me – the engine was cooled by the water that was funnelled through a plastic bottle into the radiator during the drive. Here is also a short video version.
But, let there be no mistake, this was by all accounts one great drive. To start with, the bus was passing through beautiful landscapes. The road runs through mountains and there were lots of pine and eucalyptus trees, for the altitudes are high here. I’ve already said that Huehue is located at the altitude of almost 2000 m, while Los Encuentros is situated at as much as 2580 m above sea level.
We also passed by agricultural properties from time to time, as well as through small settlements where the bus would stop briefly for some passengers to go out and some new ones to come up on board.
The bus stops were by the rule beside smaller markets and so at one of these a local woman selling fruits entered our bus briefly and gave to our driver a plastic bag full of grapes.
Taking into account how anxious I was before entering Guatemala and how things were actually going much better than expected, I started to relax slowly. In addition, as I’ve mentioned, the temperature was perfect, it was sunny, but because of the high altitude it was not hot at all. And, what was most important to me at this point, my timing was perfect. Namely, Guatemala and Mexico are in different time zones and so this day I got one hour more. Since the waiting times between the buses were really minimal, I realised I absolutely had the chance of getting to Panajachel as I wanted, without having to spend the night somewhere along the way.
Then at one moment I heard the song “Suerte” by Shakira that was most appropriate for the situation because it means “luck.” The song was coming from the bus’s radio and the sound was very bad and distorted, but in that overwhelming feeling of being relaxed and even being most content filled with inner joy, the quality of the sound did not bother me in the least and I started to sing in a low voice. And then one of the most magical things in my whole life happened – I experienced by own, personal Zen story.
Zen stories, the koans, are stories used in Zen Buddhism in order to shows us the inadequacy of logical thinking and one of the most famous is the Zen story about a tiger and a strawberry. I will not retell it here, but it is my sincere advice to find it and read it. Only then will the whole depth and miraculousness of my personal Zen story be comprehended. And this is how it goes...
While I was sitting like that behind the driver on a bus to Los Encuentros, very content and relaxed, certain that I would get where I was going to and singing this song by Shakira, suddenly I saw that the driver, not moving his eyes away from the road and not reducing the speed of the bus, extended his left arm towards me, spreading his hand (palm side upwards) in which there were a few grapes from those which that woman I have mentioned gave him at one of the bus stops. It was clear that he was offering the grapes to me. In a fraction of a second, my mind reproduced the image of that peasant woman giving him the grapes and I also thought that the grapes were probably not washed and even if they were, God knows what kind of water was used for that, plus the hands of the driver were certainly not clean and at least in the bus he kept them all the time on the certainly dirty steering wheel and the certainly dirty gear lever, and I wondered if that was safe for me, my stomach and my health... All of that, all of these thoughts, fitted into that single fraction of one second, however, the gesture was so primordially human and wonderful that in fact I did not have any real choice. I took those 3-4 grapes and ate them. Ah, how sweet they tasted!
After some three hours of drive, the bus came to an intersection from where a road lead to (Sololá). I got out and thanked for the drive and the grapes (by the way, I absolutely had no health problem after eating those “unsterile” grapes), while the assistant driver got my big backpack from the roof of the chicken bus. There was already another originally yellow American school bus waiting and with it I covered another 13 km or so to the centre of Sololá where I was to change the bus again. Luckily, I even had some time to spare and I was to catch that other bus on the opposite side of the central square in this town.
Sololá is a small town with 14,000 inhabitants and it is located at the altitude of 2114 m. Right next to the main square there is a very interesting edifice. This is the Central American Tower (Torre Centroamericana).
The construction of the tower started on 9 February 1914, which is written on its front side, and it was finished a few years later. As far as I understood, its construction marked some “union of the isthmus,” i.e., the union of Central American states (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica). Anyway, this is the most dominant structure around the central square, while in the central section of the square there is a park.
Sololá is well known for its local market organised on Fridays, but even on this occasion there were a lot of different stalls around the square. What was most important for me at this point in time was – food. Namely, I did have some snacks in my small backpack, but the day was long and I got hungry. Still, I don’t think that this is ever a real problem when you are in Mexico and Central America.
I could see that in this whole area a lot of women wore traditional clothes. Along the way I also saw some men, but it was mostly the women who were dressed in the traditional way.
After this break I entered yet another one of the chicken buses and going down a very steep road I reached Panajachel, a town that is situated at the shore of Lake Atitlán (Lago de Atitlán) and that was my final goal on this long and very interesting day. But, even there my driving around was not completed yet. At the place where I got out of the bus, I caught an auto rickshaw and finally transferred by it to a great guest-house where I first refreshed myself and then I got out in order to walk a little along Santander street (Calle Santander).
By the way, here is a photo from the last chicken bus of the day in order to see what they (more or less) look like from within.
I arrived in Panajachel before 6 pm and was very proud of myself for succeeding in this. At the same time I remember that tourist guide who thought I would not make it even by 7 pm. My feat was certainly helped by the fact that the time zone was changed in comparison to Mexico, so I got another hour within the day, but still...
As for my travelling on this day, this is how it went: coach (Mexican one from San Cristobál), line taxi, walking, auto rickshaw, chicken bus (the first), chicken bus (the second), chicken bus (the third), chicken bus (the fourth), and finally one more auto rickshaw. And it all functioned efficiently and well as if it were a Swiss watch operating in the middle of Central America.
By the time I got back from my stroll along the main street that is full of stands and shops with colourful artisanal goods, i.e., the souvenirs, it was getting dark. My small hotel was very close to the shore of Lake Atitlán, so I first went to the shore itself and then for a dinner.
The dinner was simple – grilled fish, but it was very tasty and so were the side dishes.
It is usually wine that is taken with fish, but this evening I was much more in the mood for a good local beer.
After such good dinner, quite content I went back to my room and went to sleep. Tomorrow was a new day and there was more sightseeing involved, but before I tell those stories, let me first give my recipe for guacamole. As it may be seen above, this evening it was a side dish for the fish, but generally speaking in this part of the world it is regularly offered either alone or in any possible combination.
Guacamole
- 2 ripe avocadoes
- 1/4 of a small onion
- juice of 1 lemon (ideally of 1-2 limes)
- 1 tablespoon of parsley leaves (ideally of coriander leaves)
- 1 chilli pepper
- 1 ripe tomato
- salt
- ground cumin (a pinch)
- ground paprika (a pinch)
When avocado does not grow in the country in which you live, then you are at the mercy of the importers and very often these fruits are sold while they are still unripe. From personal experience I know that even when they are marked “ready to eat” this still does not necessarily mean that they are good. What I want to say is that this takes experience, skilfulness, as well as luck to bring a green avocado to its ripe state, but it can be done (most often). Also, although it is possible nowadays to buy limes and coriander leaves at supermarkets, I personally have no problem using lemon and parsley. As far as I’m concerned, avocado takes the central stage here and I also like eating it without any additions.
I chop the onion very finely (when preparing guacamole it is also possible to use one of the electric appliances for chopping and mixing). It is vital not to overdo it with onion since it is supposed to act as a condiment here and because of its strength it may easily happen that it takes over the aroma of the whole dish if too much is used. Then I add pieces of avocado to the chopper (or I squash them by using fork, if guacamole is prepared manually). I pour the lemon juice immediately over the avocado in order for the latter not to turn brown and then I mash it all together, including the chopped onions.
The tomato is pealed and deseeded, and then chopped. The seasonings are added, everything is mixed together and covered with some cling film. Put it in the fridge to rest for a couple of hours in order for the seasonings to permeate the rest of the sauce. Before serving, mix it once again.
But, let me go back to the story about my stay in Panajachel. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, this small place became very popular among tourists, but then came a civil war and the tourists stopped coming. In the last decades the number of visitors is on the rise again which explains the large number of stalls on the main street with colourful goods displaying traditional motifs and sold as local souvenirs.
In addition to the very pleasant climate, the main reason for the popularity of this place is its position on the shore of Lake Atitlán. The lake is situated at 1562 m above sea level and apart from being beautiful in its own right, it is also surrounded by several high volcanoes. One of them is San Pedro, 3020 m high, which I could partially see from the terrace in front of my hotel room in Panajachel.
After taking the above photo I went for breakfast and there I was told that they offered the traditional version, which was I guess supposed to be a special treat. In fact, the only unusual thing was a rather thin purée made of black beans, while the mayonnaise was a surplus as far as I was concerned. The rest was quite tasty and I enjoyed it.
After the breakfast I went down to the shore in order to go on a boat excursion on Lake Atitlán. The excursion was to take seven hours and it included sailing across the lake and visits to three villages: San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlán and San Antonio Palopó. I bought a ticket and waited for a few more people to get there, since I was told that the size of the boat would depend on the number of passengers.
I used this time to take a few photos of the coast and the surroundings of Lake Atitlán.