A New Direction

Teculutan – Quezaltepeque, Guatemala

We finished yesterday with McDonald’s. And we started today the same way. 

We couldn’t find a grocery store last night – meaning we couldn’t do our regular breakfast – cereal/granola and yogurt, with tea and coffee on the camp stove – this morning. But yesterday we had seen that there was another McDonald’s “just seven kilometers ahead.” And the reality is that Guatemala McDonald’s are really nice. Immaculately maintained. Super clean bathrooms with toilet seats, hot and cold running water, toilet paper, and paper towels and hot air for drying your hands. Doesn’t sound like much – but in Central America these things are all rare. 

It’s not like we’re craving clean bathrooms every day. But when given the choice it turns out that they are pretty nice . . .

And then breakfast was pretty good really. Yogurt parfait, oatmeal and a latte for Diana. An Egg McMuffin sandwich with one of those hash brown patties for me. Real tea. Again, all things we can live without – but when the option is there we’re happy to have them. 

It turns out that Guatemalans seem to feel the same way. Because once again this morning the place was packed. Hopefully this doesn’t mean that Guatemala will have fast food everywhere in ten years . . . But it is hard to understand why entrepreneurs wouldn’t invest in more places like this . . . We’ll see.

We usually take our meal times to look ahead – to the next day and the next few days. Make sure we are on the right path, check for hotels, take a peek at the weather – and if we are crossing a border look up some info on the new country. (Okay, maybe this last one isn’t really a routine at this point – but we’re getting there . . .).

Last night we took a look at Honduras. Some of what we found . . . 

• Apparently there aren’t a lot of roads in Honduras and the recommended route through the country took us way east and north before taking us south and west toward Nicaragua. Meaning we would be doing like 500 miles – a lot more than we had been thinking – in the country.
• It looks pretty mountainous – meaning those 500 miles might take us ten days or more to get through.
• Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Not something we usually pay too much attention to because we figure stuff like this usually happens with people who know each other – but not exactly uplifting.
• Not that it’s particularly unique to Honduras, but Dr. Liu saw a dengue warning about Honduras.
• And last, but definitely not least, the weather for the next week looks pretty rainy. 

After reviewing all of that we went to bed feeling a little down. We could get through it, but I don’t think either of us was super excited about spending that much time biking through the rain on mountain roads through a country where people are killing each other at a ridiculous rate . . .

So when we sat down at McDonald’s this morning we both thought it would be a good idea to see if we could figure out how to go through El Salvador instead. We had gone through this exercise before – but we have always concluded that the visa process is complicated and takes something like five to eight business days to complete.

As we dug further, though, we realized that you only need a visa if you are staying in the country more than 90 days. Not us! 

We called one of our Tanzania readers, Kang Y, who put us in touch with her friends from El Salvador. Yep. No visa required. 

We left McDonald’s with a new plan. We will eventually get to Honduras – but the plan now is to go straight to El Salvador – cross north to south through El Salvador – and then hit a much smaller portion of Honduras before reaching Nicaragua. MUCH shorter, probably much less hilly, the weather in El Salvador looks better, and we’re just generally happy about our new direction.

So now we’re sitting in a hotel about 19 miles from the El Salvador border. Tomorrow we cross. Pretty excited.

The ride today? Pretty, really pretty. Lots of climbing. 

And one interesting Guatemala-type episode . . .

So we’re heading up the first big ascent of the day and about half way up the cars and trucks and buses and motorcycles are all backed up – just inching along. I thought there must be a semi that had broken down on the big hill or something. Didn’t matter. We start picking our way through the traffic – and it’s kind of fun to be faster than all the vehicles. 

Eventually I make it up to the source of the problem. Turns out that even though it’s a Sunday morning they are re-paving the road – so there is about a mile long segment where they are only allowing one-way traffic. In the States they would probably have a temporary traffic light at each end. Here they just have a guy standing with a cell phone – presumably talking to the guy on the other end of the re-paving project. No uniform or vest or anything. Just a guy standing there . . .

Anyway, I bike on through because I’ve hit the one-way zone at the right time. I come to the other end – about a mile or two up the road – and sit down by the side of the road to wait for Diana – happy to have a break because I have some food and I’m hungry and Diana won’t want to stop for lunch yet . . . 

I’m watching for Diana but she is not in this wave of cars. No worries. Just gives me more time. The guy in charge waves the huge line of trucks and buses and cars that are waiting at my end through. 

”Oh well,” I think, “Diana must not have made it before they cut off the traffic on the other end. No worries – just more time for me to eat . ..”

The big line of traffic starts cruising down the hill in their one remaining lane . . . 

And then I see Diana coming up the hill. 

“What the heck? They let the cars and trucks go down while she’s still coming up? What’s the matter with these people?!?”

Suffice to say that she made it up. And, of course, she wasn’t even fazed by the fact that she had to bike against traffic like this. But I’m still kind of mad about it . . .

That’s Guatemala for you . . . Don’t let rules – or American sensibilities about safety – get in the way of getting stuff done and moving people along . . .

Dinner tonight. 

We stopped at a hotel that is about a mile outside of town. It was supposed to have a restaurant, but it turned out that it closed at 5. Fortunately, there was a little something something just a few hundred feet back up the road. 

I love these places. When we walk up there are two women kneading dough or something and there is a big pot – almost a cauldron – of some white liquid boiling over a makeshift grill with some sticks burning below the pot. There are a few tables, but there is no one else there. 

Eventually an older gentleman approaches and confirms that they do, indeed, have food. There is no discussion of what we’re having – but he does clarify that it will be 35 Quetzals each. (And Diana has become so used to Mexico and Central America that even she isn’t asking questions.) A few minutes later we are eating an incredible meal. A rich soup with potatoes and some greens and herbs. And then a plate of rice, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and a few pieces of really good – kind of fatty, in a good way – meat. 

In the U.S. I would be happy to pay like $20 for this meal. Here? 35 Quetzals is about about $4.50. 

Outstanding. 

And the best part was actually our host, Rudolfo. A jovial man. Patient. Willing to repeat things in Spanish multiple times for us. I feel like I had the best conversation I have had in Espanol with anyone yet. Rudolfo owns the place. He has three children, and, I think, nine grandchildren. All three of his children work in New York and their families live in New Jersey. Rudolfo can’t visit them there because he can’t get a visa. But it sounds like they come here. Just one more person with big connections in America . . .

Now that we are close to the El Salvador border I want to take a moment to reflect on Guatemala. Great country. Great people. So generous – and, as we have found first-hand – so kind and gracious. 

Incredible natural beauty. But I guess I fear that they are in jeopardy of compromising much of this. Take Lake Atitlin. Literally the last thing we saw there was an open sewer going into the lake. And, really, many of the streams are obviously super-compromised, with the smell of sewage rampant. Garbage is also a huge problem. Kind of all over the place. And then I mentioned the way the trails were maintained – or not maintained – on the volcano hike. I just think that Guatemala has an opportunity to be a really big tourist destination – but they need to get some of these things figured out before it is too late . . .

One other thing that Diana and I have noticed is the lack of any urban planning. Unlike almost all Mexican towns there does not seem to be any central squares in Guatemala towns. The streets seem to be dominated by chaotic cars and motorcycles and trucks – often spewing black smoke and making tons of noise. Feels like something that Guatemala might want to work on before the population gets even bigger and the problems become completely intractable. On this note I’ll say that in contrast to Mexico – with cities like Monterrey, Puebla, Mexico City, and Oaxaca (just to name the bigger cities that we went through) – Guatemala seems to have let growth happen unchecked and is now paying the price. 

Last thought . . . Again, unlike Mexico, Guatemala does not seem to have as many cultural festivals and events. Pretty unfair conclusion after only eleven days. But I’m pretty sure we saw festivals and events every Saturday night and on many other days in Mexico. I’m not sure we have seen one here . . .

So – great people and great beauty, but could use some help on some environmental and planning standards, and some cultural celebrations and festivals. Despite our fondness for Guatemalan McDonald’s no one really thinks that the landscape should be ceded to companies like this . . .

We’ll remember you with fondness, Guatemala. Thanks for the great memories . . . Exploding volcanoes. Explosions generally. Legos Atitlin. Giant mountains. Antigua. And, most especially, acts of great kindness – big and small.

Readers – advice on El Salvador?