John has been busy on the computer planning a short getaway for us. It came to fruition yesterday when we boarded a van which took us from Antigua to the capital city. Our appointed time for departure was 4 but we were told to be at the agency door about 10 minutes prior to that time. We made it around that time and our driver was waiting for us. We climbed into the van and had no other passenger with us to share the 45-50 minute rite into Guatemala City. Our destination for that ride was the bus terminal where on Sunday we were scheduled for our next leg in our journey.
John had located accommodations for us just a short two and one-half blocks distant from the terminal so we knew there would be no problems in meeting our scheduled departure time of 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. Before we left the terminal we purchased our executive class tickets to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala - a five-hour ride in very comfortable coaches. Having done that, we waddled off with our backpacks and other luggage to our hotel.
We arrived at the locked door of Posada Belen within minutes and rang the bell. The summons at the door was met with a friendly voice on the intercom in Spanish to which we responded that we had reservations for the night. This converted once private dwelling had now separate dwellings spaces within for eleven different accommodations for visitors. Both the terminal as well as the hotel are situated within Zona 1 which happens to be the center of Guatemala City as well as one of the most dangerous areas of the capital city. That being the case, most travelers would feel insecure and unsafe if they were to roam about that area after dark. A good thing that they offer meals at a super-inflated price for the timid and cautious souls. There were no restaurants or shops in the vicinity so it was rather a captive audience. The experts in travel, Fodors has given it very high marks and has proudly included it among available accommodations in that part of the city. We were happy to have tried it one time but will not include it in a repeat visit to the city. It is charming, indeed and is very interesting but, by the time one pays for lodging plus a fee for the use of wireless and the price of two meals (at USD15 each), it became more costly than what we normally pay for such visits when we sojourn. One other small minus is that the meal we contracted for was to include dessert which never appeared on the table. Perhaps the dessert was not having additional carbs with which to deal. Who knows?
We enjoyed chatting with other visitors to the hotel though and that was rewarding. It is always great to share and have others stories shared with us. There was a young lady from the UK who had married herself a North American, a family from Washington, D.C. and Tampa, FL, a gentleman from British Colombia, Canada and another couple of unknown origin. Those from Tampa had been down visiting two orphans they are sponsoring through World Vision. They both have covered much of the world - he mostly from his association with the US Navy and she having been in the family of US Military and US State Department. Yet, despite their good exposure to the differences in parts of the world outside of the USA, they had succumbed to a horrible bug which had dampened their journey to Guatemala. I shared with them the marvels of Cipro and they gladly made note of that elixir and took it under advisement. Sunday was to be their final day in Guatemala and on that day also they were to board a flight home to more familiar digs.
Our room at Posada Belin was the front-most room in the house. It had two twin beds with beautiful blankets and had a bathroom with shower providing hot and cold water. The basin had only cold water piped into it.There was one single light with a huge bulb illuminating the entire room. The beds were less than comfortable but both of us had seen and felt sleeping arrangements with even less comfort.
For supper we were offered a choice of pork cutlet or chicken breast. John and I both opted for chicken and some of the other diners opted for pork. It was passable food but not either good or great.As our good friend and acquaintance Tom would say "I have tasted worse". Neither of us got sick on it so you can see that it did what it was supposed to do: nourish poor pilgrims on their way!
Before retiring for the night we made arrangements for the payment in full of our bill since we planned to start out before the office would be open on Sunday. We also asked for a knock on the door and if somebody would be up at 7 in order to unlock the front door from within to permit egress for us on our way to the bus terminal the next day. We got assurance that there would be an awakening with notification of a knock at the door and that there would indeed be somebody to let us out.
During the night we were surprised at the amount of street noise that found its way to the four deaf ears that lay there attempting to get a reasonable night’s rest. When we first approached the posada, we were delighted because it was mid-way between two major avenues where an abundance of loud buses were passing. The street seemed very quiet and inviting to us. Little ded we realize that the noise had a way of extending its presence to us in that manner. But, we both reported good sleep to each other on Sunday morning. The worst part of it all is that there were a pair of unused earplugs in my backpack. Shame on me for I have absolutely no reason to complain.
The knock came at a few minutes before six and we were soon up and ready to exit the posada by 7. We walked the short distance and entered the terminal. This time it appeared that there would be other passengers on the executive-class bus. There were a dozen or so chairs set up for waiting passengers as well as four or five tables set up only for patrons of the small café inside the terminal. We qualified for using those as we purchased coffee, tea, bottled water and John a breakfast bread. I went out and purchased a copy of the weekend issue of one of the three or four newspapers in Guatemala, La Prensa Libre. Our bus was announced and we walked over to the stall to board our coach. Our baggage as well as our persons were searched (very superficially) before we boarded. Our tickets were taken and the inspector general told us that our seats were in row one and upstairs.We scampered up and located our seating for the next five hours.
The bus was very scarcely filled so we had our choice of seats. John opted to not take his assigned seat in the front window because he was unable to stretch out sufficiently. It took nearly twenty minutes to get outside of the city. During that time we twisted and turned dozens of times as our driver maneuvered this over-sized two-tiered vehicle on very small passageways.. The first hour out of Guatemala City went exceedingly slowly and the road, as is the case in most of the parts of Guatemala in which we have traveled, was horribly rough and in desperate need of repair or replacement. Much of the first hour we passed construction or reconstruction on the roadway which should result in a better passage next time.
We descended from the capital city where the outside temperatures at our departure might have been in the high sixties. There was a certain dampness in the air but no drops of moisture in the city.
After approximately three hours of driving, much of it on two-lane roads, we came to a rest stop and were told that we would be there for twenty minutes. Most of the passengers left the bus to use restrooms and to get nourishment and treats. Soon it was time to start our journey once again.
At shortly after 12:30 we arrived in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and gathered our belongings and stepped into the port city. We would have about a five block walk to the area where the lanchas were situated for our ride over the Bahia de Amatique (an inlet of ocean and salt water) to Livingston.
The next post will detail our passage on the Bahia de Amatique.
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