..from the Jungle to the Volcanoes..

Beloved friends and family :)

I'm here at Lago Atitlan in Guatemala and will be chilling out here for a few days, probably hiking some volcanoes here :)

I just stayed one day in San Cristobal and drove then down to Palenque, where there are beautiful Maya ruins in the jungle! :) the ride was very beautiful!! spectacular through rain forest mountains, dropping through the clouds (it got very foggy and chilly for a moment) to leave the cloudy mountains behind and drive through jungle and over scenic hills!!
the people told me, that there are no more Zapatista issues (Chiapas is a very poor state of Mexico and the people are rebelling from time to time). So you see along the way signs that say "here rule the people and the government obeys" and it seems still to be alive somehow. Well.. they assaulted buses a few years ago, but it seemed to have stopped. But then anyway when I took a wrong turnoff, I hit a road block and 200 people standing around there.. half of them with black masks (what was kinda funny, because next to them was a black-masked-face painted on a wall with some Zapatista slogans). Well I didn't really know what this is about, so I turned my bike around and took the other way. Arriving in Palenque I heard, that the Zapatistas just attacked the local people of Agua Azul (another very beautiful place, where I wanted to stop on my way back), and hold them hostage in their own town.. it's about territorial issues and a conflict between Zapatistas and local people.. but it seems, that I just met the Zapatista army on their little push forward.. they closed the place for a few days (no tourist excursions to Agua Azul) and then the situation turned back to normal.. well, I didn't stop then on my way back, because it was still kinda "too hot" for me, to risk being locked down in this small town, if the Zapatistas would turn around ;)
but was not really dangerous.. the people were just dead serious, blocking the street and can imagine why.. there have been people hurt during the attack, so the vibe was a bit heavy..

then I spent some nice days in Palenque.. finally I didn't see the ruins that well as I wanted, because I blew it a little bit (for reasons not to be mentioned here :P ..I left earlier than planned and found myself an adventurous way back to a close campsite, that I visited the first night. I heard rumors about the trails through the jungle and found the way later on by myself :) well, it's not really off everything.. goes about 200-300m next to the road, but with a lot of thick bush. Mostly I was walking in dry riverbeds with steep walls :)
well.. so getting to Tikal here in Guatemala, I'll make sure to have more time to check out the ruins :D ..wasn't too bad in Palenque, no big loss, just one more deep experience along the way :)
oh.. and yes, my camera failed, so my picture album online is about to die.. maybe I take some cellphone pictures, but I don't feel like getting a new camera (I hate carrying around them anyway and not every moment has to be pictured.. so maybe I loose some wight and don't take pictures anymore :P ..was really frustrating there, because the site in the jungle is really awesome!! :) they dug up a lot of the temples and made the place really nice to walk through.. small waterfalls and jungle trails between different groups of ruins.

I had some amazing encounters lately.. met a girl just on the street, that I met at a psy trance party in B.C. Canada and then at the ruins my friend Delia who just lived 5km away from me while I was in Baden :) we had no idea where we are at the moment and was a really special encounter!! :D almost couldn't believe that we're meeting randomly on some ruins in the jungle of Mexico :D haha ;) yeah.. a lot of cool stuff happening, if you're traveling! :)

on Wednesday it was pouring 24 hours really strongly (kinda knew, that there will be a rainy day). That's why it's called rain forest ;) and it was pretty to see all the colors and listening to the sound of the rain drops hitting the leaves.. and it was super cozy, because I met somebody from Italy and we were cuddling the whole day in bed ;) hehe :) made ALL the difference ;)
there are some Swiss people working there.. selling jewelry and making fire performances. I also made some fire stuff, but just for fun and for free ;) ..and if I would have stayed, I might have got my own contract.. making some fire show and probably jam with my didgeridoo together with some other people.. but it was OK, just to have a look at the place and to move on. But I have enough skills, to stay in a place, if I wish so ;) hehe :)

so I packed my things the next morning and had a beautiful, sunny day to drive out of the jungle and getting close to the Guatemalan boarder. I visited a place called "Lagunas de Colon" and saw some small ruins (only local tourism), that are almost not worth visiting ;) but the way to get there was super beautiful.. lagoons with clear water and a lovely way through forest. The village itself is also nice.. half of it is flooded and there are all these lagoons, where people take a bath in :) ..crossing a street, I lied down my bike (no big deal, didn't hurt me or the bike.. ) and deformed my pannier again, that I had partly fixed a few days ago :P ..at least it was the one, that was already bent out of shape ;)
I was getting a cold, but took a lot of vitamin C and eat at a very, very small place in town (more a private household that is cooking for people ;) and got a real this-is-Mexico experience :)
went to bed very early, because getting sick..

the next day I felt great again and started with the sunrise to be at the border as early as possible. The crossing was really easy.. no rip off, no searching, no fucking around with foreigners.. just some paper work. Didn't see the Mexican side, so I had to turn around and the the emigration stamp, give my bike import papers back, getting a receipt, getting new stamp 3 month Visa in Guatemala (for free :) and paying 5 USD to import my bike for 3 month.. 1 USD to get my bike smoked and they just let me pass.. was really cool! :) didn't have had any problems crossing borders so far.. not in Canada, not in the States and not down here so far..

the most challenging part was driving through La Mesilla :) there were hundreds and thousands of people in the street, selling cheap products of Guatemala in Mexico (couldn't have been more chaotic than that ;) was really interesting to see.. have seen that in other border towns as well :)
and then my first impressions of Guatemala :) ..it's super, super beautiful!! had one on the greatest rides ever through volcanic landscape, over mountains, dropping then on the other side through the clouds down to Lake Atitlan (with a bicycle, you'd die on this trip ;) I'm sure I dropped over 1000m in a very short time.. even getting to the lake here were some of the steepest roads, I've ever seen (well, that's where first and second gear are for ;)
Guatemala is partly more expensive than Mexico (strange), but might also be just the place I'm hanging out now.. but beer it's 2 USD here.. hope to find it cheaper as well ;)
there are a lot of traditional clothed people and also the style of living is pretty traditional.. lot's of manual work, as it has been done hundred years ago in Switzerland.
But I experience it as pretty chill and good vibes here.. don't know, where are the dangerous places and how much corruption, rip off and mugging I'll find here..

So I took a sauna yesterday night and found some good company (I'm in San Marcos at the moment ;) but might anyway move over today to San Pedro (where it's cheaper and being more parties going on ;) I also want to hike some volcanoes.. there's even an active one just a few hours from here.. yes, the country is way smaller than Mexico, so finally I won't drive that much as I did in North America.

Well.. that's it :) you'll hear from me soon.. so far I'm having a lot of fun! :D ..even if this trip doesn't show pure Latin America (it's as most foreigners do, a Pizza and Pancake trip.. you end up in nice, lovely places, where other cool backpackers hang out) and not lonely in some small (&boring) local town, where the only shop has a small supply of goods, including Coca Cola :P
so yeah.. I've been more off the track when I was cycling, but it's hell a lot of fun, to go from Maya ruins to volcanoes and enjoy the warmth of Guatemala (I read, there's a lot of snow in Europe... well, I don't miss it at all ;) hihi :)

big hug and love'n'light!! :)