Xela, Xela, Xela

    The ride to Quetzaltenango (ket-zall-ten-ang-oh) was long and uncomfortable. Most Guatemalan cities have incredibly long, difficult names, so locals usually have nicknames for all the major cities. Quetzaltenango’s nickname is Xela, pronounced “shell-ah”. To broadcast the bus’s arrival to common intersections, the ticketeer would hang out the door and yell rapidly, “Shell-ah, Shell-ah , Shell-ah” over and over again. It at first was amusing, then grew very annoying after 9 hours!

 Our bus was routed through a major thoroughfare city, Huehuetenango( way-way-ten-ang-oh/ way-way). There were only about 15 of us on the bus at this point. The driver said we would be stopping at the bus station for 15-20 mins for a break. Jason and I got off to grab some food, Jay stayed on with Oscar and the luggage. As Jason and I were busy collecting chicken, drinks, napkins etc, the bus pulled away unbeknownst to us. Jay, who speaks the least Spanish of all of us, was left trying to explain to the driver to stop. A woman motioned to Jay when the bus started as in “Aren’t there supposed to be 3 of you?”, but then laughed hysterically and did not try to help when Jay pleaded for them to stop. Jason and I quickly figured out what happened, and ran as fast as we could carrying our precious food to catch the bus. After about three blocks, Jason got the bus to stop, and we climbed on to find a flustered Jay and a chorus of indigenous laughter. The rest of the ride was uneventful. When the woman, who had laughed hysterically at Jay earlier, got off the bus, she slipped down the steps. We secretly giggled, thanks karma!

We finally made it to Xela, and got a cab to The Black Cat Hostel. It seemed cool and had free breakfast, but dogs weren’t allowed. They sent us on to a place called The Friendly Pug, sounded like our kind of place. It was a mellow hostel, that seemed as if the set of parents left, and put their 20 year old son and his band mates in charge. Everyone was friendly, and they had a cool courtyard for Oscar to chill in...Best of all, it was cheap!! We paid Q40 each (About 5$) per night! There was a big McDonalds on the main square, so Jay and I decided to indulge. We hadn’t had fast food for 6 weeks!

If you could only spend one day in Xela, you absolutely MUST visit Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot spring way, way, WAY, in the middle of nowhere, but definitely worth the trip!! We caught a chicken bus from Xela to a tiny market town about 30 mins away named Zunil. I saw no modernly dressed people in this town. Everyone had on traditional dress, carrying baskets of vegetables on their head. We saw the largest zanahoria(carrots) I have ever seen, about the size of a bowling pin. From there we snagged a ride in the back of a pick-up truck (acamioneta, shared ride). Jason was sneaky and grabbed a seat in the cab, Jay and I climbed in the back, hoping we wouldn’t freeze solid on the way. Xela is in the Guatemalan highlands, about 7000ft elevation, a mile and a half high. It can be cold! The drive to the hotsprings was stunning in beauty! The cloud forests, tropical plants, waterfalls, it was incredible! Jason definitely missed out being confined to seeing out of a small window!!

The beauty of the drive did not compare to the actual hotsprings. There were three main pools, all in varying temperatures. One was so hot no one could even get in it, a few folks tried, no one got past their toes. The others were quite steamy, but bearable! I thought I had heard of more pools, so Jay and I saw a random trail and followed it for a while until we were in the thick of the jungle and decided to turn around! The hotsprings were amazing. On the way out we happened to spot a small sign saying “Mayan alter and piscinas (pools) this way”. Excited, we almost ran down the mountain, or the first 300 steps!! We finally made it to the other pools! I knew there were more! These were so magical! We all wished we could have spent our time at these two instead of the busy top three pools. A small creek spilled over the rocks beside the pool. We were the only people there. It was surrounded by steam and verdant jungle. It was incredible!!! We reluctantly left in order to catch the truck back down the mountain. We walked around the central park that night remarking on our outlook for Guatemala, so far so good!!

The next morning we boarded a chicken bus enroute to Lago de Atitlan, a beautiful highland lake surrounded by volcanoes and hippies!

On the way to the springs, riding in the back of a pick up

I love this pic! on the way to the hot springs

The indigenous girl was not happy about me snappin the pic, but I was shooting the landscape. I hope she doesn't think my camera snatched her soul!

A chicken bus

American food!

The view from the bus station, a beautiful volcano

On teh way to Fuentes Georginas, in the back of a truck

Mountains on the way to the hot springs; it was beautiful, and cold!

Women were bathing and doing laundry in this creek. You can see them in the back of the stream, kinda.

The hottest pool at the springs, too hot for anyone to swim!

The hottest pool. It used to be swimable, but a recent earth quake released hotter thermal temps!

Exploring the jungle

In the jungle looking for pools

The main pools at Fuentes Georginas

Jason hiking to the hidden pools

The hidden pool, halfway down the mountain

Jay testing the water

Aaahhhhhhhh!

Felt so perfect

The spring next to the pools

Enjoying the water!

Such a magical place

Xela's square