Our Guatemalan Family

Even though we had our brakes fixed in Chichicastenango we still needed some repair on the truck. We stopped at the nearest city. A local mechanic showed up at the service station and directed us to his house. We couldn't understand him at all. We followed him to his yard and the entire family came out to greet us.

He told us it would take a few days for him to fix the truck. He had to take the bus to Guatemala City and get the correct parts. We were to camp in his yard. I immediately started socializing with the family. It was difficult to communicate with my little Spanish skills but we managed. Mama had seven children from a different husband who is not in the picture. In order to support her children and mother she married the mechanic and had one child. She has sacrificed alot for her family.

I taught the kids how to make bracelets and played with them all day everyday. Mama made us breakfast, lunch and dinner. She would feed us before her husband. Then her husband and their child would eat. The other children had to prepare their own food in a separate kitchen. The mechanic didn't seam to want them around.

Dorian became friends with the two sons. They practiced their Spanish and English together. He also learned how to fix the truck with the mechanic. He had an amazing experience with our new Guatemalan family too.

Dorian and I would lay at night in amazement of this family. We were so thankful of their acceptance. I tried to help out like everyone else. Mama was shocked when I started doing all the dishes after dinner. Eventually she just started treating me like another daughter. She asked us several times to move in for one year.

I fell in love with Grandma. She is ninety and so sweet. I would sit as close to her as possible on the ground while she sat in her chair on the back porch. She thought it was amazing that I didn't need a hair tie to put up my hair and how blond my hair was. She would put her hand on my leg and smile by the end of the night we were basically cuddling on the porch. We loved hanging out together.

I became really close with this family in just a few days. We taught each other so much. Mama gave me a ring to remember her by. A storm hit us as we were packing to leave but we didn't want to stay another night. We were warned not to walk around the town and the mechanic didn't even want the locals to know we were at his house. This is not an appropriate place for a gringo to live but we enjoyed every minute of this experience. Meeting this family was the most significant part of our journey.

Chichicastenango, Guatemala

I have always wanted to go to Chichicastango in Guatemala. This is where they hold the world known market. The colors and culture are absolutely amazing. The artisans are all so talented and creative. Thursdays and Sundays are market days and all off the Mayan Indians come from distant villages to buy and sell there crafts. We loved it so much that we decided to shop there both days that week. Dorian and I were planning to sell some of the art in Costa Rica but half of it has been sold along the way.

We haggled our way through the crowd when the chicken buses showed up with tourists. Dorian and I figured out that when the seller give you a price cut it in half and haggle with them. We would usually find a price in the middle that they would agree on. Another tactic is to buy in bulk.

As we were walking back towards the hotel I witnessed a young girl helping her grandmother walk. I looked down and the old woman's foot was twisted backwards. She was walking on her ankle bone like a cane as her foot dangled behind her. I wanted to help her so bad.

Even the children are working hard at the market. A young boy about six years old was following us trying to sell us a trinket. I started messing with him and pushing him around. At first he thought I was strange and then he started to mess with us back. We ended up pushing each other back and forth all the way to the hotel. Dorian bought him a coke at the store. His eyes lit up and he ran away.

We were able to get our brakes fixed here for a small fortune. We were very lucky to find a mechanic. It took several days but we enjoyed the market so much. I think everyone should take a trip to Chichicastenango, Guatemala.

Sacapulas, Guatemala

We drove through many small villages. Many of the people stared at us. I don't think they had ever seen gringos before. I love to see the houses they built. The materials are so natural. It amazes me how little they need from the outside world.

While driving down the mountain through jungle the brakes started to smell like burning rubber. It was a miracle when we found a brand new service station just around the bend. The owner was a little younger than us and spoke perfect English. He had gone to college in the States. Dorian immediately jumped out and looked under the truck. The brakes were now on fire. Dorian yelled fuego fuego (fire, fire.) Most of them just stood there while Dorian jumped in the back of the camper to retrieve our fire extinguisher. While Dorian was putting the fire out a local comes running to the truck with a shovel of dirt. They said that brakes catch on fire frequently when driving down the mountain and that it wasn't a big deal. Guatemalans are hard core.

The owner was so nice. He insisted that we camp in his shop that night. He had a security guard and he said the hotel in town was bad. We talked with him most of the night.

The mechanics were uneducated and they could not figure out the problem. We were worried about El Grande Rojo as we drove in second gear to Chicastenango. It was a long an stressful drive. Meeting our new friend was a blessing and he didn't charge us a penny for anything.

The Craziest Road in Guatemala

The drive from Coban to Chichicastanango is seriously dangerous. This road is marked as highway on our map but as you can see it is far from it. We battled mudslides on sheer cliffs. The boulders in the picture were coming down while we were driving. We had severe rain the night before that just destroyed this road. There was actually a huge mudslide in Coban when we were there that killed a few locals.

At the beginning of the drive we passed the construction workers that assured us the road was passable and to go ahead. We had no idea that the road would continue this way and that we would be driving through huge Guatemalan mountain ranges.

The road thinned as we climbed the mountain. We were unsure if El Grande Rojo could even stay on the road at times. The road looked just big enough for a dirt bike not our rig. I took a picture looking down and prayed that we would make it. We had no choice but to live or die here. Our truck's right wheels were half way on the trail at one time. It was so scary. Luckily we made it through the worst and after the bridge the road finally turned into smooth pavement. We stopped and jumped out of the truck. I fell to my knees. I was so thankful that we were still alive.

Down the road we picked up an old Guatemalan woman and her granddaughter hitchhiking this crazy road. She didn't understand us very well but we tried to explain to her what we had just experienced. Guatemalans are hard core. We even saw a huge truck pass us with mothers and babies hanging off the back. Many people thought we were crazy for being so scared.

Coban, Guatemala

Before Coban we stopped in Chisec for the night. We didn't take any pictures and there wasn't much to report there. It was not a touristy town but they did have one overpriced dirty hotel with a nice restaurant.

Coban was very interesting and full of culture. The locals were very nice to us. I even had one really old mayan lady who stood about four feet run up to me and grab my arms. She wanted to look at me up close. The lady stood there almost hugging me with the biggest smile on her weathered face. We both come from very different places and we were both excited to have crossed each others path. It was a new experience for the both of us.

Coban is known for their coffee plantation. We could see why. They have the best coffee here that Dorian and I have ever tasted. We spent three days hanging out in the coffee shops and walking around the city.

Tical Mayan Pyramids

The Tical Maya Ruins are amazing. These are the steepest pyramids of the Maya world, and many ruins are still hidden underneath tree covered hills that have formed over the centuries. These ruins inspired a deep sense of history in us, and we feel these are the most natural pyramids we visited. None of the ruins had been rebuilt like in Uxmal.

The Mayan world is so amazing and their architecural accomplishments are amazing. Tical is so different than the other pyramids, especially the use of stelas. These huge decorative stones are posed at the entrances of many ruins and are significant to this particular Mayan culture.

There are monkeys everywhere in Tical which just adds to the experience. These gigantic pyramids sit in Guatemala's most lush jungle. We were stopped the first time when we tried to enter with Ivy. We wanted to camp inside the park but the park rangers assured us that we could not enter with a pet because the wild animals, including Jaguars, would seek her out and attack her. We then went back to the nearest small town and got a hotel. We were able to leave her there and drive back to the park to explore.

This adventure was very special to us. We are officially in love with Guatemala.