Having a slight case of travel withdrawal...



this, a cafe closed for the day in San Juan Atitlan. Unlike here, they don't pull down a gate and lock it away... they just go to the back and relax. If you are lucky enough, someone might hear you and make you something wonderful since you are there.

Tikal or bust!

After a quick flight from Guatemala we arrived in Flores realizing we hadn't booked transport to Tikal. There were a lot of emails that went back and forth with the hotel but turns out nothing was secured, which made the one cabbie standing there very happy. I can't remember exactly what we paid but it wasn't that much for the hour drive down a dark road full of pot holes and animals to an even darker National Park. Our driver was great - he quizzed me with spanish until my brain wore out, stopped along the road where a kid was manning a cooler full of ice cold coconut water, each in it's own small plastic baggie - that remarkably I didn't spill all over the car.  Then, as the sun was making it's way down the other side of the earth, we passed a small opening to Lake Peton where we jumped out again for photos. He really was great! Imagine that on a NYtaxi meter...







When we finally arrived to Jaguar Inn time was running out for the kitchen, electricity and especially the hot water! We had to make some decisions quick… eat or shower. I chose a meal and after waiting almost 30 minutes to put in an order, let alone get a drink, I figured a shower could wait til after we hiked in the morning. Let me tell you, 4am comes quick - it felt like we just set our heads down when my alarm went off. The quiet of the jungle makes for a great place to sleep, sadly, we didn't get to experience that. I was too excited to be tired as we met up with a few others to have a semi-warm cup of instant coffee. As we stood in the parking lot a group of dark figures outlined in light started coming at us, similar to that scene in Close Encounters when everyone is standing in the road waiting to meet the aliens... which sadly was a large group of people walking in with us. I was really hoping it would just be the 7 of us.



It takes about 45 minutes from the gate to Temple IV, you are pretty much just moving along with a pack of headlamps in the pitch black, dodging tree roots and rocks, unsure how much further until you are greeted by a very tall wooden staircase. At least 150 steps - I guess I missed that part in the guidebook! At the top are the original steps of the temple where we settled in until sunrise. It's incredible how loud every wrapper, zipper, velcro strip and camera shutter can be at the top of a temple in the dark, and how offended folks can be by the smallest sound. As the sky began to lighten the howler monkeys started their calls, what I liken to a Nascar race around the jungle. Each monkey screaming, then the next, in circles around us. As the birds started their calls we became even quieter. Some folks were meditating but most of us sat there staring out into the fog listening the jungle awaken around us. No matter how many guide books and stories you read about the 4am hike, you still cannot believe it when the sun rises and you cannot see a thing! From the top of the temple the fog is thick and the mist is pretty much rain. You can't help but laugh.



We made our way back down the steps to start the guided tour of Tikal. I highly recommend a guide unless you like wandering around a park full of huge rocks unaware of what you are looking at. I bore pretty quickly but our guide was funny and knowledgable so I actually paid attention. Yeah, it was pretty awesome!

Her amazing headpiece was what brought us in and after wandering into her home and taking photos I thought it was only appropriate to buy a free map from her. She's on the cover, but since i wasn't thinking about camera settings, you wouldn't know that. Seriously... f/2 in daylight? I need to put an alarm on my camera for when I exit lowlight into daylight. Genius, I'll be a millionaire! haha. Anyways, the inside of her home with walls covered in my favorite South/Central American green was beauty to my eyes. Her sister started picking up and turning on lights but it wasn't necessary. Interiors and ofrendas are my favorite still life's.

The 4th Thursday of Lent.

This day was, by far, my favorite day of photographing while in Guatemala. We had decided to take the boat around Lake Atitlan and experience the different villages and slowly make our way back to San Pedro. Our first stop was Santiago Atitlan. A large village filled with way too many tourist shops from the point you get off the boat until you decide you've had enough. Immediately we were approached by a young man that wanted to be our guide, to make a buck or two, but I wasn't ready to be escorted through his version of Santiago... I wanted to wander. It's what I do best. I knew little of Santiago other than it was the home of Maximón and that was something I wanted to see. We tried to visit his home in Itzapa but without realizing the time we had arrived when it closed. Looking at the map it's kind of hard to tell exactly where he is so I started asking tourists coming back towards the docks... "just go left" "it's right there you can't miss it"... it's never that easy. Thankfully a guy, who was thoroughly enjoying his visit, pointed out the narrow alley to the house. We could hear the music soon as we exited the main road. Music? I didn't expect this. When we arrived there was a band onstage, dancing and of course a lot of drinking. We paid our small entry fee to view Maximón and take a couple photos. I'm not sure what I had expected but I didn't expect a room full of women, men and one very, very drunk woman. This woman turned out to be the current host and she had many words for Maximón - spitting, slurring and at times unable to stand, she would fall on those nearby who did nothing but laugh and bounce her off with glee. No one seemed as drunk as she but all were drinking something. A local woman, obviously not Mayan as she was blond and much taller than I am, filled us in on the festivities, encouraging me to pay more money to keep everyone happy. All donations/offerings/payment helped pay for the festival - from the drinks, the men that watched over Maximón, the band and food. The festival, on this 4th Thursday of Lent, is the day when the religious icons and decorations for Easter are brought to Maximón for blessings and cleaning. Myself, not being very religious, didn't know the 4th Thursday was a thing but after some googling it appears it is. Ironically Maximón is not a sanctioned saint of the church but don't tell his followers that.















After offering more money I was everyone's friend and welcomed to photograph as I pleased. Prior to this, I had taken a photo of the little girl and she immediately said, "pay me!" Ha, she's maybe 4 years old. She had never played with an iPhone before and mine kept her happy for quite a long time. It's amazing to see children pick one up and figure out how to use it so quickly. She loved looking at the photos, but mostly, flicking the screen and moving items around.

The color purple.











Purple is the color of royalty and also the color of suffering. Guatemala is wrapped in purple. The Nazarene Flower (Petrea volubilis - queens wreath or sandpaper vine in the North), the fabrics, the dyes, the rare lavender Jade and on Sunday's during Lent processions of men in purple robes fill the streets carrying Andas, floats with large sculptures of Jesus on top. Purple will forever remind me of this week in Guatemala.

And on a design note, Radiant Orchid 18-3224 is the Pantone color of 2014. Purple it is.

Travel while traveling.

















Taxi, airplane, airplane, taxi, walk walk walk, tuktuk, sleep.
walk walk walk, chicken bus x2, tuktuk, sleep.
walk walk walk, taxi, taxi, Airplane, taxi, sleep.
walk walk walk, shuttle, tuktuk, boat, walk walk walk, sleep.
taxi, airport, taxi, shuttle, boat, tuktuk, walk walk walk, tuktuk sleep.
tuktuk, walk walk walk, tuktuk, sleep.
tuktuk, boat, walk, boat, walk, boat, walk, sleep.
shuttle, walk walk walk, sleep.
walk, taxi, airplane, taxi
home... that went way too quick.

Am I really home already?














I've struggled with editing and writing about this adventure and I think it's because my mind cannot wrap around the idea that it's already done... and i'm home. One week is never enough time to travel. It takes that first week to get relaxed, to truly enjoy travel. But here I am, back at a computer, at at desk, struggling to believe I was just in Guatemala. Here's a first tidbit - a snap from the La Catedral, a street filled with beautiful color, and a "sweet" man in his house. We were walking down the street early one morning on our way to breakfast at Fernando's - I spotted him in a cluttered room, his door open just inviting my camera in. So of course I smiled, he invited me in and I was quickly drawn to the many still life's around the room. HE was drawn to two woman walking in his house and very excited to take a picture with us! "woah, watch the hand old man!" hahha.