Guatemala

From San Pedro we went back to Panachachel and from there we took a bus to  Quetzaltenango. This town is better known as Xela. On all the buses to Quetzaltenango the sign says Xela. This took us about an hour to figure out, because our Spanish is not very good. In fact we don't speak Spanish at all (for a next trip to a Spanish speaking country I will take a quick course).

The bus was loaded and again we were very happy we didn't have to carry our heavy backpacks. Only after an hour I could finaly sit down, unfortunately next to a very drunk Guatamalan guy who was yelling 'Gringo !!' to me all the time. Of course nothin happened, because he had some friends to keep him quiet. After 2,5 hours we arrived in Xela on the busstation. That is a place you don't want to go. Hundreds of buses, with big smoking pipes and a lot of noisy diesel engines. And of course the dust. Since we did not speak any Spanish we had a very hard time to find a bus which went to the towncentre. The LP did not help us a lot here, since that map was not very clear to the local people. But we made it and found a very nice hotel called Hotel Keahler. This is right in the middle of the centre, close to the park and to some shops. We were here just the day before 'Todos Santos' (the All Saints' day) and all the banks were closed. Our money ran out, so we needed some cash. We found some ATM's for Visa, but of course we don't have Visa. We met some other tourists who were also getting stressed, because they needed some mony too. Finaly, we found a bank in a big mall which was open for another hour or so. Pfffew. So, take a good look in your travelguide when there is a festival. Xela itself is not very spectacular town, so a stay of one day is enough.

The next day we went to Zunil, a small village close to Xela. This little place is well known for its very colourfull cemetery, which we unfortunately did not see from nearby!! Just a lack of time. We were here to go to Fuentes Georginas, a small place up in the hills with some natural hot springs. Zunil turned out to be a very nice, small little town with a small, very white church and some small unpaved streets trough which you can walk around for a while. 

With a truck like this you go up to Fuentes	A small market at the entrance of the church in Zunil	Walking back from Fuentes to Zunil you'll have a view like this

 

You can get there by hiring a truck in Zunil which takes you to Fuentes. If you don't want to walk back the next day all 9 kilometers down, make an agreement that the driver picks you up the next day. We did not do it and had to walk down. A very nice walk with some good viewpoints, but also very exhausting in the heat. 

In Fuentes itself there is a pool with a (they say) Greek statue in the middle where you can take a nice swim. There are about 9 bungalows next to the pool, where you can stay the night. It is really cold at night and the owner turns of the electricity, so bring a flashlight in case you have to go to the toilet at night. Believe me, you won't see a thing at night in your room.