Palenque - Maya park in Mexiko

Palenque is a neat, less natural place than Tikal. You stroll through the former big city on accurate promenades between green areas of cultivated lawn. However the surrounding ruins are fantastic, and sometimes you are allowed to enter their creepy and dark interior.
Take also a closer look on well remained reliefs. Background information are provided by tour guides which show up every ten minutes. Choose your stand next to the audience, and pretend to take pictures, so no one will bother you.
At one of these occasions we heard that over 2000 years ago the Maya actually belonged to the Stone Age. They knew little about the wheel and nothing about iron, so they had to use tools made of wood, stone, bone and plants. With this knowledge in mind the achievements in arts, architecture and astronomy are extraordinary.
And did you know that the Maya invented public advertisement?
You are invited to guess what kind of advertisement is shown on the last picture.
The answer is revealed by reading the following words in reverse direction: NOITOL KCOLBNUS

Tikal - mystical, ancient site in Guatemala

The early morning mist, hovering over the dense forest, a bunch of dangerous animals, steep stairs, high view points, breathtaking ruins, mystical ceremonies of Mayan descendants, and at last the howling monkeys are the ingredients for giving you the creeps.
With goose bumps on your arms you will listen the tour guide's explication that you are amid the former Manhattan of Central America. From 300 BC until 900 AD around 70 000 people lived on this spot. Why did they all of a sudden disappear? There are a lot of theories to answer this question. Our guide mentioned that the overexploitation of natural resources is likely to be the most important reason. Does this not sound familiar to your ears? Is our culture determined to collapse by the same cause?

Semuc Champey - adrenalin activities

The last 22 km of our day ride a small, dirty road led to a remote site, located next to a small river, and surrounded by a tropical scenery. At our arrival we recognized most of the people from other places before (travelers build a small community with almost same routes). In fact the breathtaking nature and the provided adrenalin activities of Semuc Champey (look at the pictures) are simply too attractive to be left out.
The two young girls in the room right next to us agreed about this, but unfortunately not about the perspective that the night is made for sleeping.
When we left Semuc Champey after 4 days we added to our list of lost things a few hours of sleep and a headlamp which fell down in the deep water of a dark cave. We do not care, because with exciting adventures and nice encounters (special greetings to Nils and Julia from Berlin) we gained much more than we lost.

On the road

When the travel agent assures you that a certain trip will take x hours add yourself the half of it. Due to congestions, detours, road works, accidents, protests, collapsed bridges, road bumps, narrow turns, to name the most important, the average speed is reduced to 40 km/h.
Relax, and enjoy the ride on too small and uncomfortable seats, with a lack of air condition, travel mates who do not stop talking nuts, and a driver who is convinced to be Michael Schuhmacher on the Nurburgring.

Antigua - prosperous, historical town

horrible, depressing night in Harry Potter`s shed, no window, no shelf, no closet, but a strong smell of shoe polish - leaving a headache in the morning and a surprising big gap in the wallet;
narrow cobble streets;
fresh painted facades;
amazing ruins and well restored old buildings witness former time of colonialism;
modern dressed people instead of tradtional costumes;
extravagant hotels and fancy coffee bars;
paradise for pensioners from Europe and the US

Guatemala is hot, part II

Hola,
here are some more pictures of our latest adventure. For a description please look down below.

Guatemala is hot

Hola amigos,
if people would ask me for the most adventurous parts of our journey, I thought spontaneously of the encounter with the killer whales in the Johnston Strait, the paragliding flight at lake Atitlan, the backcountry camping on the Appalachian trail and the camera chase on Vancouver Island, to name only the most impressive ones. Since yesterday this list has to be completed by the visit of the active volcano Pacaya near Guatemala City.
I think we all know that the solid ground we walk upon everyday is not as stable as it appears to us, because down under our feet the earth's crust is actually drifting very slowly on hot, semifluid magma. Nevertheless it is surprising to watch this magma oozing steadily out of a little gap in the soil. The spot we visited yesterday was located right next to a hot lava stream, highly dangerous and a little unreal. In Europe enforced regulations would never allow the stay of so many people so close to burning hot lava.
Let me try to describe a little bit more pictorially what this place is alike.
All of us have surely done a barbecue. Now, please imagine a big grill made of black, sharp, cavernous rock; and you are not the man behind the grill but the piece of meat right upon it. However it is much more fun, because you do not suffer alone. The grill you are standing upon is so crammed with people from all over the world like the beach of El Arenal on Mallorca during the main season. All these people can only manage being so close to each other, simply because everybody is standing only on one leg at a time. And this actually happens due to the fact that everybody tries to save the soles of his shoes.
After pushing and pulling on foreign jackets and backpacks you get next to the red, hot lava for the ultimate snapshot. But watch out now! When the lava stream gets too close to your skin, every single hair will burn away immediately.
So, now you know why I woke up this morning, finding the face in the mirror already shaved.

High end lodging

Hola amigos,
in San Marcos you will find different types of accommodations. On top of the shelf is the hotel Aaculaax, where we are staying now. Located next to the lake Atitlan and surrounded by banana trees, green plants and beautiful flowers the place provides a lush, tropical feeling. Compared to European prices our room with a nice view onto the lake is a real bargain. It only costs 30 Euros for two persons / night. Nils (= Aacullaax in the language of the Maya) is the owner of the 9 year old hotel. He grew up in Germany, in a small town called Worpswede. In Germany this place is famous for the residence of many visual artists. The creative atmosphere of his hometown might have influenced Nils to construct an extraordinary interior. Every window, mirror, lamp, shelf and table is a unique work of art. You can easily spend the morning hours by walking around and taking pictures of the details.
Sabine is doing a yoga class every day while I am curing a little cold. Beside this we enjoy all the activities a typical summer vacation is full of.

Working hard

Hola amigos,
last Friday we finished our Spanish School and moved from San Pedro to San Marcos, another beautiful, little village located directly at the lake Atitlan.
We stayed in San Pedro with a very nice, local family. They told us many interesting stories about the life in Guatemala. The following might give you an impression. Every night at 7 pm 20 year old Nery showed up at our host family. Nery grew up in San Juan, a small village next to San Pedro. Since last year he is studying at the university of Xela to become a teacher. Nery is the boyfriend of Judith, the oldest daughter of the family. Judith is studying as well, and as the university is closed now the two could spend some leisure time together at the beach ...
They could, if there would not be the need to support the own family. So, in the morning hours Nery is helping his father in the business of a butcher, and in the afternoon he is painting pictures of the lake, hoping to sell one of it to a tourist, which actually only happens once in a while.
As a teacher Nery will probably earn 150 Euros a month. With this money he can hardly afford to rent an apartment or to buy luxury goods like beer, chocolate or butter. Nery has to work hard every day like everybody here. Children are no exception.

Fly like an eagle

Hola friends,
we were trying to follow the dark bird of prey right in front of us. He was flying without any effort, spreading its large wings majestically. "This bird knows better than me where to find the best thermal", said Roger, the flight instructor, who was sitting right behind me, adding a brief command shortly afterwards. I obeyed immediately and moved the weight of my body to the left side of my seat. This operation is called steering without decelerating and allows to fly bends without loosing much height. We made a turn to the left side, a turbulence was shaking the wing, and my stomach told me that we were going up like the elevator in the empire state building. The thermal was working efficiently, fields and houses beneath us were shrinking. After a full turn we tried to catch the next thermal, this time unfortunately without success. "Where´s the bird gone? I´m afraid he´s cheating us!", Roger asked me. The two of us catched sight of some birds high above us, but our personal guide had left the scenery, leaving us alone.
Roger is a very experienced pilot, and he could find the elevator for two more times. Our wing can be used for two persons with a total weight of 180 kg. We both came to 150 kg, which is not so bad. But even a solo flying pilot can not stay in the air for hours without any thermal support. It was now only a matter of time when we would touch solid ground again. I had a camera with me which was placed in the chest pocket of my wind jacket. Without Roger who reminded me to use it, I would have forgotten it, beeing too distracted of all the gorgeous impressions.
"I think you will love this!", said Roger and he was right, the last sharp bends were like riding a roller coaster.

This was all about me, and I know you are interested, how Sabine is doing. Here are some more information. Yesterday we spent a day in San Marco, a 15 minute boat ride away from San Pedro. San Marco is equipped with a wonderful beach and nice hotels. People usually come here for meditation and massage. We had a nice time, and at the end we visited a lovely hotel. This place might be the destination for our next weekend. Unfortunately during our time at the beach Sabine did not change her swimsuit and is now suffering from a disease we try to cure with our last package of antibiotica. Please, do not worry too much, today Sabine was still fit enough to enter the rooftop terrace of our little house, so she could observe from there the most part of my paragliding adventure.
By the way, news arrived in Guatemala that there are some of our friends suffering from a disease too. To all of you, especially to Alex and Sabine M., our wishes go for recovering soon!
All the best from Sabine and Jorge from sunny San Pedro, Guatemala.