Sorry I've been missing for the last few days. Everyone in Mexico seems to use WEP wireless encryption and a misconfiguration in my computer was preventing me from using it. I Finally got it sorted out. We're in Oaxaca now.

Tuc-tuc

Typical tuc-tuc

OK, so I left off the part about the tuc-tuc on the last entry. Once we got to Antigua I left Alaine near the bus terminal with our luggage while I made a quick look around that area where we thought there were a lot of inexpensive hotels. I tried a couple of places; one was full and the other was kind of dark and deary. A lot of them just seemed to be locked up and no bell to ring. I went back to Alaine and we decided to take a tuc-tuc to to where our guide book showed 2 backpacker places right across from each other. A tuc-tuc is a little three-wheeled taxi that has a bench seat for two people behind the driver. We looked at both and chose Yellow House.

By the time we settled in it was already dark. We hadn't eaten much all day so we went out looking for dinner. Finally we settled on a little burrito shop that had graffiti all over the walls and a sign that said ask permission before writing on the wall. Alaine had a giant burrito and I had some enchiladas that were made with flour tortillas. It was all good though. We got to talking to a Canadian actor, Stephen Dimopoulos, there who was interesting. He was in the first Rambo movie. We hung out with him for a while and drank Gallo until the place closed at 9, then headed back to the hotel and crashed.

Ruinas

The next day (Sunday the 24th) we slept until about 8:30 and then had a nice breakfast included with the room. Scrambled eggs, bread, and some fresh fruit.

After that we hung out on the terrace on the second floor where I was able to access somebody's wireless and work on the blog. Around 10 or 11 we went out and looked around the town. Alaine's back was hurting her and muscle relaxants had worked before so we stopped in a pharmacy and got some and also some sleeping pills for the overnight buses. You can get just about every drug over the counter in Guatemala. We went to the ruins of a church that came down in the big earthquake of 1773. When we walked in we heard beautiful singing. It sounded like a choir, but when we got close we saw it was a middle-aged gringo couple. When they finished I told them how beautiful it was and they said they were just trying out the acoustics.

Purple Parade

There was some kind of event happening in town having to do with lent. There were guys in purple robes wandering all over town. We finally asked someone and they said that every Sunday during lent the men from each of the surrounding towns would come and do this. We didn't actually see anything other than hundreds of men walking down the street.

We went back to the hotel and drank beer and played Skip-Bo, then bed.

The Market

Next day (Monday 25th) we went to the market of artesanía and did some haggling. We bought a painting from a young guy who said he was the artist and that we wouldn't see anything like it anywhere else. We went around the corner and saw the same kind of stuff. It's still beautiful.

Expenses:

	Since last entry	Total
Transportation	$0	$155
Food	$42	$114
Lodging	$32	$112
Beer (and other spirits)	$26	$87
Activities	$1	$7
Souvenirs/Gifts	$105	$160
Misc.	$63	$77
Total	$269	$712

Seven buses, two rickshaws, and a tuc-tuc

After our night of drinking it was hard to get up and catch a 7am bus. When we did get up around 5, we found out from the American woman in the room next to ours that two girls had come in drunk at 3 am and eaten everybody's food out of the refrigerator. They were still passed out on the couch. We didn't have too much in there, just some yogurt and water. The hotel owners had offered to give us a ride to the bus stop to save us having to lug the big suitcase up the hill. We got there in time for the 7 o'clock bus to San Salvador.

A real chicken bus

Our British friends had told us how we could get to Antigua without going through Guatemala city. There is a very direct route going west, but we asked several people and there are no buses that go that way. We had to go all the way to the most southwestern border of El Salvador. The bus wasn't crowded. We put our big suitcase in the back and sat next to it. A lot of folks were getting on with big things in baskets that I guess they were bringing to sell in the city. One old lady had three big jugs of goat's milk that she could barely get a round with. There's an ayudante (helper) who gets people and their stuff on and off the bus as fast as possible and alerts the driver when to stop and when to go. He also collects the money once you are on the bus. It's a very efficient system. He also shouts out the places the bus is going trying to get people on. The guy we had on the way up to Suchitoto was a real character, calling everyone on the bus niños (children).

An old man got on the bus at one point and had a quarter in his ear. I pointed this out to Alaine and we watched him for a while. When the ayudante came around the man pulled the quarter out of his ear and gave it to him.

Pastries going to market. Who's that in the corner?

We arrived at the Terminal de Oriente (Eastern Terminal) of San Salvador about 8:15. We had to take a city bus to the other terminal to get to our next destination, Sonsonate. The ayudante said we wanted the number 7 bus. When we got on I had to heave my suitcase over the turnstile. The aisle was wide enough that I could roll it to the back of the bus and a guy helped me find a place to put it. After we sat down I thought to ask Alaine if she had confirmed with the driver that this bus went tot the other terminal. Nope. I didn't either. We asked some people sitting around us and, after some discussion, they said it did not go to the terminal. We wanted bus 7C. They said if we got off at the next stop a 7C bus would come along. We did and one passed us right by. The second one did stop though and we eventually got to the terminal, where a more comfortable bus was waiting to take us to Sonsonate.

Cycle Rickshaw

In Sonsonate we stopped for a small meal and got on our 5th bus of the day, to the Guatemala border. At the border we changed some of our dollars to Quetzals and got a ride in a cycle rickshaw, which is like a big tricycle with two wheels in front, one in back and a bench seat in the front. He could only take it as far as the actual border line where we got into a Guatemalan rickshaw. No problems with immigration and no customs at all. We had to wait about 45 minutes for our 6th bus, to Escuintla. Then some more waiting and the 7th, and final bus, to Antigua.

And here we sit, in a lovely little hostel called Yellow House for which we are paying about $16 a night including breakfast.

More later

Expenses:

	Since last entry	Total
Transportation	$26	$155
Food	$5	$72
Lodging	$16	$80
Beer (and other spirits)	$0!	$61
Activities	$0	$6
Souvenirs/Gifts	$0	$55
Misc.	$2	$14
Total	$49	$443

El Gringo

After I signed off that last post, we were talking to the owners of the Artex Cafe where I was using internet. He found out we lived in Puerto Viejo and started asking about people there. Turns out he lived in Costa Rica during El Salvador's civil war and he knew my dad. Mel, do you remember Chambo?

They recommended a Mexican restaurant run by a guy known locally as "El Gringo". He's a nice guy, very talkative. He was born in the States but has Salvadoran parents so he gets automatic citizenship. The food and beer were great. It was the first really big meal we've had since we've been on the road.

We hung out at our hotel with a the British couple and ended up staying up with them until midnight, drinking Flor de Caña and sharing travel stories. They tried to convince us to go to Cuba before everything changes now that Fidel is out of power.

We're in Antigua now, but getting here was another story in itself, which I will try to get to later today if I can. Tomorrow we'll be moving on, probably to a place near Quetzaltenango that has hot springs and little cabinas.

Expenses:

	Since last entry	Total
Transportation	$0	$129
Food	$13	$67
Lodging	$0	$64
Beer (and other spirits)	$14	$61
Activities	$0	$6
Souvenirs/Gifts	$0	$55
Misc.	$0	$12
Total	$27	$394