November 19, 2009
Tikal to Chiquimula Guatemala
Well this is one day late because we got in so late and were so tired yesterday. We spent a long day driving and did not go very far but it was very slow going and arrived after dark because we were not able to stay in the town that I had wanted to. But that is for later.
First off the driving was on narrow two lane roads but better than in Belize at first. The countryside however is like driving thru Appalachia and the roads and mountainsides remind you of this. Every 3 miles or so is another hamlet of 10-20 homes (reallllly smalllll homes) with their mueules (speed bumps) that are not always marked so you must be really careful. Top speed was about 40 mph and most of the time much less than that.
It was however beautiful scenery when I could see it and there was a lot of cattle grazing on the hillsides. The truck traffic got worse as we left Hwy 13 and got onto Hwy 3 at Castillo Del San Felipe de Lara. This is where we had planned to spend the night and to go see an old Spanish Fort during the day while there. However, the town of Rio Dulce where you turn off the main road and go 3 Km to get there is jammed with cars and trucks. Trucks park on each side of the street and vendors stalls spill out into the street and then people stop their cars in the street so that traffic going both ways must then navigate a single lane of traffic and you think at any moment I am going to run over a shoe shine boy or knock over a bakery stand. In the center of all of this is a single lane like that that I must turn to the right on all the while avoiding pedestrians. No way that this is going to happen.
So across the bridge we went and onto Rio Hondo along the river. When we got there there was no place to stop so it was on to Chiquimula we had to turn onto Hwy CA 12 where we had a Lonely Planet Guide that told us of a hotel in town. Well forget that we went there on again very narrow streets and there was no place to park an RV. Next stop a shopping center with lots of guards and I do mean lots of armed guards with a total security fence around it. Well after asking they said no we could not spend the night there.
On down the road there was a Texaco station that we stopped at and they pointed us to a motel across the street that had an armed guard and a fenced and walled parking area. So off we went and got a room and locked the RV and by that time we were too tired and bitching at one another to even make dinner, so naturally it was time then for bed.
Things always look better in the morning, right.