[15/05/2024 – 22/05/2024[

Intro

This again was sort of a slow week, as we spent two nights in Copan Ruinas, to visit the Copan Mayan site. as well as three nights at lake Atitlan. One border crossing between Honduras and Guatemala and honestly crossing into Guatemala was the least exhausting border crossing we did thus far in Central America. True usually the hard part are our bikes, but Guatemala was really quick. Again SOAT was not sold at the border and so no SOAT available. Still a rather strange feeling as this is now the third country where we had to do it like this. The upcoming three countries will be different, and also way more expensive when it comes to insurance.
Guatemala definitely will have taken a toll on us, as we spent quite some time behind buses and lorries which through out thick black smoke, especially when going uphill. And since we are in Central America we did not go back to the Colombian way of overtaking, which even though a bit more riskier, may have had less effect on our lungs – I know, this is a strange statement from a smoker.
Internally i am currently discussing, what cloud really means and how willing companies should approach it. That discussion is far from over, but one of the more obvious statements out of this discussion is: more complexity means higher maintenance efforts and is more error prone – obvious, as I said.

A quick side story about music, it seems there is this Central America Tourist playlist on Spotify or Youtube, collecting some Spanish songs, but mostly 80s US/Brit Synth Pop, with an occasional appearance of Metallica, which almost everybody (regardless if local or foreign owner) plays. To the effect that Stefan and myself are well prepped for the next Karaoke night, which we wont participate in.

Wednesday: Gracias

No Riding today, just relaxing, really nice temperature, blogging and enjoying the scenery. Having coffee around midday, and beer in the afternoon, staring into the hilly and somewhat misty countryside.

Thursday: Gracias – Copan Ruinas

Easy 120 km, through the hilly countryside. We were told back in Nicaragua, that this is one of the most impressive Mayan cultural sites, which made the decision for us, to come here, and it also offered us the possibility to leave out Belize and the Yukatan peninsula. There were some tourists there but it was definitely very quiet.

Friday: Copan Ruinas

After breakfast we went to visit the ruins and it was worth it. We just went there payed at the counter and entered the site, what a difference to Macchu Picchu. Once we entered there were a lot of parrots, that got released into the wild, but basically do not much venture out of the ruins, as they are fed there as well. Amazing and impressive birds. The ruins itself, we more or less had to ourself, two or three school classes and some other tourists where there, but again no comparison to Macchu Picchu. The even had signs up explaining what you were looking at ;-). Yes the site is indeed impressive, and at least at the time we visited, it was almost empty. So all in all a very worthwhile stop.
The rest of the day was yet again spent relaxing and on my side with the first run after the accident in Costa Rica. Good run, even though I only did 6 km, the 36°C kept me from going further.

Saturday: Copan Ruinas – Jutiapa

As said before, one of the more relaxing border crossings. The rest of the drive towards Jutiapa was pretty nice, with some vulcanos along the way, and at least on that day, the air was rather clear. Only day, since quite some time, and since then.

Jutiapa, is a little town, with a lot of US fast food joints, which later on through Guatemala is to be observed more often. Burger King, McDonalds are common to Europe, but Wendys, Submarine, Taco Bell not so much. We ended up taking a road side business and having two beers at the local watering hole. Quite a funny evening, and people have been very friendly towards us. While at the watering hole it started to pour down and the road in front of the house became a little river.
Back in Costa Rica we sent our drone to Guatemala City, but now that we have entered Guatemala, the drone was still in Florida, US, or so the tracking claimed. This basically changed our travel plans a little and our next stop will be Santa Cruz la Laguna at lago Atitlan.

Sunday: Jutiapa – Santa Cruz la Laguna

Except for the last bit down to Santa Cruz la Laguna, the ride was pretty nice, and at least I as well enjoyed the ride down. Very steep, mostly gravel with some bends having been cemented for better traction. Stefan is slowly but steadily getting a bit annoyed by doing the navigating, which means i ll take over soonish.
The reason we went to Santa Cruz la Laguna is the fact that it is home to ATI Divers, which offers diving in the lake. The highest (1560m) and deepest (330m) lake in Central America. We stayed there at the Iguana Perdida, and I have to say as far as hostels/hotels go, this was by far the whitest place we have been to in the past five months. Please do not read that any into my previous statement, it is only a statement of fact. The stay itself was very enjoyable, the owners have had the property for over 30 years and it shows. Beautiful garden, nicely done huts, dorms and yoga studio. I felt very welome, and the people there were openminded and mostly outgoing. Good crowd, good place to stay.

Monday: Santa Cruz la Laguna

Today would have been the day for diving, and then Tuesday the day for relaxing, but sadly the dive master that was supposed to take us fell ill. So we got shuffled to Tuesday. No problem with that, we went for a walk and relaxed. Later that day a third person arrived that would be going with us on the dive on Tuesday, and natural we got talking. Very interesting person, with a lot of dives under his belt. And I did enjoy speaking English again.

Tuesday: Santa Cruz la Laguna – Diving

As usual, first thing in the morning, water was very smooth. After a quick introduction to diving at altitude, basically the pressure you are experiencing is more then the actual depth, e.g. 30m down feel like 33m and so on.
We went to the dive site Rambo II, where you can dive through a little chimney, starting at 22m and ending at 16m. The visibility was varying around 5 – 7m. We were down for about 40 minutes before we ran out of air. While initially I wanted to do two dives, I had to admit to myself that the altitude combined with the diving, did exert a heavier toll on my body then it does at sealevel. Oh yes and i got visited by Montezuma that morning. Long story short I threw in the towel after one dive. It was worth it though and I can only recommend.
The rest of the day was spent at a local cafe, and having conversations with different people staying at the Iguana Perdida. That night Stefan mentioned, so now that we have covered that, you should be good for the next five months. And while prove reading this, he added, that from time to time, the social butterfly that I supposedly am needs to be kept species-appropriate every once in a blue moon.

This concludes week 25
Until next time,
Happy Hacking everyone