A bumpy road

At 5 am in Nebaj we climbed into the minibus that was headed toward Cobàn. The sky was still dark as Ashleigh and I sat ourselves behind four women dressed in the intensely colorful outfits and head scarves worn by the Ixil women. I marveled at the intricate braids the wraps made around the women´s heads, and I wondered how long it took them to weave one.

The famed highway from Nebaj to Cobàn passes through the mountain range that encompasses most of Guatemala. Landslides, general lack of development, and lack of finances render it one of the bumpiest roads that could possibly exist. The trip lasted hours, and our muscles ached, and our stomachs lurched. Finally, we arrived in Cobàn, a beautiful mid-sized town surrounded by incredible, lush forests.

We spent the day running the trails of the town´s national park, and when the daily afternoon rainstorm came, we were happy to see that the mosquitos took cover. It was a beautiful rain, washing the forest and us all at once.

Later, refreshed, we took a tour of a coffee finca, a plantation for growing coffee. It was interesting to learn how coffee is grown, especially considering that it is my particularly adored drug of choice.

In the evening, we passed through the town market to pick up some fresh produce and queso fresco for our evening meal. It did not really hit us until possibly that moment how many changes we had been through in such a short time. Being in Nebaj and Acul was incredibly intense. It was like Ashleigh and I both felt the town still reeling from the violence that ended so recently.

That was yesterday. We now feel like we are in a very touristy place, Cobán, and a feeling of superficiality--the realization that we are no longer volunteers, as we were in San Marcos, but instead we are verified backpackers, a.k.a. tourists--has come over us quite a bit.

Today we went to an incredibly beautiful natural park outside Cobàn, but the stunning waterfalls were somewhat tainted by the fact that we felt like pure tourists for the first time since we´ve arrived in Guatemala. Taking this into account, we´ve decided to skip Flores and Tikal for the time being, and instead head toward Livingston, the city of Guatemala´s Afro-American culture, the Garifuna.