Days 48-51 (30th-3rd Dec): Orchid Farm, Coffee Finka, Markets, Circus and Meeting a Lion :D
Written 15/12/12
So Coban has turned out to be great and much better than we expected. We planned to be here only 2 days and that has turned into 4 cos we liked it so much and found lots to do :)
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| Painting in the Lanquin Hostel I thought was funny :) |
Getting here was rele funny. We tried to catch a bus in the morning but it just never turned up (typical Cental America), so eventually a truck pulled up and offered us a lift and we jumped in. It was into the back of this huge covered pickup area, with 2 young boys and we sat on bits of cardboard. It was so funny! It was incredibly loud and SO bumpy and rattled a lot. The two boys both laid down and fell asleep at my feet too, and it cost about half as much so was great!
It did drop us on the outskirts and we had to get a bus in, we got completely the wrong one that nearly took us bk out of town, so we got off and jumped in a taxi instead lol. The hostel was plain, but we picked it as it seemed the safest. It was a big room though and had cable TV and OMG the best bed ever!! I was so comfy I didnt want to leave. It was soft and smelt like washing powder and reminded me of the beds at my grandmas house :) A very welcome change after 6 weeks of pretty shitty beds! However, the bed had to wait cos we were off to the orchid farm.
The Orchid farm is a tiny community run place that grows and sells orchids and will do a tour around the farm for about £2. In Spanish, this very old lady told us about how they grow and the national flower of Guatemala being the White Nun orchid and all sorts. I liked being there as they are one of my Grandma's favorite flowers too.
It was damp, shaded and had that smell but rele pretty and the paths wound on for ages through the trees. There were all sorted of orchids in amazing colours and sizes, one that looked like a spider (and a real spider too lol), heart shaped ones and even tiny ones where the flower was smaller than a baby finger nail! It was a nice afternoon and so quiet wandering around in the flowers with no one else there :)
After a nice cheap cafe dinner we went to the main town square to have a look. It was a bit drizzly and chilly and there was a HUGE christmas tree so it reminded us a lot of christmas at home :( Except this was the fanciest xmas tree i've ever seen, it had loads of baubles and tinsel and lights, but they all lit up and flashed in time to music, but crazily well. Plus it was sponsored by the Guatelemalan beer company so had a huge chicken ontop lol. Most christmassy i've felt yet :) There was lots of jewelery for sale which I managed to resist (I actually bought a present lol), and people doing fire poi and playing music which was kwl to watch and a nice atmosphere. My fav bit though was going back and getting into the super bed and watched films :P
I woke up having had one of the best nights sleep i've had since we left, but there was no advent calender for us to open on the first :( So we got up and went to visit a coffee finca! It was on the outskirts of the town and really old (its supposed to be a great area for coffee) and we were shown around by another rele old lady but she could speak some English and so could explain to us about all the different processes.
We got to look around the farm at the coffee plants as well as the machinery they use and all the different stages and processes of making coffee. Liam also put on a traditional workers hat but he looked ridiculous! :D Niether me nor Liam actually drink/like coffee but it was still really interesting and we got to nibble raw beans and see them laid out to dry in the sun and things like that. We also got a cup of coffee at the end that had been beans only a few months ago from there. It was SO strong! We ended up buying a few bits for me to send back to my family as they are coffee crazy :) Will have to sort sending things home soon as our souvenir bag is getting a bit full to be carried lol.
We decided to get lunch in the market. It was the craziest place I have seen. People shouting, horns going off, people and things everywhere, there is no space, but its really great! Saw lots of things I've never seen before, fruits, food, clothes, silver, chickens and puppies, anything really. I did end up getting a lovely traditional weaved top for myself and one for my brother :) We wound our way through the maze of stalls, had some nice food and bought some fruit. Had a tricky convo with a man in order to buy some card and tissue paper to wrap things in to send home lol, and Liam got some more boxers cos his are getting holey hehe!
I also managed to convince Liam to stay an extra day because I wanted a duvet day! I know that sounds weird, but we havent had any luxury or a day for doing nothing for 7 weeks, and here at least the bed was comfy so I rele wanted to stay! Traveling can be strangely stressful trying to organise everything every day from food to accommodation to activies to transport to the next place and no one speaks English and there is only us 2. I can also confess we went and ate at a fried chicken place, they are rele common here and fried chicken is like a staple but I still felt bad. Must have been having a missing western comforts day lol, Liam loved it! :D
That next day we didn't do a lot! Had a lie in and went and bought lunch from the market again and things like that. It got to the evening pretty quickly lol. Although it was not advertised anywhere I remembered seeing a circus top on our way in and after asking about it we found out it started in half an hours time so off we ran. It was a way out of town and a bit dodgy to get there but once we got close we could see the big top and lots of lights and we got pretty excited! I cant remember the last time I saw a real circus! From the outside you could see the tigers in their cages and the camels and white horses, the lot!
We bought toffee apples and popcorn lol :) Then it started. There was a contoursionist, a rope climber, a clown, juggler, a man who did a whole show with mini ponies, camels and llamas, and then there was a cage of death with 3 motorcyclists going round and they were rele good! 2 of them were girls too.
Then came the tiger man... They put a big slotted gate wall up around the edge of the ring, we weren't sure how it was going to hold in all the tigers, but they then let them go... 4 of them in the little circus ring with the man, about 10ft from us! It was crazy! They did all sorted of tricks and things, but I was just mesmerised by the size of them and being able to see them not through glass and so close, you could smell them lol. They made a lot of noise too lol. It was a great show.
We ended up being one of the last to leave and spotted the tiger man in the corner or the tent so went over to talk to him. He was really nice and he ended up asking if we wanted to go backstage and meet the tigers!!!! =O He lead us back and there they were. We approached them very slowly (dodging the camels and bulls etc) because they are Bloody Massive when you are that close and don't seem real!! He then told us to put our hand through the bars and actually stroke them... stroke a tiger!! It was AMAZING! They are actually quite coarse and thick haired lol :P Their paws are bigger than our hands by a lot. He said they were quite hungry though and so not rele in the mood (:S) so he invited us back in the morning to have a proper look. I practically skipped home I was so happy.
The next morning we did go back and had a better look around. We headed straight for the tiger cage and had another stroke. In the daylight their eyes are so beautiful and green and their faces so fuzzy and cute, but their heads are MASSIVE. Stroking one was amazing but it was pretty scary too! The keeper was totally not bothered and practically cuddled them, but we were so nervous everytime he moved we would flinch back, but he kept rolling over and yawning and just wanted to play. It made your heart beat a bit faster though no matter how strong the cages!
They also had a pair of lions there but apparently they are more grumpy so you cant touch them lol, but we still got to get closer than I have ever been to lion with no glass, and it makes such a difference to rele hear and smell them, and see them properly. Liam got stared out by the big male and also licked by a friendly camel too! There were so many different animals here!
The whole experience was amazing and one we will never forget. It was made better because it was totally by chance and something we stumbled on which made it more specical as both days we didnt see any other tourists in the circus at all, and it was totally free! :D
After that we had brunch and wandered around again, in the drizzle, general people watching going about their daily stuff. Liam came across a shop that sold handmade leather shoes. Initally he tried some on as a joke and then realised they looked rele good! So we splashed out (:S) and bought a pair of new fancy Guatemalan made boots! Will defo need to post now lol. Then, I will admit, we had pizza. It was good though haha!
And that was the end of our Coban adventures. It is a nice city but very busy, kinda dirty, not rele geared for tourism and no real sights to see, but the circus made what was a stop over really into something amazing! Now we just have to deal with the 10 hour bus journey tomorow to get to Lake Atitlan!
Some Chicken Buses!! :D They really are as crazy as they sound!
To get here the 10 hour bus ride was much like the others. Long, but with amazing scenery the whole way out the window with mountains and hills and forest and landscapes so different to ours. We had to make several bus changes and while in Antigua (which looks lovely and we're excited to go back there next week) an electricity cable from a pole fell down and got wrapped around the wheel of the minivan.. the driver didn't even notice untill we shouted at him and jumped out, and even then he acted totally nochalent and just started to pull on this live cable... mental. Thats just whats its like here, no one cares about their own or anyone elses safety really! On the 3rd bus change the driver we got was crazy, and it was probably the first time I felt pretty unsafe, he was wheel-skidding (we could hear them skreetch) round rele tight corners on a small mountain road... eventually someone asked him to stop so that was ok. I think thats pretty normal here too lol.
It actually got a but nippy again so we went and got a cup of tea in a coffee shop and wrote my diary. Liam ended up talking to crazy old Guatemalan man selling nuts from a bag, he had scales and everything and was quite funny :) It was nice, until some very loud Americans came in and ruined it all. I don't think they realised how loud they were talking and that what they were saying often sounded very stupid?!? There is quite a mix here of some backpackers and some rich/older/retired toursits too, that obviously have a lot of money and flash it about a lot. Very annoying, worse for the locals I imagine!! 
The next morning I woke up and Liam was gone. I found him doing some washing of our clothes! Part of why I love him :) Today we decided to actually do something so went down to the docks to try to get a lancha (small boat) across the lake to one of the volcanoes (San Pedro), to try to climb up one and get to some small ruins that are up there. We found a man who said he would take us and wait a few hours and take us back (for a heafty fee) so we went with that. The ride across the lake was really bumpy actually and I was worried about Liam but he managed it fine :)
We wandered around for a bit but couldnt find a lot. We were following all the paths off, wading through waist high grasses, fields, snakes, and up rocks to get to other places. We came across this rele creepy dark cave so ran from that quickly lol, and eventually Liam spotted somthing in the distance and we reached some rele big boulders and what looked like stairs. It was the remains of a small simple temple, though not the bigger site we had been looking for (no idea where that was). There was a fire pit here and some melted wax, some long-dead flowers and other weird items, and we later found out that the area is still used by shamans and locals to make offerings :S The temple was not a lot to see but the views from here were gorgeous and you could see for miles.
It was getting dark though and was a very creepy and the lancha was leaving soon so we had to run back down the side of the mountain in the dusk, down the steep paths and through all the fields, tripping up as we went on the mayan ceramics lol. We just made it before we were abandoned on the island, and the boat ride back in the dark was pretty with all the village lights twinkling. The boatman had been getting quite worried about us apparently lol. I think he had taken us to the wrong place. I dont think he knew what we meant by the ruins here, its difficult in Spanish, and so had just taken us to the volcano anyway lol. No one we asked seemed to know what we were on about despite it being in the guide book!? We were glad to get back, but still, it was definitely a great adventure! :D We ended the day by cooking omelette and watching the smurf movie, yay for cable :)
