Where Is Ron?
Mexico and Central America: October 2006-February 2007
Ron and Ellen at Agua Azul, Mexico, November 2006
Report from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
November 16, 2006 -
24 November 2006
Afton, Virginia, USADear Family and Friends,
I got back from Mexico late in the evening on 16 November, and spent the next 4 days coughing constantly. Ron and I obviously got the same virus, probably from all the weather changes in Mexico, although we had very different symptoms. He had a cough and raging head cold, I only got the cough. I'm now recovered, and had a fine Thanksgiving yesterday with Sharon and Derrick and Simon and Leo. And Ron says he is well on the way to recovery.
We're pleased to discover that he is once again able to send photos from Internet cafes, so some photos of Lake Atitlan are posted here.
Ron titled this report, "From Panahachel on the the shores of Lake Atitlan," but I think a better title would have been, "You Can't Go Back Again."
Love to all,
Ellen
From Panahachel on the the shores of Lake Atitlan
To see photos of Lake Atitlan, click on the thumbnail at the left.
23 November 2006
Panahachel, GuatemalaHello Ellen, my dear -
When you disappeared from my view into the depths of the Tuxtla Gutierrez airport security, I left the airport and at the bus and taxi area I caught a taxi back into Tuxla Gutierrez for my bus to Tapachula. Arriving at the bus station I immediately asked at the counter if I could change to the 8:00 bus now leaving, they said yes, issued me a new ticket, and very quickly I boarded the bus which left immediately. The timing was perfect and if I had arrived a minute later I would have had to wait the two hours for the 10:00 am bus.
In Tapachula I quickly took a small bus to Ciudad Hidaigo on the border, cleared Mexican customs and walked across the bridge to the Guatemala border. Here my perfect timing came to an end since I had missed the last bus from Tecun Uman, and had to spend a night in a place even worst than Tapachula, where I had hoped to avoid spending the night.
I knew it was a long shot but had hoped to catch a bus to somewhere. After checking out several different places to stay, I picked one that felt safe, then found some grilled chicken for dinner. Next morning I caught a bus directly to Quetzaltenango (Xela).
The ride up from the coast to 2335 meters (7000 ft more or less) was a long interesting climb. I had forgotten how lush the mountains of Guatemala were and how different from the Mexican ones in Chiapas that we experienced. The views were beautiful with all the lush green variations in types of vegetation. In Xela I found a comfortable place to stay with a nice courtyard near the main square.
I realize now that I was coming down with the same cold you caught in Tuxtla after our changes from cold and wet mountains to the steamy jungle then back to mountains then to the very very hot beach then back to the mountains again. Then I continued back to the hot coast on an over-air-conditioned bus and spent the night in a hotel with the choice of either stuffy or cold air conditioning. In Quetzaltenango no one needed air conditioning but they also provided no heat either and my body seemed to have shut down its heating system - I just never could get warm. I slept most of the next day before exploring a bit. I just didn't feel up to exploring more so after two nights I caught a series of three buses and arrived in Panahachel, a place I loved and where I just wanted to find a warm place to sleep, read, and eat for a few days to get over my cold.
After 4 nights here, I am feeling better but not fully recovered either. When I cough it hurts my chest and stomach, which are sore from all the coughing. But I am better for Thanksgiving and have lots to give thanks for. My appetite is returning, but slowly.
Panahachel has always been a mystical place for me. This is where I really began traveling and where I learned so much from the California hippies I met here in 1971. I was an ex-military guy who had been working with the business community of Atlanta for three years and was sort of straight: the South meeting the hippie culture streaming out of Southern California. Like oil and water. I stayed in a place called the Cross Hotel where I immediately made wonderful friends. There was a wonderful community of hippies and travelers living there and they accepted me into their circles in an easy manner. This is where I met Brenda, the wonderful Canadian who taught me so much about traveling and life in general.
And now, 35 years later, I am wandering around this changed place looking for anyone or any building that reminds me of the paradise that was. So different from exploring a new town. I can't really see what is really here because I look so hard for what is not here any longer.
Last night I watched the sunset with Alex, a long-haired guy in his late 30s from Philadelphia who leads parasailing groups. He started coming here in 1990 and told me that the hippies now live in San Pedro on the other side of the lake. So maybe paradise still lives and it simply moved to a new address.
Alex also told me that he lived for 7 years in a fishing village on the coast of Bahia Brazil, a place that I have wanted to go for several years now. He talked about how he watched it change from a sleepy fishing village to a tourist town.
So here I have been for 4 days now, trying to recover in a place where travel and community all began for me, searching for a place that no longer exists. Remembering all the wonderful and very special places of the past that are probably no longer as they were: Playa del Carmen, Mexico; Cay Corka, Belize; Yangshuo and Dali, China; Padangbai, Bali; Cat Ba Island and Dalat, Vietnam; Zakopane, Poland, and many others - then meeting a guy who could be my son living a life like mine a generation before and talking of the place he loved changing as he watched.
While others would find Panahachel a beautiful place to visit with lots of bamboo restaurants and cheap places to stay like small beach towns, I must go find a new place.
I love and miss you,
Ron
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Last updated: 24 November 2006
