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Category: Chris

El Salvador is a lawless abyss

5/11/19 – 5/15/19 It was pure morning.  Dew boiled off tarmac.  Sun slid up from behind strident peaks.  Smoke wafted from roadside tiendas grilling chicken and tortillas and mixed with the humidity and scent of nature’s decomposing surplus of bananas and mangoes which gravity constantly plucked from trees and forgot on the ground.  Cars played Read More

Guatemala: Part V – Antigua et al

5/7/19 – 5/10/19 Out of San Juan Caldera there is one great hill.  I managed to keep up with Yvan’s young legs for the climb and he and I waited for Soph at the top.  From there it descends for several kilometers into a nothing town called Parramos.  As we gained speed my sweat was Read More

Guatemala: Part IV – Volcan Acatenango

5/6/19 – 5/7/19 Jonas and Maria cooked us a massive breakfast before setting out to the volcano.  From what I can tell, you are supposed to have a guide for this hike because a few people froze to death near the top in 2018.  At the same time, they don’t appear to enforce this strongly.  Read More

Guatemala: Part III

5/4/19 – 5/5/19 I struggle to load my bike onto the little boat at the docks in San Pedro and out of the corner of my eye see the porter trying to put Soph’s bike on the top. “Por favor no.” He keeps doing it.  He can barely lift it, he’s knocking the drive train Read More

Guatemala: Part II – Learning about Spanish and colonization

4/27/19 – 5/3/19 The thing about learning a language is that at some point you have to begin saying things that are more complicated than “Where is the bathroom?” If you’re a first-worlder in Latin America, even with the observational prowess equivalent to that of a grown man with a third grade reading level, you Read More

Guatemala Part I

4/21 – 4/26 We crossed into Guatemala on April twenty first, my thirty sixth birthday.  The night before had been spent in a border motel where they lock a massive gate at night so nobody gets in or out.  A strange cast of characters ran between one another’s room shouting, slamming doors, smoking, and occasionally making Read More

Last days of Mexico

4/16 – 4/20 I was shuffling about the hostel early the morning of the 16th…. trying to find a clean plate.  This is the only issue I tend to have in the places with “good energy.” The Universe, all powerful as it may be for the young and nappy, has yet to venture into cleaning Read More

San Cristobal: Part IV

4/13/19 – 4/15/19 Just outside of San Cristobal is the little town of Chamula.  Several people described it as an indigenous stronghold where people live by their own traditional rules.  They don’t pay taxes and they don’t care for other Mexicans sticking their noses into their town.  It sounded a bit like Colorado City, Utah.  Read More

San Cristobal: Part III

4/5/19 – 4/12/19 Time is a fluid concept in Mexico.  In Sombrerete, my host Fer explained to me that “Ahora” which basically means “Now” really means something more like “Whenever” in practicality.  I generally use a multiplier of three when people estimate a time that it might take to achieve something.  For some reason I Read More

San Cristobal: Part II

3/30/19 – 4/4/19 Parque Nacional Arcotete is a hell of a ride up the mountain from San Cristobal.  The GPS was misfiring, so after several wrong turns and having to re-climb a few peaks we rolled through the gates.  It is less than ten miles from the city, but you would never know it.  The Read More

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