Day 6 - On Things Not Going as Planned, Sunrises, and the Perils of Solo Traveling

Tuesday morning early (3:00) when my alarm went off, I did not feel so great. I got up, got around, and proceeded with my hike down the mountain. It wasn't that creepy - I kept the flashlight on the steps so as to avoid any creepies I did not want to step on. I got to the meeting place (oh, after passing one of thee guys being slaughtered).

Esteban was not there yet. Two girls from Boston arrived for the hike and shortly after, a vehicle to take us to the trailhead. But oops, no. Not me. He was with a different company. So, I wait more. A tuk tuk arrives. Esteban had told me it would be him. This was not. He looked at my ticket, thought for a second, and told me to get in. Here I am, 4:30 am, the guy does not speak English, I have no idea who he is, he seemed hesitant .... So I got in. (Tammi - I could not but help and think of our overactive imaginations growing up - how every car who drove down our dirt road was a bad person out to get us, every noise a potential abductor). Along those lines, I'm wondering is he really taking me to the Indian Nose trailhead? After about 30 min, 30 very rough, bumpy, and cold minutes, we stopped. We were in a small town. He said he was waiting on a friend. Ummm...ok. After 5 minutes, vamos. Let's go. We walk a block and meet up with Diego, who is to be my guide. My driver leaves. Thankfully, this did not turn into a horror movie scene. 😊

We walk through corn fields, switchbacks, and steps. Oh, the altitude. I'm still not feeling great, either. We get to the first viewing platform and I am ok with stopping there. I was treated with the following views. 

On the right horizon are Volcáns Fuego and Acatenango. Volcán Agua is barely visible to the left of them. 

The far village is San Pedro, where I was yesterday. It sits under Volcán San Pedro. The nearer village is San Juan. On the other side of San Pedro is Santiago, where I hope to go today (Wednesday).

360° pano 

From the phone - you can see 6 volcanoes!

I admit, I did not enjoy the views as much as I hoped because did I mention I woke up sick? When I was ready, we walked back down and my tuk tuk driver was waiting (pretty sure he had been napping). We arrived back to town by just after 7. Nothing was open yet so I just walked home. By 7:40, I had walked 4.2 miles and climbed 86 floors. The rest of my day - I'll spare details, but I mostly slept. At least I had a view 

That's Volcán San Pedro across the lake and visible from my room.

My fever broke at about 2 am. I feel better now (almost 8 am) but have not eaten since Monday. I'm going to take it easy, move slowly, shower, etc....depending on how that goes, I think I will go to town but not until noon or so. Go across lake to Santiago. Sit at coffee shop. Come back. Go to bed. 

I will not swim/kayak like I had planned because I just don't have the energy. Maybe next trip. 😊

And as for illness - I suspect that I had a drink that had ice that was not made from potable water. I've been careful but ... They say it's not "if" but "when" you get sick when in Guatemala. I came prepared with antibiotics, at least. 

Times I wish I were not solo: in bed, sick, need water. Good water is in kitchen behind bungalow. Short walk. But it took hours to muster up the energy. 

Also, when at a cafe or something and the you need to go to the bathroom - it's a pain to take all your things. 

One short I forgot- Monday, the cashier at dinner was new and apologized for being slow. She spoke English very well. I asked her where she was from. Costa Rica. Oh cool! She's from San Juan, the capital. When she found out where I am from, she said she's visited family in Washington DC but it was kind of boring. And Miami was just OK. NYC was different, though. 😂😳 

Perspective?