Sadly Christmas this year isn't going to be what it was supposed to be. Because of all the flight delays in Seattle Cassie can't make it out of Alaska until the 28th and into Guatemala until the 29th, she would then have to pay $300 to change her ticket with Continental. So unfortunately she won’t get to come to Guatemala. It is ridiculous this whole turn of events. It would have been one thing to plan on spending Christmas alone, but to have it forced on you is a whole other deal.
I’m currently in San Marcos La Laguna on Lake Atitlan. It is really nice to kick back and relax here after traveling around for a few days. It took me two days to get from Utila to Antigua. I spent all of twenty four hours in Antigua before heading out to Panajachel to catch a boat to San Marcos. So after three days of traveling around it is nice to kick back a little.
The rest of my stay in Utila was really nice. I’m definitely going back there do dive as soon as I can. It wasn’t as hard to leave as I thought it would be. It seems like the only things to do there are dive and go out to the bars. I can only take so much of that. It would be nice to kayak around a little and check out Pumpkin Hill. Apparently the island is a raised reef, but Pumpkin Hill is some sort of volcanic thing. It would be cool to get over there and check it out.
Antigua was a pretty nice town. I’m looking forward to going back there and spending more time. The city its self is very European and touristy. As I was leaving around 1 o’clock yesterday you could tell that there were a lot of tourists coming into town for Christmas. It’s nice to be in a little more quite spot for Christmas after the sad turn of events.
I’m trying to make the most of it here. Things are really laid back. The town is full of laid back hippies and native mayans. There are a ton of places to do saunas, massages, and yoga. I think today I’m going to go check out the lake, do some bouldering and swimming there, then kick back and do some reading and yoga at the hotel. Maybe even a massage if I run out of lazy things to do. That pretty much seems to be the deal here in San Marcos; kick back and relax. For Christmas I’ll probably end up doing some kayaking along the lake and some more yoga. After Christmas I may head to San Pedro La Laguna and hike the volcano there before heading back to Antigua to hike an active volcano and try to poke lava with a stick ;)
The lake is gorgeous! I wish that I could post some pictures of it but the computer here flips out every time I try to load some pictures. When I get back home I’ll do a post of the best pictures from the trip, and post all the pictures on facebook.
I hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Utila
I have found paradise! Utila is a really cool town/island. The atmosphere is really laid back and everyone is really nice. It is also nice that the language on the island is english, so it is not very stress full. I got in a couple days ago and am really sad that I will have to leave on Saturday.
Yesterday I started SCUBA diving school at Utila Water Sports. Scuba diving is really cool; there is a whole other world under the water. I´m really glad I was able to get this in. I had a little trouble at first with my claustraphobia, but scuba diving is all about mind over matter. This is the first time I have come into problems with how fit I am/was. With my lungs from skiing I burn through a tank of oxygen REALLY fast, and I have a hard time staying bouyant because I don´t have much fat and with my lung volume causes me to rise and fall a whole lot when I breath. I guess it will take some getting used to, I´ve only done on real dive so far.
There is the coolest bar in the world here. It is called Tree Tanic. It is this pirate ship up in the trees! The owner spent 12 years building the place, and must have done so on drugs. The whole place is a work of art! There are amazing mosaics, and really crazy stairs. You´ll have to check out my pictures on facebook.
I have finally found a place that has fast enough internet to upload some pictures. Because in facebook I can upload a large batch all at once I have been slowly putting pictures on facebook. I´ll see if I can get some here.
Well off to lunch and my second dive!
Adios,
Pablo
Yesterday I started SCUBA diving school at Utila Water Sports. Scuba diving is really cool; there is a whole other world under the water. I´m really glad I was able to get this in. I had a little trouble at first with my claustraphobia, but scuba diving is all about mind over matter. This is the first time I have come into problems with how fit I am/was. With my lungs from skiing I burn through a tank of oxygen REALLY fast, and I have a hard time staying bouyant because I don´t have much fat and with my lung volume causes me to rise and fall a whole lot when I breath. I guess it will take some getting used to, I´ve only done on real dive so far.
There is the coolest bar in the world here. It is called Tree Tanic. It is this pirate ship up in the trees! The owner spent 12 years building the place, and must have done so on drugs. The whole place is a work of art! There are amazing mosaics, and really crazy stairs. You´ll have to check out my pictures on facebook.
I have finally found a place that has fast enough internet to upload some pictures. Because in facebook I can upload a large batch all at once I have been slowly putting pictures on facebook. I´ll see if I can get some here.
Well off to lunch and my second dive!
Adios,
Pablo
Friday, December 12, 2008
Qick Update
I'm in Copan, Honduras now. Copan is much nicer than Guatemala City. I'm looking into a spanish school here so I don't sound like an idiot. The spanish class is about a week long. I have had a bunch of nice travel locations tips so I might skip out in the sake of time. I may send home the snorkle and mask and travel back to Antigua and do trips out of there. I finally accomplished something today without bumbling too much. The class starts on monday so we'll see how frustrated I am after a couple days here. I was going to post some photos, but my time is running out on the computer. I'll post some tomorrow, after I check out the mayan ruins in Copan!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Guatemala!!!
Really quick update....
Holly cow! What an experience getting into Guatemala. I am a bumbling idiot. I don´t understand a thing. After a bunch of bumbling and stumbling I got a ticket to Copan and found my hotel. The sawed off shot gun toting policia are friendly. I don´t want to see why they have shot guns.
Well while it is still light out I´m going to go stumble and bumble some more to see if I can find sustinance, and a less meandering path to the bus terminal.
I´m probably going to go to Copan and hang out there and go to a spanish school since I am a bumbling idiot.
Well I´m off.... wish me luck.....I´ll need it.
adios,
Pablo
Pictures will come. I don´t want to look like a total tourist. I already have the deer in the head lights look.
Hasta maƱana
Holly cow! What an experience getting into Guatemala. I am a bumbling idiot. I don´t understand a thing. After a bunch of bumbling and stumbling I got a ticket to Copan and found my hotel. The sawed off shot gun toting policia are friendly. I don´t want to see why they have shot guns.
Well while it is still light out I´m going to go stumble and bumble some more to see if I can find sustinance, and a less meandering path to the bus terminal.
I´m probably going to go to Copan and hang out there and go to a spanish school since I am a bumbling idiot.
Well I´m off.... wish me luck.....I´ll need it.
adios,
Pablo
Pictures will come. I don´t want to look like a total tourist. I already have the deer in the head lights look.
Hasta maƱana
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
On My Way
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
No go for India
As you may have guessed I'm not going to India. After hearing about the chaos going on a couple blocks from where I was going to stay I quickly cancelled my trip to India.
Now I'm going to be going down to Portland for a few days to visit family before heading down to Guatemala. On the way to Guatemala I have an overnight lay over in Houston so that I can visit family there before making the final flight to Guatemala City.
I am planning on meeting up with Cassie in Guatemala then checking out the Mayan ruins, volcanoes and jungles. I'm arriving in Guatemala nine days before Cassie gets there so those first few days I may try to head over to Honduras and the Bay Islands for some beach time and snorkeling.
Up until then I've got to do my research on Guatemala and Honduras and learn some Spanish!
Now I'm going to be going down to Portland for a few days to visit family before heading down to Guatemala. On the way to Guatemala I have an overnight lay over in Houston so that I can visit family there before making the final flight to Guatemala City.
I am planning on meeting up with Cassie in Guatemala then checking out the Mayan ruins, volcanoes and jungles. I'm arriving in Guatemala nine days before Cassie gets there so those first few days I may try to head over to Honduras and the Bay Islands for some beach time and snorkeling.
Up until then I've got to do my research on Guatemala and Honduras and learn some Spanish!
Some people go to church....
and others go to the backcountry!
There is something truely special about skiing in the mountains. I felt especially gifted last Sunday when Zach, Jason, Karl and I went skiing out at Tin Can in Turnagain Pass.
The avalanche hazard was pretty high that day and most people were going skiing out at Alyeska. Turnagain Pass got dumped on the last couple days and there was a lot of unsettled snow. The plan was to ski the low angle slopes and trees. I was a little nervus about the conditions; but I was going with some really experience skiers and climbers. Zach is a guide for Mountain Trip and is soon off to Argentina to guide on Aconcagua and Jason is a long time climber and skier with a lot of experience. Between the four of us I felt that we could make some smart decisions.
While driving down to the pass we hit real thick blizard conditions along Turnagain Arm. We stopped in Girdwood for a little while to let things settle down before heading up to the pass. Thankfully by the time we got to the pass, things had settled down and it was starting to look like a blue bird day.
The skin up was amazing! The trees were loaded with snow and the sun was just coming up over the mountains. It didn't feel like I was in Alaska any more. I was completely overwhelmed.
Jason had the perfect quote for the day,"Boys, it gets better than this; but not much." It certainly couldn't get much better than being outside with three friends on such a fabulous day. I was so thankfull I wasn't in India at the time. I could definetally feel that there was something out there keeping me from India so that I could be there that day. I felt much more of a connection that day than any time that I had spent in a church. There is something to be said about the power and majesty of the mountains.
Thanksgiving
Sadly I wasn't able to make it up to Fairbanks for Thanksgiving this year. Instead I spent the day skiing from my cabin in the mountains to the east of Anchorage. Jason, Cassie and I got an early start and set the skin track up the mountain. Unfortunately everyone else decided not to use it and skin right up the best line. Oh well, I guess they just had to deal with a skin track that gets skied out.
The snow was pretty decent up there. There was six inches to a foot of new on top of hard pack in the chute. We decided to stick to the lower angle terrain and out of the rocks due to the avalanche hazards.
All in all it was a great way to get out and share some powder with friends before gorging on excellent food!
The snow was pretty decent up there. There was six inches to a foot of new on top of hard pack in the chute. We decided to stick to the lower angle terrain and out of the rocks due to the avalanche hazards.
All in all it was a great way to get out and share some powder with friends before gorging on excellent food!
Cassie skinning up
Cassie
Jason with Cassie in the background
Jason
Jason practicing his dry tooling technique in his "manskos".
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