Nov 27 Lagoon Chicabal

I just got back from a hike with three others to Lagoon Chicabal.Lagoon Chicabal is a hours chicken bus ride out of Xela to a Mayan village called San Martin.The road/trail to Lagoon Chicabal is striaght up the mountain side...the Guatemalans don,t appear to have heard of switchbacks...with great views of corn fields on the hillsides and nearby Volcan Santa Maria.Mind you just as we reached the top it clouded over and we couldn,t see a thing.Lagon Chicabal is a Mayan sacred place.I walked down the longest staircase in my life to the small lake which really is water in an extinct volcanoe. Fortunatley I didn,t need to go back up the staircase... which was basically straight up and rickety.....as their was another way out.After the hike I was in the most crowded chicken bus I have yet to experience.People just jammed in...three to a seat and the isle choked with people and still the bus kept stopping for more.I felt bad as half way into the ride..after some people got off..I managed to secure a bit of a seat but then the driver stopped to pick up a crowd of Mayan women and children who...grandmas amongst them..stood stoically and laughingly in the isle several of them with babies/ toddlers wrapped in folds on their back.Even if I wanted to give my seat I simply couldn,t budge.As the bus swept around curves everyone leaned into one another and when someone wanted to get out or someone in they literally squeezed through and climbed over one another.At one point my leg was stuck between two people in the isle and it was near impossinle for me to manouver to let the person aside me out.At another point I had a old lady sitting on my lap(actually she was probably about my age) and at another point this fellows  behind was in my face.
Yesterday I went by myself to Hueyhuetenango to see some Mam ruins at Zaculeu.I left Xela at 6 am and it took three hours by chicken bus to get to Hueyhue and then another chicken bus to Zaculue.The ruins were no where as spectacular as those at Tikal but as they are situated on top of a flat hill surrounded by ravines they have a mysterious presence-like you can feel what the city must have looked like before it was seiged and destroyed by the spanish in the 1540,s .
So...I had quite an adventurous weekend and am now knackered and need to go back to my home stay.I had a huge bowl of chicken soup at a nearby restuarant with two of the people I hiked with .Nice pineapple fruite/milk drink and a great cup of coffee.
I send these EMails from Celas Maya school where they have a internet room.Its funny... many of the american 20 somethings here communicate home via internet with phone video connections so while I type this I can listen in to them chattering away to there parents and friends.I am obviously in a different league electronically....