nice. I'm writing this almost a week after to avoid the influence of exhaustion and disappointment but this is the best I can come up with. Even I'm surprised!
I realize that making weekend excursions - even three- or four-day ones - simply isn't economical: you spend most of your time getting to and from a place. The limited budget hasn't helped either.
Then there are the tourists. And with them come the tourist commodities, the raised prices as well as the touts. It seemed as if Guatemala was very touristy although the places I visited were hardly off-the-beaten-track.
It's weird though because I was really looking forward to going somewhere touristy: I was dying for a decent conversation in English. And when it was just two people, I'd willingly strike up a conversation. But any more than that, I tended to avoid them. It's something I'm still struggling to understand about myself. And so, I found myself wanting to leave a place as soon as I'd gotten there.
Then again, there have been moments when I've been at ease with everything around me. For example sitting in a bus full of locals and watching the sights play on the windows. Or waiting for a bus at the square of a transit town and letting the sounds and noises wash over me. Or simply being out and about Antigua and Santiago de Atitlan at 6:00 am. That's when the world comes alive with a distinct clarity that makes me feel thankful to be alive.
And that is how, I suppose, Guatemala is nice.
I realize that making weekend excursions - even three- or four-day ones - simply isn't economical: you spend most of your time getting to and from a place. The limited budget hasn't helped either.
Then there are the tourists. And with them come the tourist commodities, the raised prices as well as the touts. It seemed as if Guatemala was very touristy although the places I visited were hardly off-the-beaten-track.
It's weird though because I was really looking forward to going somewhere touristy: I was dying for a decent conversation in English. And when it was just two people, I'd willingly strike up a conversation. But any more than that, I tended to avoid them. It's something I'm still struggling to understand about myself. And so, I found myself wanting to leave a place as soon as I'd gotten there.
Then again, there have been moments when I've been at ease with everything around me. For example sitting in a bus full of locals and watching the sights play on the windows. Or waiting for a bus at the square of a transit town and letting the sounds and noises wash over me. Or simply being out and about Antigua and Santiago de Atitlan at 6:00 am. That's when the world comes alive with a distinct clarity that makes me feel thankful to be alive.
And that is how, I suppose, Guatemala is nice.
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