Through the rush hour in Guatemala City to Antigua (Day 188 of the world trip)

10.03.2020

I don't know if I even slept, but when we arrived at the bus station in Guatemala City around 4:30 am, we were quite fit for the moment :D

Our shuttle driver was already there and welcomed us with a sign, but we still had to wait for other people, so it was delayed.

That provided an opportunity for another toilet story :p :D :D

I found the toilets in the train station building and of course they were not free. It cost 2 Quetzal, so I went all the way back to the waiting hall and collected some small change. 4 times 50 cents added up to 2 Quetzal and I went back.

When I arrived there, I inserted the first coin and it didn't work. Hmm. I tried another coin and then an employee came, who explained to me that the machine ONLY accepts 1 Quetzal coins -.-

I asked where I could exchange and she pointed to a machine. However, it only accepts 5 or 10 Quetzal bills, which it then changes into coins.

No one accepted my begging look to exchange my smaller coins :D :D

So I went back to the waiting hall for the second unsuccessful time, where we were now allowed to board. Too bad :p

When we passed by the toilet and I knew that the trip to Antigua would take over an hour, I stopped again. Jonas gave me 5 Quetzal, I went to the machine and... it didn't like the bill!! :O

How much bad luck can one have? :D :D

Again, the same employee came to help me and this time she stayed with me until it finally worked. Yay!

I apologized to the rest of the group for making them wait, but after our luggage was secured on the roof of the van and we got in, we had to wait there for another good hour until the last passengers arrived!!

Good thing I went to the toilet :p :D :D

The sun had already risen, so it was probably after 6:00 am when the van was finally full and we started driving. However, the city was no longer as sleepy and we ended up right in the rush hour. Oh no! :D

In an annoying stop-and-go, which reminded me why I never want to commute if possible, we fought our way through the city center for a good 3 hours for just 8 km. Those were the longest three hours of our lives! :p :D

At least this allowed us to observe the street scene a bit, which is quite wild. There are usually three lanes in both directions, separated by a paved median made of trees or something similar. However, during rush hour, an additional lane on the opposite side of the road was opened for the direction INTO the city, so there were four lanes leading in and only two leading out.

I can only explain how this doesn't lead to accidents when suddenly cars are allowed to drive in the opposite direction on one lane because nothing moves anyway due to the number of cars ;-)

Most shops and factories like Bayer are located behind gates with barbed wire fences, and the police are omnipresent, even just as traffic police^^

We also saw someone without a uniform wearing black boots and carrying a gun. Just like that!

Our host explained that there is a new group that is supposed to help fight crime. They are not policemen, but they have permission to shoot in case of a robbery. Very strange :O Maybe he was one of them?

After the three hours, we finally made it out of the city and arrived in Antigua around 9:30 am and awww

The city reminds me of San Cristobal, it's mega cute, and one of the volcanoes around it was even emitting smoke when we arrived. A perfect, picturesque welcome!

We treated ourselves to breakfast in a small cafe (Jonas had fruit, yogurt, and oats, and I had beans, eggs, fried banana, bread, cheese, and a bit of tomato. Then we shared so that each got something sweet and savory :D) and then we went to the accommodation.

I was dead tired and the 20 minutes up the road with a slight incline out of the city, where our accommodation is located, felt like forever and very exhausting... I complained a bit but we didn't have a choice anyway :D

The hostel immediately made up for its location slightly off. It is run by Walter and Natalia, a young couple with their almost two-year-old daughter Florentina and Baby 2 visibly on the way :)

The accommodation is simple and the rooms upstairs are accessible via an old, steep staircase, but there is a terrace with hammocks and the room is huge and well... We booked for a whole week and I think it will be pretty cool too

After check-in, we took a shower - freezing cold but oh well^^ Then we went back to the city to find an ATM, and as a reward for the long way, I got an ice cream scoop :p :D :D

But then Jonas treated himself to one too ;-)

Back at the hostel, we took a three-hour nap and thus had a really lazy day here^^

Upon request, the accommodation offers breakfast and dinner, and now it is 6:16 pm and I'm really hungry :D

Jonas has been downstairs for an hour, where he just wanted to go to the toilet and wash a knife, but I think he might have gotten into a conversation. Our hosts are really lovely :)

Tomorrow, we will probably explore the city of Antigua itself, and depending on our motivation, we might also go up to one of the viewpoints.

From the first impression, Antigua is also very inviting (like Flores^^) and Guatemala is already rising higher in my ranking of favorite countries ;-)