Back in Xela -Sunday 25 March

Well, I am back in Xela after the big week in Santiago. After leaving Santiago I had to spend about 5 hours in Panajachel waiting for the bus and let me tell you this about Pana. It is like every other tourist destination in the (2nd/3rd) world. The market stalls are full of lower quality products at inflated prices, there are gringos everywhere and you have to keep an eye on your wallet and camera. Also, while I was having a cup of coffee I had 7 people come inside to my table and try to sell me their wares, and while I had lunch I had 17, yes 17, people come in to try and sell me stuff. And not only did I not want to buy anything, it was junk! They are also very insistent and you have to be quite rude to make them go away. I really hate that sort of scene.

Anyway, the trip back was OK but it did get cold and there was a bit of hail, but only for about 20 minutes. After that it cleared up again. In all the time I have been here it has only rained for a couple of hours plus this one episode of hail. Oh yeah, there was one bit of anxiety. I had booked a bus ticket to get back to Xela but had selected 24 April instead of 24 March. That took a bit of talking to convince them to change the booking but they were cool about it in the end. Especially seeing how they already had my money and there were spare seats available.

Today is Sunday and I am going to go to another procession later at the park. I also took a few photos of the the city centre because until now I hadn't actually done this.

One final thing to mention is that the hospitalito gave me a certificate for the work I did along with a nice little 'Hospitalito Atitlán' notebook and an embroidered (yep) pen with my name on it. And Henry's daughter, Ammy, drew me a picture of a kangaroo as a going away present.



This is a footbridge over a road in the lower part of town. I am told that when it rains this road is like a river and people need the bridge to get across. All the houses down the street have water marks and peeling paint from the constant flooding.



This looking the other way from the bridge. You can see the water damage on the buildings. This is an annual occurrence in the wet season.



This is, according to Ammy, what a kangaroo looks like.




The notebook and pen.


And this is the certificate from the hospitalito.

Location:Xela