Jewel in the Rough

The hot water in my shower this morning made my day. The day seems brighter, the people friendlier, and the prospect of a lost swimming suit and towel less upsetting, all because I got to take a warm shower. But I am getting ahead of myself.

 Yesterday, I headed up to Zunil to visit the Fuentas Georginas hot springs.  There were four of us going, and we got out the door of our hostel at 6am to catch a chicken bus headed south. We got there just as one was pulling away, and we hopped on. The bus took us to Zunil in about 20 minutes due to the lack of traffic. We wandered up to the church to catch a pickup that was headed up the mountain towards the hot springs. It was much easier than we thought, since there were a number of pickups just hanging out waiting for tourists. The first guy we met offered 25Q for all of us, one way. This was a great deal, but some of my fellow travellers thought that we could do better. We ended up paying another guy 30Q for the ride, but he also agreed to come back at noon to get us for another 30Q. The pickup ride was an experience, the guy zoomed up the curvy mountain road, the air was freezing, and the sun was barely up. I was luckily up against the back of the cab, but some of the other girls were being tossed from side to side, a fact that the driver seemed to be taking great pleasure from.

When we arrived at the hot springs, there was a big gate in place. It turns out they don’t open until 8am, and we were 40 minutes early. We hung out talking and walking in circles trying to keep warm for a while, and then the caretaker took pity on us and let us in early.  The springs were gorgeous. The hot water dripped off of the rock wall, and into a pool tiled with stones, and punctuated with boulders to laze on. We finally convinced ourselves to strip down to our swimming suits and get into the steamy water. The first steps made my feet tingle with shock, but after being immersed in the water for a while it began to feel almost tepid. We found the hot spots in the pool, and took turns sitting in a little chair shaped hollow where the warm water dripped down on our heads. After an hour of this we were all famished, and kept casting glances at the pool side restaurant.

The restaurant finally opened at 9, and we clambered out of the pool, into our clothes and into the restaurant as fast as we could. The air was still freezing, as the pool is nestled into a hollow on the north side of the mountain, and never gets direct sunlight. The food was good though. I had my standard huevos rancheros and tortillas, and cafe con leche. One girl got the hot chocolate, and it was so thick her spoon could practically stand up in the liquid. It was good, although so rich we could only stand a sip or two.

As we finished our breakfast, two more tourists showed up, then three more, and then two locals. The pool was big, and we had enjoyed several hours of solitude in it, so we didn´t mind sharing. We met some of the other tourists and lolled around, turning into prunes. At around 11 this big group of Mayans showed up, and kids started running around with water wings, and balls. I took that as my cue to get cleaned up. It was fun to watch the chaos, and I hung my suit and towel out to dry. Eventually my group headed down to the parking lot to wait for the driver. I put my suit and towel down to take some pictures and never picked them up again. The driver came, we went back to Zunil, checked out the church, got on the wrong chicken bus back to Xela, and got dropped of at the bus station on the far side of town. That’s when I realized I had forgotten my bathing suit. We were right by the brand spanking new mall, so one girl and I went to check out the bathing suit selection there. It was kind of fun to look around the mall actually, since it is definitely not a tourist hangout. I got to practice my Spanish a little with one of the clerks. The bathing suit selection was grim, but true to form, I bought a pair of shoes.

 We got back to the center, and I brooded over my suit for awhile (I really liked that one), before going out for a beer. I also managed to talk with some other Israeli girls who are headed out to the hot springs today, so I asked them to inquire about my suit. I did try to call, but they just said, ”we’ll look, call back tomorrow,” which usually means ”fat chance.”

But today…today I had a hot shower, I had a cup of free coffee in the kitchen of the hostel, and I cut about 6 inches off of my travelling companion’s hair. Today has been a good day. So I will let the bathing suit go, and enjoy my day of running around doing errands, because tomorrow is a travel day, all the way from Xela to Guate and up to Cobán.

Check out the new photos (totally out of order, unfortunately) at http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=57432674/a=73094751_73094751/t_=73094751