Cancun and Isla Mujeres Pictures

My brief time in Cancun and Isla Mujeres still provided lots of photographic opportunities.  For a larger view click on the slideshow.

xx,

gwen

Hot Springs and a Cemetery

Dear Readers,

Finally, we are almost at the end of my experiences in Xela. Christmas Day was business as usual, except I didn't have to go to school, apart from that there was nothing special going on. To make the most of my day I decided to take a stroll down to the Xela Cemetery. The Xela Cemetery is not on the usual list of tourist destinations in Guatemala, but I decided to check it out after my Spanish teacher, Martha, told me a sort of ghost story.

Once upon a time, there lived a gypsy in the town of Xela. No one knows what a gypsy was doing in Guatemala or how she got there, but she was there none the less. Sadly, whatever fate had brought her to Xela also doomed her to the life of a star crossed lover. The gypsy fell in love with a man far above her station in life. Of course, his family disapproved and sent him packing for Europe. She faithfully waited for him, but the years passed by with no word from her lover. One day the man returned to Xela, with a wife in hand. The gypsy couldn't believe the cruelty of the world and died of a broken heart. She was buried in the Xela cemetery, and everyday since her entombment a single red rose appears on her grave. No one knows who places it there, but long after the death of both the gypsy and her sweetheart, a rose continues to appear.

So...I went to the Xela cemetery to see if I could find this haunted tomb. Martha told me the general area in which the grave was located, but I never found it. This was a bit of a disappointment, but the elaborate tombstones and mausoleums were worth the trip.

Later that day I started to fell sick. At first I thought maybe I had become possessed by an evil spirit when I was in the graveyard, then I realized it was my old friend the stomach bug ( I didn't know it was a parasite yet), come back to haunt me.

Being sick caused me to miss my last day of school and the very important lesson on the correct use of the subjunctive. It also shifted my plans for leaving Xela back a day. My original plan was to spend Saturday tying up loose ends and getting my act together and then to leave for Antigua on Sunday. Instead, because I was still feeling weak, I decided to go with my friend Danny and some of his classmates to the restorative hot springs at Fuente Georgina.

To get there we had to first take a bus to Zunil. In Zunil we hired a truck to drive us to the hot springs. Alternatively, we could have walked but that is and eight km trek uphill. With the four of us splitting the cost of the truck it wasn't too expensive. 

The ride up to the springs was very beautiful as we passed campesinos working in the lush green fields, and at times hair raising; literally, because it was windy and, figuratively, because we were sitting in the back of the truck driving on narrow mountain roads as the fog started to roll in. 

Along the way we picked up some Mayan women who were either enjoying the ride, or laughing at us gringos holding on for our dear lives.

We arrived at the springs feeling cold and wind battered, which was perfect for wanting to get into the hot water. Boy was it hot! At Fuentes Georgina the hot spring is diverted into three man made pools each one increasing in size and water temperature. We quickly changed into our swimsuits and made our way to the second pool, which could be described as hot tub hot. Hanging out in this pool was relaxing but too crowded. Once we got used to the heat we moved over to the big pool, which I would describe as being ridiculously, melt your skin off, hot. 

I found this third pool to be unbearable and had to sit on a rock with just my legs dipped in. Eventually even that got to be too much for me. You really have to be careful in these hot springs. People faint all the time.

Our taxi would only wait for an hour and a half so we soon found ourselves bundling up once again for the windy ride back. By this time the fog had really thickened, and I really thought perhaps we shouldn't be driving so fast around those curvy mountain roads. 

You can sigh in relief though, because I wouldn't be writing this if we hadn't made it.

Back in Zunil, as we waited for the Xela bus to fill up we walked down to the river to see the local women wash their laundry. There were large concrete basins set up by the river with hot spring water flowing directly into them. 

Unfortunately all of that soapy water flows straight into the river, which can be described as a hot dirty mess.  

That about wraps up my week in Xela.

Next Time: Antigua, the tourism capital of Guatemala.

xx,

gwen

Finally some pictures!

Hi Everyone!

I'm finally back stateside, so expect lots more posts more often. To start here is my photo essay of Havana.

xx,

gwen