Back on the Boat, Time to Catch Up on Blogging

Ruins of the Catedral

When I stopped this chronicle, I was writing about our enchantment with Antigua and I left us at the Catedral, so I will re-start from that point in time. After viewing the facade and the main sanctuary of the main cathedral, we walked around the outside, where the ruins of the original and later structures can be seen. The first church was constructed around 1541, was demolished in 1669, rebuilt by 1680 and mostly destroyed again by the Santa Marta Earthquake in 1773, which began in May and continued with aftershocks until December.

Inside the Catedral

Catedral ruins

As we continued along, we were sometimes passed by the local "chicken buses," colorful vehicles, sometimes crammed with people inside and loaded with parcels and luggage on top. A man jumps on and off, often while the bus is not fully stopped, to help load and unload passengers and goods. These buses belch diesel fumes as they speed up or struggle up hills and mountains. They are the main means of transportation for locals and intrepid backpackers traveling across the country. (We are not quite as intrepid as we used to be; we rented a car.)

Chicken bus

On the way back to our hotel from our early morning walk for breakfast, we passed by the ruins of Iglesia del Carmen, where everyday local vendors spread out their wares, mostly textiles, across the cobblestones.

Vendors in front of Iglesia del Carmen

At our hotel, Casa de la Alameda, we ate a typical breakfast which began with avena con leche, a warm, sweet, oatmeal-based drink served in a mug, a delightful and unexpected start to a delicious meal. The main course consisted of eggs scrambled with diced tomatoes and onions, fried plantains and black beans boiled down to a paste. Although warm tortillas are usually served, we had bread.

Typical breakfast

After a short rest in our hotel, we set out again about 10 a.m. for further exploration of Antigua. We strolled past La Merced again and passed by the 17th century Santa Catalina Arch, constructed to allow cloistered nuns to walk from the convent to the school and an orchard and garden without going out on the streets.

Santa Catalina Arch

Our next stop was the ruins of the Santa Domingo monastery and church complex, which was established in 1538 and, like so many structures, was partially destroyed in the 1773 earthquake. Now, the extensive property houses the luxurious Hotel Casa Santa Domingo (the restored convent) and the former Santo Tomás de Aquino College (now San Carolos de Guatemala University), two institutions which were once one; they mutually administer multiple museums and the ruins.  There is a replica of the original oval-shaped fountain in the main courtyard as well as the remains of two underground crypts, chapels, a kitchen and other structures. In addition, many of the rooms have been converted to small museums, including a pharmacy museum, a museum of arts and crafts of the Sacatepéquez area, and archeology museum, a modern art gallery, a music salon, the museum of Precolombian Art and Modern Glass, and museum of colonial art. We spent a lot of time in the Precolombian Art and Modern Glass museum, where ancient pieces, including urns, statues and jewelry are displayed juxtaposed to modern art works in glass from around the world, highlighting the similarities in form, decoration and use. The back part of this exhibit hall was formerly a chapel, and the some of the murals of the interior walls are still intact. In Marco Augusto Quiroa Hall, the works of modern local sculptors in various media were arranged beautifully and complemented exposed excavated foundations beneath the room, covered in glass flooring. Walls and facades were still laying on their sides just as they had fallen in massive blocks almost two and half centuries ago. In the archeology museum, stone and ceramic objects from the Classic Period of Mayan culture (200-900 A.D.) are exhibited and include figurines, vaes, plates, bowls, funerary urns and ceremonial hatches and yokes. The informative arts and handicraft museum displayed and explained objects including textiles, toys, kites, candles, painted ceramics, wrought iron work and pieces demonstrating carpentry and cabinet making skills. In the pharmacy museum are 19th century furniture and cabinets as well as porcelain, marble, glass and bronze pieces that were once used to store and produce medicinal products.

Fountain in the main courtyard of Santa Domingo

Insect artwork in the contemporary art section

Precolombian Art and Modern Glass exhibition with stucco walls showing floral designs (Darker parts are original.)

There was a honeycomb of crypts under the ground level of the complex, and a few have been excavated and made accessible. Particularly outstanding is the polychrome stucco scene of the crucifixion in the Calvary Crypt, dated 1683. 

Out on the streets again, we encountered many Maya women selling their textiles, and we finally succumbed to a persuasive girl near the Santa Catalina Arch. These women all were wearing traditional, pre-Colombian dress, but not necessarily to provide photo ops for tourists. Even in the non-tourist sections of the city as well as in the surrounding area of western Guatemala, almost all the women still wear the traditional huipil (a loose rectangular blouse) a wrap-around skirt, an embroiled textile belt, and a tzut (a shawl that doubles as a multi-purpose carry-all). The bright, multi-colored pieces of clothing are created on traditional hip-strap looms. The warp of the cloth is attached to two rods, one attached to a tree and the other to a strap that goes around women's hips, allowing them to adjust and control the tension. Sticks are used to separate the warp yarns and to interweave the weft. During the weaving process, the women hand-embroider designs, traditionally bird, animal and plant motifs, to make elaborate and intricate patterns recalled from memory, without the use of patterns.

Our next stop was the Church and Convent of the Capuchins, a extremely severe splinter group of the Franciscans. Nuns were permitted no contact at all with the outside world. In terms of the architecture of these 18th century ruins, the most intriguing is the Tower of Retreat, a circular building with a central raised courtyard surrounded by 18 small cells which would have furnished with a cot, perhaps a desk and an altar where the nuns could sequester themselves from each other for study and prayer.  In contrast to the austerity of the convent when it was in use by the Capuchins, an expensive and elaborate wedding reception was being set up in the main courtyard, with an over-abundance of food, popular music, and numerous glamorous floral arrangements.

Convent of the Capuchins ruins

Convent of the Capuchins ruins

Courtyard of the Convent and Church of the Capuchins

We wandered into the Cocoa Museum, which had interesting displays and clearly explained the process of making chocolate and other cocoa products, but we had already learned these details in Cartagena and at the cocoa farm in Panamá in our travels last year. We did stop for a beverage in the courtyard and our eyes were once more delighted with the vivid colors of textiles for sale.

Textiles for sale

(Break now:  This is taking hours because of Internet speed.)  (Now I'm back.)

Public lavaderos

Continuing our perambulation, we passed through Parque Central again, admired more exampoles of Baroque architecture, and walked along colorful, quiet side streets until we came to the Church of San Pedro Apostal, then the public lavaderos (where local women still come to do their laundry in the alcoves), and finally the ruined facade of the Sanctuary of San Francisco el Grande, with its twisting columns and the remains of the bell and clock towers. Inside, the popular church is spacious, with teal walls and white columns along the nave ending in a multi-storied gilt altarpiece in the apse.

Yet another example of Baroque architecture 

Facade of the Cathedral in the afternoon light 

Typical side street in Antigua

Parque Central

Church of San Pedro Apostal

Altar, San Francisco el Grande 

San Francisco el Grande

By now, we were hungry, and we went back to a restaurant we had passed earlier in the day which had appealing, colorful food enticing people walking along the cobblestone street. A man behind the array of pots and pans and bowls filled with appetizing selections fills your plates as you indicate what appeals to you and then another man carries them back to the courtyard seating area behind the street-side kitchen. (The name of the restaurant is La Cuebita de Los Urquizú.)

Yummy vegetarian stuff

Various meat stews

Well-nourished and revived, we decided to climb up to the Cerro de la Cruz to get a view of Antigua from above before darkness descended. We were surprised to find the park around the cross crowded with people, mostly locals, there to enjoy the sunset. 

Volcan de Agua looming over downtown Antigua

After that, we returned to our hotel. I had hoped to blog while the memories were fresh, but I was really tired and the comfortable bed beckoned.

On Sunday morning, after another typical breakfast, we drove to Chichicastenago, famous for its twice weekly market where vendors sell textiles and yarn; fresh flowers; local produce, meat and fish; and ground limestone. The Maya add lime to water when they cook corn because it improves the nutritional value; it softens the kernel, releases the germ and converts nutrients such as B vitamins and amino acids into a form more readily absorbed by the human body. 

The stalls, which are erected on either side of the streets and throughout the central plaza, are carried in pieces on the backs of men, women and children in the hours before dawn in preparation for the throngs of people, mostly Maya from the surrounding area, although the tourist trade has increased, meaning there are more textiles on display than needed by the local population. We were amazed at the sheer volume of everything. By mid-day, the supplies did not seem to be depleted at all, and we wonder how they actually make any money while maintaining such a large inventory. And where does all the fresh food go if it is not sold? 

Produce for sale

Chichicastenango market

Maya woman in traditional attire

Textiles and clothing in the market

Fish for sale

Farmer selling beans

Colorful yarns and fabric on sale

Varities of maize

Main breaking up limestone to sell for cooking with maize

We went into the church on a corner of the central plaza, the whitewashed Church of San Tomás. It was built around 1545 on top of a Pre-Colombian temple platform, and the existing steps originally led to a temple and are still venerated by the Maya. K'ichi' Maya priests use the church for their rituals. Incest was being burned outside the portal, and inside the sanctuary was filled with smoke from burning candles and incense. Triptychs and other sacred decorations were coated with black carbon residue from the offerings; I suspect some are quite colorful under the grime. Along one side of the nave were three separate altars with icons of saints, bordered by colorful feathery arches. Each had its own large, low metal platform in front of it for candles, and people also place offerings of liquor, flowers and corn. As we had seen in other churches, a congregant took responsibility for scraping off the melted wax and making room for more candles.

Bright polychrome statues contrast with smoke covered paintings and ornamentation

A woman placing a candle in front of one of the shrines

smoke-filled sanctuary of San Tomás

Two of the altars and numerous candles 

The main altar in the apse of the church

We also visited a small museum along another side of the plaza. In addition to archeologic relics and a room of portraits of previous civic leaders, there was a large wheel demonstrating the Maya calendar. Actually, there are three separate calendars. One has 20 named days interlocking with the numbers 1 through 13 for a total cycle of 260 days, each of which has a special meaning and requires specific rites and rituals. Another system, based on the sun, has 18 months, each 20 days long. Five days are added at the end of the solar cycle to make 365 days, but these 5 days are regarded with dread and only the intervention of priests can prevent disaster. These two systems are intermeshed to make a cycle of 52 years. Then there is the Long Count, which apparently was developed during the Classic Period of the civilization to distinguish long periods of time. It is also cyclical, starting over every 5125 years.

Depiction of Maya calendar

Another fascinating stop was a smaller church on the opposite side of the plaza from San Tomás, El Calvario. Although no one was present, it was obvious people had been busy preparing a float for Santa Semana, or Easter Week, when in every town there are numerous processions.

After lunch, we drove back along the 12-kilometer mountainous road to the main highway (the Guatemalan section of the Pan-American Highway). Suddenly, the traffic came almost to a standstill. We wondered if there was an accident ahead, but as we made our way forward up a steep grade, we passed the cause of the slowdown, a religious procession taking up one side of the two-lane road. Actually, we were delighted. We had read about the Cofradías before going to Chichicastenango. Each of these brotherhoods is dedicated to a Christian saint, and they carry the image of the saint in processions through town and, apparently, from one village to another. To be selected to be a cofrade is a great honor, reserved for respected males of the community. It also requires financial resources since the colfrades are expected to contribute toward the village celebrations and annual fiesta, providing costumes and alcohol, an maintain the saint's image. Although the cofradías are associated with the Catholic Church, they also continue Maya religious customs, including the keeping of the calendar and worshipping Maya dieties. Because of this integration of pagan beliefs, since the 1950s the Catholic Church has discouraged these organizations and the centuries-old community tradition is not as strong as it used to be.

Religious procession up a mountain with comfrade carrying the image of a saint 

Decorated trucks waiting to join the procession

Having left this interesting piece of culture behind us, we quickly made it to Panajachel, where we parked the car for a couple days and made our way by ferry to a boat-only accessible lodge on the northern side of Lake Atitlán near the village of Santa Cruz de Laguna. The lake is surrounded by three conical volcanos and its shores are home to 13 Maya villages. Around 12 million years ago, a giant caldera, much larger than the present lake, was created and around 9 million years ago a slightly smaller, bowl-shaped caldera fromed inside it. Lake Atitlán is the result of third enormous volcanic eruption 85,000 years ago which blocked water flowing from the lake. The lake, 5125 feet above sea level, is fed by three rivers. For unknown reasons, the level of the lake has risen about 6 feet in the past two decades, submerging docks and beaches around the lake.

Our accommodation at Sunset Atitlán Lodge was idyllic. For two nights we stayed in the Tree House, a two story apartment with magnificent views of the lake. The host and the staff were helpful and interesting, and we enjoyed getting to know them and the few other guests at communal breakfasts and dinners. On our only full day there, we walked along the shoreline for about a half hour to reach the village of Santa Cruz. The heart of the village is half way up the mountain, and we hired a tuk-tuk to transport us to a place called CEPAC and its restaurant, Sabor. CEPAC, supported by an American NGO, offers training programs in cooking, sewing and others skills to the young people of the area, helping them to gain skills to rise above poverty. We were impressed with what they are doing as well as the delicious meals we were served. From the rooftop restaurant, we could also peek into the everyday lives of the local people on the streets and their back terraces.

Peter enjoying the hammock on our private terrace

Sunset from our terrace 

Peter paddle-boarding on the lake

Afternoon view from our terrace

View from the restaurant 

Sherri at Sabor

Woman working on her back porch

After lunch, before walking down the steep road to the docks, we took a peek into the church on the main plaza, a simple structure with white-washed walls inside and out. Red and white cloths were draped from the rafters. Along the walls surrounding the altar, there were various carved wooden statues, most with fading and chipped paint, and the altar itself was full of flowers, offerings and small icons.

Draperies brighten the interior of the church in Santa Cruz de Laguna

Statues lining the walls 

Statues lining the walls

Altar of the church

The plan had been to explore some of the other villages around the lake during our short stay at Atitlán, but we found that just relaxing at the lodge and enjoying the lake were just too enticing.

View from the lakeside trail, showing submerged terraces and our lodge on the far right

Man fishing in front of the lodge's docks

With reluctance, we left this restful and scenic place to head further up into the western highlands. We were expecting to encounter beautiful scenery and traditional villages. Unfortunately, before the day was over, we wished we had never departed from the lake. For most of the hours-long drive, we were on the Pan-American Highway, and commerce, industry and concrete and corrugated metal roof housing border each side. The cities and villages seem grubby, polluted by the exhaust of the big trucks constantly rumbling through. Regularly, large sections of the land right beside the road are gouged out. Stripped of all vegetation, the quarries for rock and sand scar the hillsides. The steep mountains have long lost more than half of their forests, it seems, replaced by terraced fields where the Mayas, who make up a significant percentage of the population of this region, plow, plant, tend and harvest their crops without help from machines or animals. The small patches of various shades of brown, tan and green create crazy quilts draped over the mountainsides. This somewhat attractive picture does not disguise the blight of deforestation. Where there are not farms, there is urban sprawl. It seems obvious that the size of the population cannot be adequately supported by the resources available, and the recent drought has only exacerbated the poverty and malnutrition that plagues the people. They crowd into the cities seeking opportunities that are just not there or push their way further up the mountains, trying to eke out basic sustenance.

Centuries old facade of cathedral in Quetzaltenango that survived a 1902 earthquake

Post-earthquake interior of the cathedral

Three small old women carrying firewood through a village

Finally, after having stopped for lunch at Quetzaltenango, hours later we arrived at Huehuetenango, high in the mountains, where we zigzagged through the narrow streets until we reached our hotel and shuddered in shock at the sight of an ugly multi-story Western building boldly advertising Bingo on its facade, plunked down in the middle of one and two-story typical Guatemalan buildings. I wasn't expecting much of Huehuetenango, but I thought I had booked us for two nights at a resort with lovely grounds from which we could easily do day trips to ruins and some of the most traditional villages (according to the guidebooks). It was not the sort of place I would even have chosen in a first-world country. Our room was large and comfortable but without any real style, and the businesses all around were shut up. Hungry, we had hoped to find a local restaurant, but we ended up having dinner at a replica of an American fast-food restaurant, complete with a play place for kids.

The staff were wonderfully helpful and breakfast was delicious, but we just could not stay. After our meal, having quickly booked another hotel for the second night back in lovely Antigua, we checked out without even asking for a refund.  (Well, hotels are inexpensive here in Guatemala.) Before leaving the area, we did visit the local ruins, Zucaleu.

Zucaleu (which means "white earth") is a Maya archaeological site on a small mesa which was first occupied in the Early Classic period (250-600 A.D.). The largest structures at the site, however, date from the Classic period (600-900 A.D.), and plazas groups and buildings were added during the Early Postclassic period (900-1200 A.D.) and the Late Postclassic period (1200-1525 A.D.). Since its beginning, it has an unbroken history and is still used by the Mam Maya as a ceremonial site. The Mam controlled the region for centuries, before they were invaded by K'ichi' Maya with their allies, the Kaqchikel, sometime during the Late Postclassic period, and their is evidence of Mexican cultural influence and perhaps domination before this time.

During the Spanish conquest of the area led by Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras (brother of the cruel conquistador Pedro de Alvarado), Maya warriors, under the leadership of Kaibil Balam, defended Zucaleu for four and a half months before they were forced to surrender because of starvation (and cannibalism), in October 1525 A.D.

Zucaleu has 43 structures arranged in small groups around 8 small retangular plazas. The buildings were constructed of masonry which was covered in a thick layer of plaster. The pyramid-shaped temples usually have steep double stairways. Remnants of floral and geometric designs indicate that these walls were colorfully decorated. Unlike other ancient Maya sites, Zucaleu has not stellae or hieroglyphics.

In 1946, the Guatemalan government licensed the United Fruit Company to excavate the site. Unusually, the archeologists chose to re-plaster some of the structures in the manner that would have been used in the original construction. The excavations uncovered ceramic vessels, anthropomorphic figures, pyrite mirrors, tools made from obsidian, and beads and earplugs (some unbelievably large) of turquoise and jade. Also found were gold, silver and copper objects, indicating that the Maya in this region were involved in trade networks spanning Central America. Many of these objects are now on display in a small but informative museum at the site.

Zucaleu

Zucaleu

Zucaleu

After our visit there, we headed back to Antigua, arriving there mid-afternoon. Our hotel, Hotel Eterna Primavera, just a couple of blocks from Parque Central, was amazing. Incorporating remaining structures from an earthquake-destroyed early colonial casa, the small hotel is modestly elegant. The rooms all face the central courtyard which seems to be practically overflowing with green and flowering plants (although, it is, in fact, carefully manicured). Our room was beautiful. After settling in, we set off to find afternoon tea. There were many options and after a stroll past several cafes, we chose Roots, where I enjoyed homemade tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich made with rosemary bread and Peter had a huge piece of poppyseed and raspberry cake.

Our delightful room

Courtyard of Hotel Eterna Primavera

Steam and smoke of El Fuego, an active volcano, from the roof of our hotel

That evening, we walked about and found a restaurant for dinner, Frida's, which is decorated with large reproductions of Frida Kahlo's works. The Mexican food was great, and a solo musician enhanced the delightful ambiance of the place.

Frida's Restaurante

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast al fresco in the courtyard of the hotel, we went for walk along the cobblestone streets, having an hour or so before we had to leave town. We found ourselves drawn in to a jewelry shop and museum, the Casa de Jade, where we were helped by a nice young man named Berny. The museum, of course, is situated in the rear of the establishment, making it impossible to avoid admiring the stunning jewelry on display in the successive small rooms of a former large casa. The museum itself has a fine collection of artifacts dating back to the Olmecs.

After looking at the Olmec and Maya pieces from excavations around the country, we went into shopping mode and selected a few pieces. We had to pass through the central courtyard to get to the front of the store, and we stopped there to admire the textiles of two Maya women. With Berny helping with translations, we chose a piece and also asked if one of them would show us how to use the hip-strap loom, which she graciously did. It was fascinating to watch her methodical work as she wove and embroidered from memory. When we paid her for our purchase, she reached up and sweetly gave me a big hug!

Hip-strap loom

Weaving in the weft yarns across the warp

Maya woman adding embroidery

Unfortunately, it was now time to leave (although we stole a few moments to buy a couple items at a chocolate shop), so we returned to our lovely hotel, packed the car and went to the airport where we returned the vehicle and met our driver, Will Jose, from Ottotours in Río Dulce. Seven and a half hours later, with only a brief stop for food, we arrived at Sundog's, one of the main cruisers' hangouts, where we were met by the lancha from Boatique. Finally, after tedious hours of traveling, we reached on second home, our boat Mantra.

Now we are enjoying this lovely, beautifully designed new hotel and marina which is peaceful but not silent--there are lots of animals around. We are getting ourselves and the boat ready to cruise again in a couple of weeks. We have done initial provisioning at the new, large supermarket in town. Peter has been focusing on getting our cantankerous generator to operate reliably, trying to track down where air is leaking into the system. I have been cleaning. At dusk, we go and enjoy the new pool, from where we can watch the fireflies in the fields and listen to the continuous music of various insects, frogs and toads, punctuated sometimes by the barks and growls of the howler monkeys.

The local vendors on the street have a better selection of produce than the supermarket

Toad below the raised walkway 

Boatique's pool

Mantra on the dock

The hotel itself, a collection of various-sized palapa covered wooden structures connected by raised walkways over the backwaters of the river, hosts 30-something backpackers and families, and we enjoy conversations with them in the outdoor restaurant, where the food is sublime.

In working on the boat in the last couple days, Peter has developed a list of hardware and supplies he needs, so we will be heading into town again on the dinghy as soon as I take a dip in the pool.