Hiking the Nose

This morning we got up just after 4 in a bid to catch the sunrise from the local peak known as the Nose. Unfortunately, hiking an overgrown trail by the light of a headlamp proved more difficult than we'd anticipated. We didn't make it to the top by sunrise but it was still a pretty beautiful sight from the side of the mountain. At about 2/3rds of the way up we stopped at a small hut with a tremendous view of the lake and ate our breakfast of cornflakes, yoghurt, and fresh pineapple. It was a good morning.

Our guidebook has numerous warnings about robberies and holdups of tourists. Yesterday we received a similiar warning from a local. It goes without saying that we were a little apprehensive of this adventure in the early morning darkness. It was just after first light when we saw the guy coming down the trail towards us carrying a big machete {all machetes look big at first light}. Of course he was heading down to his job for the day but that didn't stop Mary from hyperventilating from the combination of exertion and fear.

Rather than walk down the way we came up we decided we'd had enough exercise for one morning and walked out to a nearby town from which we knew we could catch a bus {really just a small pickup that locals take from town to town}. Typically these have special railings that allow the passengers to stand. As both Mary and I tower above the majority of Guatemalans, we have found bugs to be particularly hazardous. We have mentioned before that the Guatemalans have little concern for "personal space" but our experience this morning deserves mention. The pickup we got into didn't have the railings so everyone was seated. We were number 16 and 17 in the back of the pickup. I have to emphasize that these are not ford size pickups but more like the original nissan size. I was seated with my back to the tailgate and was praying that it wouldn't release as we went up hills and the weight of the congealed mass of people shifted to the rear. As I'm still here to write about it that obviously didn't happen. The tailgate did release seemingly spontaneously on our very next ride. Thankfully no one was depending on it for a seat.

That's it for our adventures this morning. We plan to leave our home in San Pedro on Saturday. Next stop Quetzaltenango.