Poptun, Guatemala – May 21 – 23, 2011

The two-hour bus ride from Rio Dulce to Poptun was very comfortable and quick on a smooth paved highway that now runs from at least Guatemala City in the south all the way to Flores in the north.  We only had two-hours on board but most of the passengers were on a longer trip of about seven hours.   Technically it was a direct bus so I’m not sure how we got on it at all but we weren’t going to argue.  The only stop we made was at an agricultural inspection area where we all had to get out and they had to check the bus to make sure no fruit was going through.  We’ve hit these kind of stops a couple of times and apparently they are just trying to keep a certain insect from moving from one area to another.

We got off in Poptun and so did a few other passengers so we weren’t alone.  There was a tuk-tuk there so we piled our luggage in and headed off to the resort which is 5 km out of town.  It was a pretty quick ride because he took a short cut which involved going over a short narrow bridge with just a few inches to spare on each side, crossing the dirt airstrip and then another similar narrow bridge.  It seemed to be a busy route used by many locals on bikes and motorcycles and on foot.  Cars were too big for the bridge so had to take the long route around the highway.  I’m not sure the airstrip is ever used but they have a control tower in place as well as the airstrip so it could be used if needed.  Obviously the airstrip was there before the highway because the highway goes way up one side of the runway, around the end and then back down the other side. 

The resort, Finca Ixobel, is an eco lodge and it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere just outside of town.  It has lots of green space around.  I’m typing this as I sit on the patio and all I can see is nature around me and a few other bungalows.  The birds are singing and there are certainly some different sounds in that regard.  I wish I could locate the birds that are making the sounds but I can’t seem to find them.  The wind is blowing and the thunder is rolling.  It rained a bit this afternoon but not much and it just might rain again tonight by the sounds of it.  The thunder seems to rumble a long time here.  At time it goes for many minutes before taking a break.  I’m quite used to the rolling thunder in Ontario but this goes on much longer. 

The porch has two lovely large hammocks on it.  I’m not in one at the moment because I’m just not coordinated enough to use my laptop in a swinging hammock.  Either my laptop or I (or both) would probably end up on the ground.  The rooms are large and airy with screened windows on three sides.   There is a main dining room and lots of seating outside of it.  Our meals all come from the dining room and so far they have been great.  They have an in-house bakery and the bread is delicious.  Last night we had spaghetti (chow mein as they called it) with a choice of three different sauces plus two hot vegetables and two salads with garlic toast and regular bread of course.  You order your own breakfasts and lunches.  The eggs and bacon and toast I had this morning were the best I’ve had in a long time.  We had a tour today so we got a bag lunch.  My cheese sandwich was huge so I gave half of it away to a guide.  It’s almost dinner time now and I’m still not hungry.   However, I can hardly wait to see what’s on the menu.  Snacks are available all day and you just have to sign the book to record what you’ve taken so it’s definitely on the honour system.  The banana bread was very good.  The cinnamon buns look delicious but I haven’t been hungry enough to try them!

There is a natural pool nearby that serves as the swimming pool for the resort.  I didn’t try it out but I’m sure it would be refreshing.  It’s actually a bit cooler here than in some previous places but it was still humid today.  Some more rain would have been nice.  The thunder has stopped so I guess the storm has passed yet again.  They definitely need rain.  It’s amazing how dry the countryside is in places.

This morning we went on a tour of some Mayan caves.  The first part involved an hour long drive in a 4X4 vehicle through the rolling hillside to the east.  The road was very stony and dusty and narrow and really bumpy.   There wasn’t much traffic to contend with so that was good.  We only had to pull over a couple times to let a vehicle go by.  We probably had more trouble getting the horses, cows and chickens off the road so we could go by.  The scenery was beautiful, especially when we reached high points where we could see well into the distance.  Of course it was smoky in places so visibility was limited at times.  I’m not sure why they are burning so much of the land but it really is quite alarming.  Wherever you go there are fields on fire or that have just finished burning and are still smoking.  The air is quite full of smoke most of the time so the air quality and visibility are often both limited. 

Sometimes the burned fields seem to have been cleared of all trees before burning.   Other times there are trees still standing in the burned areas.  In some cases nothing seems to be done with the fields after the burning and they just sit in their burned out state.  Some of the areas look like they could be used for farming while other areas appear to just be rock and pretty useless.  As a result, I really have no idea why they do all the burning.  I’m hoping someone will clear up the mystery for me soon but I will say you don’t find may reforested areas so I’m not sure they replace the trees they cut and/or burn.  Rejuvenation is quick though.  In one of the fields today there were still hot spots like tree trunks smoking away and yet there was new grass already up a couple of inches. 

The people in this area seem quite poor.  They dress in western wear and do not seem to have a traditional costume.  The homes are made of vertical wood planks that often have lots of space between them.   I don’t know whether this is just poor craftsmanship or whether the spaces are left to allow the breeze into the interior.  The roof materials were sometimes thatched and sometimes tin or other light material.  As small and poor as the homes seemed it was interesting to see how many of them had beautiful flower beds planted out front.  There were some cows, horses, chickens and even some pigs around.  This is the first location where we’ve seen people consistently riding horses or using them to pull carts.  It’s also one of the few places where we’ve seen pigs.  The first pig I saw reminded me of Babe from the movies.  There was a cow laying on the ground minding its own business and just staring off into space and there was the pig just inches from the cows face and the pig’s mouth was going nonstop.  It looked just like Babe telling one of her non-stop stories and the cow totally ignoring her.  It was hilarious to see.  The next little pig I saw was trotting down the road with its little tail curled and twirling in the air just like a puppy dog’s tail.  He was so cute.  How can anyone not like pigs? 

Okay, back to the tour.  We arrived at a small community and our driver introduced us to our guide for the cave tour.  He was of Mayan ancestry and on the way down to the caves, perhaps a 45-minute walk if you did it directly, he stopped at all of the information boards and explained what each said.  Unfortunately he only spoke Spanish so we couldn’t really understand much of what he was saying.  Having the information on boards as well made it a bit easier because sometimes I can understand written Spanish more easily than spoken Spanish.

The Naj Tunich caves were discovered in the 20^th century and the entire system is three kilometers of connected underground caves from 300-900 AD.  Tourists were originally allowed into all three kilometers but too many things were being damaged so now tourists only get into the entrance and up to what is assumed to be the main gate area.  The caves are important because they were Mayan ceremonial and burial grounds and because they included hieroglyphs and paintings.  Many of these paintings are explained on the information boards and they are also reproduced in another near-by cave for tourists to see.  So we toured the entrance area of the original cave system and the other cave with the replicas.

The original cave has a huge opening.  Despite its size it’s really easy to see why it wasn’t found for so long.  The rock face above it has a lot of hanging vines and the vegetation in front of it, although now thinned for tourist purposes, would have blocked most of the view.  We thought we were only going to see the entrance meaning “there, you can see the entrance, now let’s go to the other cave” but in fact we got to go down into the entrance of the cave and look around.  There were incredible stalactites and stalagmites and columns that were huge.  I guess that’s what happens in a cave over thousands of years.  This section of the cave is currently dry so there is no more growth in stalactites and stalagmites.  Tiny green plants, which the guide called chlorophyll, are already growing on the cave floor at the entrance.  I’m not sure what the rest of the cave is like. 

We crawled around several areas within the entrance.  The footing wasn’t always easy and we often had to duck but it was worth it.  We saw several of the tombs, basically just sections identified by rough brick work.  Some appeared to be horizontal tombs where the body would be laid horizontal and the stone work covered them.  Others appeared to be vertical and the body would have been in a standing position.  Most of the tombs were for one body only but I think there were some for several people or a family.  I tried to ask but I’m still not sure how many tombs in total have been found.  We also saw a ceremonial area and some seats carved out of the rocks.  There was only one small cave painting in this area and it was of an owl or some sort of animal. 

From there we walked to the other cave, which is also a very impressive cave on its own.  It appears to just be a single cave and not part of any chain of caves.  They have built a wooden walkway around the edges of the cave and as you follow the walkway there are reproductions of the original paintings found in the caves.  Some of the symbols are for animals, birds or people.  Others are the symbols from the Mayan calendar and some are the Mayan gods.  And of course a bit of sex also had to be included as well.   I assume the reproduced paintings are just representative of what is in the original cave and not everything within the original cave system.  The drawings were more intricate than I expected them to be and involved quite a bit of detail.  They looked like drawings from a Peanuts comic strip in style and complexity of purpose.  I guess it was quite amazing to find the caves with all of these paintings and that’s why they want to protect them from the tourists, which is understandable.

I probably should know more about these caves than I’ve written above but I can’t remember anything else.  There was no English material available and I didn’t catch much of what the guide was saying so there isn’t much else to write.  About the only other detail I remember is that the caves are about 8 km from the border with Belize.

So what else can I say about the resort.  It is owned by Americans who decided there should be a decent ecological place to stay between Rio Dulce and Flores so they built the resort.  It is in the Lonely Planet guide so it’s quiet popular with back packers and young people – often the same group.  The discussion over dinner tonight was quite interesting as there were two girls from Israel, two guys from the USA, one girl from the USA and one guy from Switzerland at our table.  They were swapping travel stories left and right and they were all quite entertaining.  It was quite a different crowd than last night that seemed to be more couples and families, perhaps out for a weekend away.   Some of the employees at the resort speak excellent English while some speak very little.  We laughed at our orientation as the person checking us in told us where the table toys were.  It took us a moment but we finally sorted out that table toys were board games and it did make perfect sense.