HITCH HIKING STORIES: LAST DAY IN GUATEMALA

After a great time in Semuc Champey (Guatemala) we decided to head to Honduras instead of travelling to North Guatemala and visit Tikal. I know, I know Tikal is a MUST GO in Guatemala but we already been in 4 different Mayan Historic Ruins Parks and going to the North was out of route, so we tought "Spending more Money and time to see ruins again??!!" Let's go to Honduras!!

We only had 10€ and we made this crazy decision of not withdraw more money from the ATM, this means that we had to reach Honduras with 10€ both, we need to eat, we need to get there but how? Survival mode here we go!

That night we had a good dinner because we didn't know how much we would eat the next day (!!!) and started looking for a corner to stay overnight. In front of us "El retiro" the hostel (Eco Houses) we stayed the last days, we got in and start looking for a place. Suddenly a staff member came and asked if we needed a room, obviously we didn't want to spend the last coins in a place to sleep so we said no. We said we didn't have money and he said "You can pay by visa card" haha we answered we didn't have more money or a place to sleep so we asked to sleep somewhere in the grass or in a hammock. The guy asked us to follow him. Hmmm... He brought us to a abandoned Eco House, it wasn't ready yet but had 2 comfy matresses inside!! SCORED!!! He said we could sleep there but had to leave early morning so no one would noticed :))) We hugged the guy so much between many "Gracias hermano!!" I couldn't believe! Anyways we needed to wake up early to start our hitch hiking adventure until Honduras.

We stayed in the roof of this house in El Retiro

6 am, cloudy, we were asking for a ride, an hour later we got it! A guy from Guatemala City was in his way to work and kindly helped us, leaving us in the f$%&ing no where. Well he told us he could drive us a bit more then half way and we accepted, better then nothing! We jumped out from the car, got our feet on the mud, it was raining. Heads up, we walked 10 minutes. A rickshaw driver passed by and we had to spend around 1.50€ for both to reach the next town.

We reached this town and DAMN!! It took us ages to get the next ride. I think it was only 2 hours, but because the locals were staring at us like we were aliens, it seems like infinite time.

The police car pulled over, I runned to the car and ask if they could give us a ride for real and they said OK. I was over the moon! We got a ride PLUS from the POLICE hahaha

They were so cool, we spent 2 hours together in the car chatting non-stop. They stopped few times to showed us some Caves, where people used to live but no one really knows the reason why. Maybe some History guys want to explore the place? ^__^ Also they introduced us to new plants! To be honest, it was one of the best rides ever. We shared about police life in Guatemala and Portugal, did you know they earn around 350€ a month??? In the way they also gave rides to locals, we were in the mountains with curves and more curves and a stunning landscape.

They left us in a bus stop to the next town. We asked how much would be and it wasn't more then 1€ for both. that's ok for our budget still. It was lunch time so we went to a coffee shop and asked for boiling water to eat our noodles (backpacker survival food) and we ate in front of a beautiful lake.

Time to go! We were back hitch hiking, it was too late to arrive Honduras so we asked a ride for the next town. The Tigo van (Tigo is like Vodafone, a mobile phone network in Guatemala) pulled over and there we go!! Only young people inside, very fun, and better, they were driving until the last town before Honduras!!! YEY! We were almost arriving when one of the guys asked us if we wanted to have dinner in his wife restaurant. Oh sure! we had awesome tortillas and beans and met his entire family, very friendly. It was too late so we said thanks and went to look for very cheap hostels. Although the Hotels around were cheap, we couldn't afford a night anywhere.

Suddenly Bruno remembre when he meet up a mexican guy who couldn't afford sleepping in hostels in Portugal so he stayed in the Fire Fighters Department, "let's give a try" It was soooo embarassing, that's why I feel blessed to have Bruno around, he can talk very well with people and in this case asked for a night shelter "Off course you can stay here, we are prepared for this kind of situations, you just have to sign a paper" Can you imagine? We jumped of happiness! And they knew we were a couple so we stayed in the auditory room alone, with a very nice matress and pillows plus clean bed sheets, they smelled like flowers. FIRE FIGHTERS YOU ARE MY HEROES <3 (AND A SPECIAL THANKS FOR THE COOL CUPS)