highly recommend getting to know a country from the passenger seat of a strangers car (or in our case for much of el salvador and nicaragua, the tray of a strangers truck.)
“oh yeah, i have to eat an absolute shitload tonight”
“why? Got a big day tomorrow?”
“nah, i just fuckin love food”
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overheard in the late morning of a hostel in mexico, around about july 2023
“i have a pill for you, you’ll be fine, trust me”
came the voice over the phone at 7am from the man who was in charge of the hike that was supposed to take us up Volcán Acatenango that day.
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i’d been so excited to hike up a live volcano but the day before, as my luck would have it, i ate something dodgy and found myself terrifically ill the night before.
on the morning of, i called the organiser (initially with the intention of bailing on the day) who told me he had a pill that’d keep me together for the overnight hike up and down the mountain.
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any sensibility left in my brain dissolved itself as i said yes to whatever this man was offering and walked out the hostel towards what might’ve been a terrible error of judgement.
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in the end, i’m very glad i did.
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a hike all the way up a dormant volcano containing views for the book, another night hike after dinner that took us dangerously close to the business end of a live volcano, all during a lightning storm that saw my hair literally standing upright followed by one of the coldest four hour sleeps of my life in a tent filled shack that ended in a sunrise hike to the summit of the volcano with one of the most beautiful views ive ever seen, all in all, made it very well worth taking whatever mystery tablet old mate gave me.
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in truth, no amount of words will ever do the experience justice. watching a volcano spitting lava in the air as lightning fires off at eye level all around us had me jumping out of my skin with excitement in a way not much else i’ve done since has come close to.
it was literally and metaphorically electric.
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the way down saw an abundance of sore legs, big smiles and a palpable feeling of satisfaction on all of us.
whatever the question, the markets are the answer
——
i’m still dreaming of those fried plantains with cream and sugar and the mountains of massive mangos
if ever there were a couple of lads that epitomised the joys of chaotic methods of traveling, joel and raf are them to me.
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two lads, two bags, one bike with a morbidly overworked suspension vs the chaotic streets of mexico.
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at least they looked badass as hell hahahahahaha
spotted some pals sharing their water with the stray dogs while hiking up volcan acatenango in guatemala.
unsure why we had so many dogs following us on this hike but absolutely nobody was mad about it.
one of the better ideas ive ever had in my life was taking a few weeks of spanish classes in guatemala that sets you up with a host family that doesnt (or wont) speak any english.
the general idea being, if you want to fill the awkward silence at dinner, you better figure out how to say something in spanish.
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pictured here are a couple of the wonderfully patient and kind family i stayed with including the lovely abuela with arms thin as sticks but who still pulled her weight, and then some, when it came to keeping the household going.
she couldn’t pronounce my name so cyrus became chris for a few weeks.
i cant recall many times ive ever moved as fast as i did when i heard her voice barreling down the hall yelling “chrisssssssss! help me please!” and i thought something was wrong, only to be asked to help with the laundry.
also pictured is her son, a funny and cheeky and adventurous and hardworking and kind fella who took us to see a coffee and avocado farm as well as taking us up a mountain for sunrise one day.
by the end of our stay, we were perhaps only slightly more fluent in spanish, but i like to think we all became pretty fluent at communicating with each other anyway
A lady carrying cake on her head, some street vendors, bin day, donuts, warm welcomes, building a road, more cake on heads
Shot around Mexico a couple years ago
When I think of Guatemala, the first place my mind goes to is this market. Strolling by stalls piled high with fresh fruit, family run food vendors and second hand clothing stalls while eating plates of fried plantains with sugar and cream and the freshest, tastiest mangoes of my life drizzled in lime and tajin.
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I also accidentally managed to order the gnarliest meal of my life here.
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I’ll spare ya the details.
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Aaaaaaand now im craving a mango dammit
