Tulate

Warning: This entry is ridiculously long and detailed. Skip to the end for the highlights and facebook for more pictures.

This weekend was a free weekend with no scheduled activities. Hannah, Harim, Rachel, Sarah, Korrin, and I decided to take a trip to a new beach. We were craving a weekend of relaxation, reading, and waves. We had read about Tulate in a few books and asked around and decided it was our closest and best option. We left Saturday morning around 8am on foot. At the Rotunda, we picked up a micro to Las Rosas (1.25Q). From Las Rosas, we boarded a chicken bus for Mazate (20Q). Korrin and I are plenty familiar with this route as we travel to Las Rosas every day for our clinic transportation and have been through Mazate to get to the clinic in San Antonio. After an hour and a half, we arrived in Mazate. The day was getting warmer and the sun stronger – clear signs that we were now in la costa region. We waited on the next bus for nearly thirty minutes and headed to Tulate (15Q). This bus seemed to stop every ten minutes to pick up or drop off passengers. We took a twenty minute pause in the pueblito La Maquina and finally departed the bus where we saw a sign for the Eco Hotel. We had emailed the hotel the day before and the website looked great. After a twenty minute walk down a dirt path, we arrived at the hotel to find the gate locked around 1pm. The sign on the gate said “toque la bosina” but we did not see a bell, speaker, or notification device of any kind. We decided to walk down to the water, which was a tide pool left by the low tide. We scampered across rocks and sandbags around the neighbor’s yard to the other side of the hotel. The sandbags were clear evidence of the impact the heavy rains for the storm two weeks ago had on the region. As we entered the rusted gate, we were met by a woman. She was surprised by our arrival and had not received our email. She tried to show us two accommodations but did not have the correct keys. The other rooms were damaged by the rain. She also informed us that she did not have food to prepare for us either. She recommended we tried another hotel down the beach. We started to walk along the water, climbing over more rocks and sandbags, when a neighbor called our attention. She informed us the hotel we were seeking was also closed but offered to help us find a place. We loaded into her pickup and she drove us into town to find a hotel. The next hotel we arrived at was also closed. Our last option was to take a lancha (2.50Q) across the channel to the other side of Tulate. She dropped us off the lancha and we thanked her with 30Q for her help. She said the ride was a gift but we appreciated her assistance and we know how expensive gas is.

Around 2pm, we arrived in the beach of Tulate. We saw the rolling ocean and walked down a cobblestone path lined with restaurants and hotels. We realized that we had been in this less popular part of town. Unfortunately, this street was nearly empty. There were tables set up selling swim suits, sandals, and cold drinks but no one was there to buy it. When we arrived at the beach, two men approached us – both trying to convince us to come eat at their restaurant. We chose the one that offered the lower price and were happy to finally arrive at the beach. There were a few Guatemalan families enjoying food as well and swimming in the waves. After we ordered cold drinks, we took turns going down to the water’s edge. The water was cool and refreshing after the last hour of wandering, dripping with sweat, and carrying our backpacks. I ate a lunch of fried chicken, French fries, and cucumber salad with an orange soda (40Q). After lunch, we went in search of hotels. The first hospedaje we visited was set off the main road and completely empty, dirty, and pigs were roaming around (as they would be all day and night in Tulate). We then walked ten minutes down the beach to a hotel. This place was entirely different from the other – a pool with a slide, refrigerator with cold drinks, and clean rooms. Unfortunately this place was out of our price range (nearly 100Q/person) so we decided to go back to look at a final option. The third hospedaje we visited was just up the street from where we ate lunch. The mattresses were not in great shape but the girl had clean sheets to cover them with. We got three beds for the six of us and paid about 40Q each. We eagerly changed into our swimsuits around 3:30pm and headed down to finally swim in the ocean. The first plunge was so refreshing! We had finally made it! After some play time, I spent some time to myself watching the waves and napping. The beach made me think of my past trips to the beach and how relaxing it is. I thought about visiting the beach with some of my favorite people in LA – Alex Bucur, Alex Gayda, and Carmen Wong: Ms Bucur laying with her eyes closed, Ms Gayda laughing with her giant floppy beach hat she stole from her mom, and Ms Wong reading a trashy magazine.

As we watched the beautiful sunset around 530pm (really, one of the best I have seen), we discussed options for dinner. A few girls went back to the nice hotel to ask about prices and I went with a few to see what our options were near our hotel. The two restaurants that were open for lunch were closed but the owner of our hotel said she could cook us dinner around 8pm. The fancy hotel wanted to charge us 25Q to enter the hotel and then 50Q for a typical Guatemalan plate (rice, beans, eggs, tortillas) or 70Q+ for seafood dishes. We decided we had enough of the snobby hotel and wanted to help out our lady. Before the food was ready, we walked down the street back toward the lanchas to find a place to get a cold drink. All of the restaurants and homes were dark. A few tiendas were open selling packaged snacks. We finally came upon selling cold beers. Four girls enjoyed a cold Gallo and Harim and I enjoyed some cold Coca Cola (6Q) – very refreshing. We sat at a plastic table under the light of a local woman who owned the tienda enjoying our drinks and chatty away.

Around 8pm, we returned to our hotel. The streets at this point were disserted with the exception of a few groups of men. We could hear someone singing terrible karaoke and we all wished Harim was singing instead (she won a karaoke competition last week). Harim and I ate garlic shrimp with potatoes and salad (45Q), Korrin ate a fried fish with potatoes and salad (35Q), and Hannah, Sarah, and Rachel ate a caldo (stew) with a whole fish, crab, and some shrimp (35Q). Harim taught me her technique for peeling the shell off the shrimp so I had a more productive experience than the last time I ate shrimp in Tilapita. Everyone liked their food and we continued to chit chat. We complemented our meal with bolsas (bags) of aqua pura, which were COLD!

After dinner, we headed upstairs to go to bed. While brushing our teeth and needing to use the bathroom, we discovered that there was no running water, the toilet didn’t flush, and there was no toilet paper. The bathroom was the biggest downfall to the weekend. Luckily, a few of us had tissues in our backpacks and we were able to make do – although it was a much less than desirable experience. Easily the second worst bathroom of my life (first worse was the public bathroom at the cathedral in San Salvador). I shared a bed with Sarah and we read and chatted a bit before falling asleep. Between the feeling of insects crawling on me (which there weren’t), the desire to avoid the bathroom (which was impossible to hold it forever), and the clucking chickens (cock-a-doodle-doing all night), I did not sleep so well. A few hours here and there but lots of tossing and turning.

By 6am, we were all awake and looking to avoid the bathroom. We put our suits back on and headed down to the beach. There were no other people on the beach, but the entire town was already up and moving around. Rachel and Hannah went for a run while Sarah and I read on the beach. Harim and Korrin joined us and we all went swimming again. The sun was already starting to heat up the day and we wanted to take advantage of our last moments on the beach. With the little activity on the beach and our desire to get some work done, we decided to head back to Xela early. Around 8am, we were ready to head out. Someone asked about the water in the shower and the boy who lived at the hotel was able to get us some water upstairs. I took a body shower to wash off the salt and changed for the ride. We took the lancha back across and there was a bus waiting. Luckily the bus left shortly after we arrived around 830am. Unfortunately, we spent two and a half hours returning to Mazate. The bus stopped nearly every minute to pick someone up, we spent twenty minutes in a market area, and then had to drive very slowly because we had an engine issue. As soon as we arrived in Mazate, a bus was heading out to Xela. We were ushered aboard a crowded bus and squished into the last two rows. I was in and out of sleep as we went around the curves and back up the mountains. The little boy next to me fell asleep on my arm while I was sleeping on my backpack. At 1pm, we arrived back at Las Rosas and waited for a bus back toward the parque. I was eager to shower and eat some lunch.

Overall, I spent nearly 10 hours of my weekend in transit and used a disgusting bathroom more than once but I swam in the ocean and saw a beautiful sunset. I spent the evening enjoying great time with my newest family. In all, I spent 170Q ($22) for transportation, food, and lodging – T.I.G. This is Guatemala.