Hiking Through the Highlands of Guatemala: Day 2

If you’re starting with this post, you can read part 1 here.

At 6.30 AM, one of the guides came knocking: it was time to get up.

The sky was clear, the clouds were gone, and the courtyard outside was calling our names. But boy was I sore. I’d spent four out of the last five days hiking, and now sleeping on the floor had me stiff and unwilling to get up.

Everyone was feeling the same. One by one, we started stirring and doing slow stretches on the sleeping mats. It had rained a bit overnight but inside the rustic shelter, we’d been warm and super cosy.

Last night, just a few minutes after lights out, the church band had started up. For a small community, K’omonoj really invested in their church. And the previous day had been Sunday. But nothing could have kept us awake. We’d all drifted off eventually, to the sound of the bass drums, crashing cymbals and the same few chords being struck over and over again.

Breakfast was instant coffee, fruit-flavoured yoghurt, bananas, oatmeal and granola. We ate it out in the sun, snuggling with the cats who were delighted to be fed cuddles and yoghurt.

We hit the trail again at 8.45 AM. Today was meant to be a short day. We only had 12 kms till our destination for the night: Santa Clara.

Just like the previous day, the route was a mix of grassy trails and mountain roads. Sometimes, they were rough, dirt roads, but increasingly, they were paved.

We passed more small communities, some construction, some cows. We also passed pick-up trucks that seemed to be the main mode of transport here. The sides of the trucks were high and grill-like. Inside, everyone would be standing, holding on for dear life as the driver navigated uneven, bumpy and winding roads. Sometimes, when it was too full, passengers even stood outside the truck bed. I was glad to be hiking instead.

We reached Santa Clara around noon. The last stretch was through the town itself, and I was already missing the natural hillside trails. Here, we had to watch out for other pedestrians and vehicles.

The home stay was also more urban – a cement courtyard replaced the grassy lawns, metal structures replaced the trees and flowers. And instead of being surrounded by orchards and plantations, we had walls and a big gate.

But this came with its conveniences too. We hadn’t needed to carry our lunch and dinner and were treated to quite the feast – rice with carrots, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, steamed vegetables, beans, a side of avocado, more tortilla than we could ever eat, even a spicy sauce to drizzle over everything. Meat eaters had pipian de pollo instead of the eggs and beans. This had been prepared by 6-7 ladies there – Mama Clara, her 3 daughters, one aunt, and one friend (“like a sister”) who had come over to help out. They were gathered over the traditional wood-burning stove, laughing and joking and chatting with us and happily acquiescing to our requests for seconds and thirds.

There was a bit of sun out after lunch, and we still had half a day left, so most of the group went out to explore the town, while Nick and I played some games at the dining table next to the stove. We played, and watched the ladies get on with the chores – washing all the dishes from earlier, chopping fruits for the evening, preparing wood for the temascal, etc. The stove was still going next to us. The babble had died down. It was quite a relaxing atmosphere to be in.

At least, until all that wood fire filled the air with smoke.

The others returned after a couple of hours. Over lunch, we had learned that it was Mama Clara’s birthday today. The others, while strolling around town, had found a bakery and bought a big birthday cake for her. We waited for the right moment to bring it out.

Little did we know that Mama Clara had a birthday surprise of her own! A little after sunset, we were all ushered inside their house, served big slices of cake and caldo de frutas. I’d watched them prepare the latter: a giant pot of melon, pineapple, watermelon and lots of sugar, simmering for an hour or so on the stove. Then we brought out the second cake, sang birthday songs and celebrated her 53 years. It was quite the festive occasion. We’d been worried about there being too much cake, but we need not have: the ladies soon had it sliced up and sent off to friends, neighbours and family.

Soon, the temascal was ready. In groups of 2’s and 3’s, we went into the little brick enclosure, just like the day before. This time, almost everyone partook in it.

It took a while for all of us to be done with it, and then it was time to eat! Dinner ended up being leftovers from lunch, which we thoroughly cleaned out.

The next and final day would be shorter still: only 10 kms, but starting with a glorious sunrise hike. We bid goodbye to the host family after dinner; we would be gone before they get up in the morning.

And then it was time for bed.

The last and final part is here.

* Quick note: It may be a little confusing to read about eating eggs and yoghurt on a vegan blog – when I travel to places where I experience a language barrier, I’m more flexible about what I eat. The camping/backcountry recipes on the blog will still be vegan.