Stage 5: Flores to Poptun
The way out of Flores
I slept in a bit today, the night spent hanging out in Tikal and then the 3:30 wake up on top of the hot ride took a toll on me, I suppose. Because of the mosquitos, I had hung my hammock under her roof outside and slept very comfortably, undisturbed by mosquitos. I woke up around 9:30 and hung out with both Maria and Mia for a bit. Then we both had errands on the island - Maria was scoping out a location for a fish restaurant at the behest of one of her fish farming customers and needed to talk to the proprietor. I had promised my mom that I would find her a mask to add to her collection. In Guatemala, they use ceremonial masks for El Baile de Moros in some areas, and Maria knew where I could find a good selection. They had wonderful hand-carved and hand-painted masks depicting various forest animals - jaguars, tortoises, and monkeys. I didn’t have trouble picking out something nice. The hard part is the fact that I can’t carry around a mask on my bike without damaging it, so I had to ship it. It seems as if in Guatemala, you cannot use a shipping service directly, you have to go through some other logistic intermediary. The shop where I got the mask wouldn’t do this and only boxed up the masks. Then, Maria tried to help me find the logistics office, with Mia in tow. But it was Saturday - they were all closed. We managed to reach someone by phone and they sent us off into the city to a pharmacy where we could drop it off. This was quite the trek through the city, and I was getting nervous because I still had 60 more miles to ride. Well, we finally got to the pharmacy and I dropped it off and filled out the customs forms, I hope it makes it. The shipping was about 3x the cost of the masks - use sparingly.
I am currently in a small village, just a few miles from Poptun, called Machaquilla. I arrived here after dark, which was not very optimal, but fortunately the major parts of the ride were complete and there were some pedestrians on the side of the road as I came through after dark, making me feel a bit more secure.
My host, Saul, lives a short ways from the main road with his wife, Silvia and their 5-year old daughter, Mercedes. Saul as a notary public in Poptun and was working late when I arrived, so I caught up a bit with Silvia before he showed up. She’s a kindergarten teacher and is from Poptun originally, like her husband. They’ve been hosting Couchsurfers for years, and even one other cyclist a couple of years ago.
Saul showed up and we had some introductions and I showered and washed my clothes. Then we went to a Guatemalan Comedor (restaurant), the likes of which I have been enjoying the entire time. The food always comes with these delicious, homemade corn tortillas. We hung out a bit and one of his friends, Samuel, came to join us, as well. Saul and Samuel play music together, Saul plays the guitar and Samuel the cajon or the drums.
After dinner, he took me to a discotheca…La Mantra, located on the outskirts of Machaquilla. I was keen on seeing what a club here looked like. We drove in and parked in the jungle. The first thing that struck me were the security guards, all milking about with bulletproof vests and pistols in holsters. I’m not sure what goes on in rural Guatemalan clubs that merit this sort of detail, but Saul surmised it was just macho, drunk guys fighting over girls. We passed through a metal detector at the entrance and were patted down. The music at the club was extremely loud. When we walked in, a DJ was playing a set of reggaeton and Latin music. There were a fair number of people on the dance floor as well as hanging out at tables and drinking. We received a complimentary beer at the entrance, so we were all set. We found a table with a few of his friends and hung out, mostly people watching, as the music was too loud. At times, the DJ would interrupt and make proclamations to the crowd before resuming.
Saul and I at La Mantra Discoteca in Machaquilla
But the highlight of the evening was the Banda band that took the stage to play Mexican music. I can only assume that the band was from Guatemala. Since their name made a reference to the 502 country code. This was a fin live group with two guitars, bass, accordion and singer (who doubled on the alto sax). I loved one of the guitarist’s instrument, which was checkered bright yellow and black. It seemed like they were playing a mix of original music and covers. The crowd swelled at times as some of the more popular covers brought people to the dance floor or choruses of people reciting the popular lyrics along with the band.
The Guatemalan-Mexican Banda band at La Mantra Discoteca
I had kind of wanted to dance, but felt a little bit off for a couple reasons, the first one being the security, the second being my difficulty with Spanish (although that’s less of a deterrent). One of the main reasons was the seemingly cultural way in which you had to ask someone to dance, but I did not understand the way that women were asked to dance and if a covetous guy or boyfriend would react in a way that would involve my primary concern: the armed security guards. So I remained content to watch as the various scenes unfolded across the club.
We went back home after a while and I was grateful to have a bed in which I could collapse. I couldn’t even write this blog post before passing out.
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