Читать книгу From the city of angels to the land of fire. Danny Beer, gringo on tour - Danny Beer - Страница 57

After a week in San Pedro staying with a local family and learning Spanish it’s time to move on. You meet up with Sofia again in Panajachel. She will stay there one more day while you go on ahead.

You load the bike onto a chicken bus and ride it all uphill back to the InterAmericana highway. It’s a real bitch getting the bike back down again. To load it onto the bus you lift it up to a guy half way up the ladder, then scramble up to the top of the bus for him to pass it back up to you. Unloading the bike the guy hands you the bike in one hand while you try to climb back down using only your left hand to hold the ladder. Tricky.

You get about twenty five km before the bike fucks up. It’s the cogs on the rear gear system. It broke off at the axle area and bent up good and proper. It takes all of two seconds to thumb a ride. A pickup stops and you jump in the back. The ride is rough for a while then the road is nice. It is scary. At least on a rollercoaster you know you will step off in the end. On the back of a pickup you don’t. Twice the driver has to brake suddenly to avoid a chicken bus when overtaking other traffic.

But you make it out okay in the end. It is Sunday so the bike shops are shut. Tomorrow morning you will sort it all out.

Some guy befriends you. You ask where a hotel is and he directs you. Then he asks for a quonzali for his tummy. You relent, giving him one. He then takes you to the hotel though the directions are enough. With the hotel in sight he then asks for two quonzalis, again making signs that he is hungry. You give him one more but he wants another again. Two is enough. The hotel is a bit expensive for what it is so you don’t stay there anyway. Soon another place is found and you settle in for the evening.