Interesting Journey to Antigua, Guatemala

Today David and I left Tacuba, El Salvador for Guatemala city where I were to catch a bus for Antigua, and David for Rio Dulce (on the way to Tikal). We left around 7:30 and got to the border and cleared it without much problem. But then we waited for a $4 bus from the border to Guatemala city, but there none. Only buses are the slow chicken bus $3, and a decent $6 bus, which was not listed in the book, so we decided to decline the $6 bus. After that there no other bus other than the chicken buses, we were started to get worried and decided to try hitchhike - my first hitchhiking ever. After 45min or so, someone finally stopped and we were on our way to the Guatemala city. The driver is a software architect on banking security software! He said he might be even interested in my company's software (single sign on solution), so I gave him my work contact info. He had a cancer and now is in remission. He opt for change in his diet - healthy diet and walking a lot instead of the chemical treatment that the doctor recommended. He is really nice, not only did he not charge us a fee, he also treated us to a restaurant near his workplace, a pretty fancy "cafeteria" style place where they also produce chocolate candy, and pastry. We also had ice cream and chocolate for dessert. He telecommutes from San Salvador, but sometime he comes to the office for meetings. After a really nice lunch, he took us to our respective bus area! Some people have told us how unfriendly Guatemalan in compare to other central American countries, and first day we met such a nice person!

I did not realize that Antigua is about 5000 feet above sea level, and it was heavy overcast when I arrived in the evening, definitely felt a bit cool. I think it is good since it will give me the time for the tons of bug bites to heal without additional mosquito threat. I did a quick walk through the center and grab banana bread and dinner before catching up on emails and news.