the k & l adventure: part two.

Now I hope you didn't think that I was done describing our adventure. It's time I share the "we-certainly-did-not-expect-that-to-happen!" moment of the trip.

It all started over the weekend. That was when I made a reservation for our trip out to Semuc. Wrote it down. Confirmed the details with someone Monday morning. Confirmed them again with someone else Monday night. Didn't receive a ticket or a confirmation note (like I asked), but was smart enough to write down both their names. At 7:50 on Wednesday morning, Lisa and I were outside our hostel ready for our 8:00 shuttle. 8:15 rolls around. Head down to reception to hear, "Don't worry, chica! Give it another 10-15 minutes." 8:30 comes and goes. Run down to reception to hear, "What? You guys are still here?!" Well that sounds promising. Reception then calls the travel agency to find out that they passed by our hostel for us already.. At 6:00. Uh, excuse me? I was told 8:00. Three times. From three separate employees. When did the time switch happen? Oh, that's right.. it didn't!

Luckily, the travel agent was sweet enough to stay with us to see if the shuttle could wait for us in the next town. They could! Phew, now we just had to find a public bus to take us there. While waiting at the travel agency, the travel agent left for a hot second. Well, like Murphy's Law calls for, the 9:00 public bus drove past us. Oops. The travel agent comes back in a flurry telling us to chase after it! Considering el camino was all uphill, the bus was all speed, and we were all sweat, we didn't catch it. That's fine, we'll just catch the 10:00 public bus. Oh, what's that? Martín who drives the 10:00 bus wasn't working today? Of course not. We'll just wait for the 11:00, meaning the transport would no longer wait for us. At this point, I would've been content just getting out of middle-of-nowhere Semuc and into the next town. The travel agent started asking her townspeople friends if they were headed to Cobán. Yeah? Who could let us tag along? Great. For the same price it would've cost us to arrive all the way home? No gracias. We started making ourselves comfortable in the shade for the two hour wait. THEN, just then, a flat-bed truck turns the corner. Seeing as Semuc is so small, the travel agent knew him too. Did he have space? Yup. Was he willing to take us? Claro que sí. For what price? 25Q as opposed to 150Q. Well, mi amigo, you've got yourself a deal.

Seeing as there were already three full-grown men up front, that left the flat-bed part of the flat-bed truck for Lisa and I. Eh, porque no? We hopped in the back. Right next to the strapped-in refrigerator. We didn't initially pay much attention to how well the refrigerator was strapped in. But, as we started the two hour trip to the next town, we quickly realized why: an unpaved road full of rocks and divets is more than half the trip to Cobán. Thus, we laid out our still-damp towels to provide our behinds a little extra cushion. And we were off! About twenty minutes into the ridiculously bumpy ride, the truck stopped and one of the guys came to the back. The preceding conversation went a little like this:

Him: "Mucho polvo acá, verdad?" "There's a lot of dust here, right?"
Me: "No, no hay tanto." "No, not that much."
Him: "Siii. Permitanme a barrer." "Yes. Allow me to sweep."
Me: "Haha. En serio?" "Haha. Seriously?"
Him: "Si! Por favor." "Yes! Please."
Me: "Pues, si quieres.." "Well, if you want to.."

The gentleman (yes, that is what I'm calling a complete stranger in who we put way too much trust) then swiftly pulled out his broom and sweetly swept around us while making small chat. When he finished, he hopped back up front and drove off again. Did they really just stop the truck to sweep the back of it for us? Awww. In addition to this momento dulce, we found our ride extremely hilarious. Here we were bouncing around the back of a random truck, holding on for dear life, and laughing our heads off about the story that is our lives. Oh, Guatemala.. :)