When we're sick, our bodies tell us what to do to get better. I woke up yesterday feeling nauseous and slightly dizzy, so naturally my body said "Stay in bed! Watch movies and rest and don't move around too much!"
Unfortunately for my body, I had already made plans to make a bicycle trip to a natural hot spring about 10 miles from Xela. I'd been looking forward to the trip all week, and I saw it as my best opportunity to experience bike riding in Guatemala before I take the plunge and buy a bike in Santa Cruz del Quiché, the town I'll be living in for the next several months. So, tummy growling and without the benefit of an appetite, I decided to try and eat
something so I wouldn't have to ride on an empty stomach. I figured bread would be nice and simple (and dry), and I've heard that strong, black coffee can also help with digestive problems (though I've also heard bad things about the caffeine; still, whenever there's conflicting medical advice regarding coffee, I side with the coffee!)
I went to my favorite place in Xela to eat bread: La Vienesa, a somewhat ironically named bakery/cafe that is probably as unpretentious as they come (I doubt there's ever been a true connection to Austria, and anyway chocolate comes from the Maya!). They sell only bread (their distinction is that they add yolks to the batter, which gives their bread a deep yellow color and much more flavor than the other guys) and small cups of coffee or hot chocolate, perfect for dipping the bread into. Normally I come to la Vienesa for the hot chocolate with milk and cinnamon, which is arguably the best in town (and much, much cheaper than the touristy places). Their coffee was far less exciting, but combined with a little bread roll it made for a minimalist breakfast of sorts.
After la Vienesa, I still had an hour to kill before my ride, so I went to my favorite coffee shop (El Cuartito) to order a pot of their "tea for nausea," which is actually a tea made of basil leaves. Who knew you could make tea from basil? It was ok, for herbal tea... mild, not a lot of flavor. It didn't help my nausea much, but I felt I had at least made an effort to treat my symptoms before embarking on a potentially disastrous trip.
The other riders -- two girls from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands -- and I met at the travel agency at 2 pm, where our guides loaded the mountain bikes and helmets (yes! apparently they do sell them here, somewhere!) into a pickup truck. We all hopped in the back and rode toward Almolonga, a bustling K'iche' town just south of Xela that is somewhat famous for its high agricultural output (I've heard that they're considered the breadbasket of Central America because they export a lot of veggies to El Salvador and Honduras). Just before Almolonga, we mounted our bikes and began the easy part of the ride: downhill, into the valley of Almolonga and through the neighboring (and far poorer) community of Zunil (home to the religious icon San Simon, a classic example of the blending and evolution of Catholicism and pre-contact indigenous religion). Although I enjoyed the ease of downhill riding, I knew that every meter of descent would have to be regained in ascent once we began the climb to las Fuentes. The hot springs are located nearly at the top of a short mountain ridge on the southern side of Zunil. We dismounted and walked our bikes up the very steep cobblestone streets of Zunil, and rejoined the paved road that would take us all the way up to the hot springs.
This second half of the trip was painful. Uphill, all the way, with barely any flat or downhill breaks in the terrain. Shortly after we began, I decided to try and eat one of the cherry pie larabars I brought along for the ride -- I knew I'd need some calories to work with, or I'd never make it. I split it with the guide and
las chicas holandesas, one of whom gave me half a banana in return. I still had no appetite, but I managed to eat them anyway. We continued along the route and fell into a pattern of me bringing up the rear and meeting the others periodically where they stopped to wait for me and rest. I kept my bike in first gear for the entire climb, and probably single-handedly added half an hour or more to the total trip time. Still, I'm pretty proud that I was able to finish at all. And I can attest that bathing in the hot springs is all the more wonderful when you have to work so hard to reach them!
I neglected to take any photos at the Fuentes (gimme a break, I was relaxing!) but you can see some at their website:
http://www.lasfuentesgeorginas.com/ Suffice it to say it is a paradise, and when I waded across the pool to the little trickling water fall that is the source of the hot water, I knew that life is beautiful and humans belong in the world.
Here are some photos I took halfway up the climb, looking down at the farm plots outside Zunil:
The lettuce growing just beside the road was looking healthy (though I had no desire to eat it or any of the other veggie patches we passed; especially the fragrant onions that contributed to my nausea). This lettuce may be coming to a grocer near you:
My co-riders:
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