After @bypaul and I had met in Antigua Guatemala and had spent a few days in San Pedro de la Laguna on Lago de Atitlán and in Xela and its surroundings, we set off towards Mexico in one of the chicken buses. Before we would leave Guatemala, we had planned a last stop in Huehuetenango to visit the Mirador Juan Dieguez Olaverri and the Laguna Magdalena.
Huehuetenango is a small city in northwestern Guatemala, not far from the Mexican border and is the capital of the state of the same name. The city is located in the middle of the mountain range Sierra de los Cuchumatanes at about 1900 meters altitude. At least for tourists, the city itself does not have much to offer, but can be perfectly used as a starting point for day trips.
After a bus ride of several hours we arrived at the terminal of Huehuetenango in the evening and after a short ride in one of the minibuses to the centre of the city, we booked a room in one of the cheap hostels near the main square. It was already late in the afternoon and after we had dinner at a small restaurant near the main square, we started to figure out our travel planes for the next days. We wanted to spend as little time as possible in the anything but beautiful city of Huehuetenango and the next day in the morning we set out to the Mirador Juan Dieguez Olaverri. Due to two dilapidated but still beautiful cabins up in the mountains and in the middle of nothing and a stunning view, this observation deck is a popular destination among Guatemalans. It is not far away from the city and after a short ride in one of the minibuses, we were dropped at the entrance.
Since we had planned to stay in a small hostel near the lookout point, we had checked out of our hostel in Huehuetenango and were traveling with all our luggage. But when we found ourselves a few minutes later in front of the locked door of the hostel, it was closed. It was the only hostel or hotel in the whole area. We were already half way to the Laguna Magdalena, which we wanted to visit the next day and we really didn’t want to return to Huehuetenango. But where else should we stay? It was early afternoon and we still had enough time to decide what to do next. We explored the area and shot countless photos of the crumbling huts and the beautiful views, when @bypaul suddenly came up with an idea: Why shouldn’t we spend the night in one of the huts?
What was meant to be a joke at first, was soon to turn out to be a (at least supposedly) perfect option. We inquired about the security situation in the area and if it was even allowed to spend the night in the huts and found out that it was a safe area and that even a local tour group would camp nearby. It was decided - we would spend the night in one of the huts!
Due to our tight budget, we were happy to have found a free place to stay and explored the interior of the two huts to decide in which one we would spend the night. Our only concern was the cold weather and the forecast for the night - temperatures just above freezing were predicted! We neither had a tent nor sleeping bag and not even enough warm clothes. Who could have thought that we would be dealing with almost freezing temperatures on a trip through Central America?
Even during the day, the temperatures had been fresh and as soon as it got dark, we could almost feel the temperature starting to drop. We stayed as long as possible in a small restaurant, but when it closed we had to go out into the cold. It was getting windier and we hoped that we would be spared from rain - the roof of the hut was completely perforated and offered us no protection! At least we were sheltered from the wind in the hut, and after we cleaned the floor, put on all our warm clothes and covered us with a blanket, we huddled together, hoping the night would pass quickly. The cold was unbearable and we weren’t able to sleep much. From time to time some stray dogs passed by and not only once scared us when they were suddenly standing in front of us in the darkness. At least we were lucky and were spared from the rain. When the sun finally rose the next morning, it was still cold and with all our luggage and thick wrapped in all our warm clothes, we tried to warm up with the help of a walk.
The night had been anything but relaxing and only a little later we went on to our next stop - the Laguna Magdalena was already waiting for us! We took another minibus to a nearby village and from there we continued on an unpaved road which was only accessible with a pickup. The price for transport to the lagoon was anything but cheap - the driver was obviously aware that he was our only option to get to the lagoon and made shameless use of it. From the parking lot at the entrance of the lagoon we made our way along a small river towards the lagoon.
Once we had made it to the beautiful lagoon and started to explore its surroundings, we discovered a path to a lookout point and started to go up. It quickly became steep and on all fours we continued climbing. @bypaul had already reached the top and I had fallen back a little when I was suddenly plagued by constant sneezing and itching eyes. Slight dizziness befell me and only with difficulty I toiled the last few meters up. My eyes were already noticeably swollen and only a few minutes later I had problems to open them at all. The dizziness did not improve either and I struggled down the steep path and rapidly we made our way back.
Probably I had touched some kind of insects or plants while climbing which had probably caused this allergic reaction. Fortunately, @bypaul was well equipped and brought along some antihistamine and when we got back to the pickup I washed my eyes with clean water. Although the swelling subsided a little, my eyes still looked anything but good and remained like that for over a day.
These two days were certainly the craziest I have ever experienced and I definitely will remember them for a long time!
All photos were taken by myself. Thank you for reading!
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Steemit Worldmap:
!steemitworldmap 15.400703 lat -91.439205 long Huehuetenango was crazy d3scr