I woke up late again today, a little before 8am! We took a taxi into Belmopan and arrived just as the bus to San Ignatio was loading, so we quickly purchased tickets and boarded. It was another rainy day, so all the windows were up in the bus. In addition, someone had taken it upon themselves to be the personal bus DJ, and they played really loud rap music from their phone. Further, I was sitting next to the window where someone had deposited some gum, and then a hair had gotten into it. Then, after my seat companion got off the bus, an old lady sat down next to me and she had one of the dreaded ants crawling around on her shirt, so I scooted as close to the window as I could.
We finally got to San Ignatio and wandered around the market a bit. Then, we went back to the shopping area and looked around again. As we were heading out to find a taxi to take us to the Maya site of Cahal Pech, one drove past and the driver yelled at us. So, we loaded in with 3 others that were already in the taxi and set off for Cahal Pech. On the way, the driver made us a deal if we would let him take us to both Cahal Pech and Xunantunich, another Maya site. Since I had never been to the second site, we agreed to his deal. As it turned out, he had a bit of a personal agenda in cutting us the deal. He lives near Xunantunich and he wanted to take his little girls from fried chicken from the big city :)
Cahal Pech was as memorable as ever, and it rained again. I have never seen Cahal Pech on a sunny day. Also, Dad ended up buying some things at the gift shop there, so it was a worth-while trip. Then, we took off for Xunantunich. We crossed on a ferry (that the ferry man pulled by hand) and the driver dropped us off for our trip around. The site was incredible, and much larger than Cahal Pech. We climbed to the top of the largest mound just as it started to drizzle again, so we ended up having to take it slowly on the way down. No use losing your footing on slick Maya stone stairs. Luckily, I had packed an umbrella that was given to me on the UIUC campus some years back by a campus fellowship group. Unfortunately, the umbrella is a tad broken. At Cahal Pech, we ran into a couple that were also stuck on the bus when the tire blew yesterday, and at Xunantunich, we ran into a girl who was also on that bus.
The driver of our taxi wanted to take us back to Banana Bank, and was trying to cut us a deal, but we decided to take the cheaper option via bus and were dropped off in San Ignatio again. We visited a few more shops, got online at a bar/grill and had some coffee, and got a few more items off of my list. At this point, it was past 4pm. I had wanted to go to a natural food type store that I had seen on the edge of town, and Dad was prepared for us to walk there, but I figured it was too late so we waited for a bus. Sure enough, as soon as we had boarded, it started really raining again. Also, at this point, the nice story of the day begins to take a turn for the worst.
I was very sick on the ride home. It was a combination of: the bad time of my month, a bad season to be driving in a school bus in, a bad time of the day to be without food, and tons of bad smells. My trip was a battle with my stomach and my head: I felt both nauseous and faint. We got back to Belmopan and I moved close to the door so that I could get some air. Then, we were dropped off at the Banana Bank road and began to walk, in the rain, down a long road with loads of deep puddles, at dusk. Around the first corner of our long walk, there was some guy dunking clothing and food into puddles. He looked very strange, and I am fairly certain that the things he had were not his own. Then, he looked up at us and asked where Belmopan was. At this point, both Dad and I became nervous, and walked fast to get away from him, after politely answering his question of course. I had, until this point, very much doubted that I could get Dad to move very fast at all. I will say now that he can almost outlast me. We moved very quickly through some very puddley areas, and needless to say our shoes, socks, and Dad's pants got soaked. We were high on adrenaline and looked behind us for signs of the strange little man, but saw nothing. Then, as we finally reached Banana Bank, it was dark. I yelled and Dad rung the gong on our side of the river until some poor American tourist came out in her shorts to assist us. She decided that, after walking all the way down to the river, she couldn't help us and went back to get someone else. She was gone for a short while, and returned to say that help was on its way. It started pouring and I found out that my umbrella also leaks on the inside. Poor Dad only had a rain jacket, which he draped over his backpack and head. After 30 minutes of heavy rain, mosquitoes, and no sign of life, the boat guy finally arrived. As it turned out, he was summoned from his home and had to drive over to Banana Bank, in the rain, and then pull the boat across to get us, with his flashlight clenched between his teeth.
It wasn't the most settling of days, and I am still without food. So, I think I will eat now :) Hopefully, tomorrow has less adventures!
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