We got up quite early on Sunday morning to get ready to leave Antigua to travel to Xela.
Woke to heavy rain which was a bit of a drag as we had to travel on one bus 45 minutes to a town called Chimaltanengo on the main highway to catch another bus a further 4 hours to Xela.
We had been to the bus station behind the marketplace the day before so knew where the buses left from.
Left the hotel about 7 am to get some breakfast. The rain was really heavy and the cobble-stone streets which sloped inward were running with water making it hard to cross without getting wet feet. Went to the “Bagel Barn” again and had a breakfast bagel while checking the email.
Back to the hotel, we checked out and headed through the marketplace to the bus stop. The rain had thankfully stopped by now and we got on a bus which was just pulling out.
The bus filled up quickly as it slowly drove north out of the town. The cobble-stones ended and the driver basically floored it!
We were still going through the outskirts of the city with building close to the road on each side but he must have still been going 80km/h with the occasional honk on the horn to an approching vehicle or a scary heavy breaking for a dog on the road!
Once we left the city the road started climbing and became quite winding. And bearing in mind it the roads were still wet, it was nervous trip to Chimal. I swear the bus must have been up on two wheels on some of the corners! We missed the first stop at Chimal so had a little walk back from where we got off. Came to a bus with the bonnet up (bad sign!) that was going to Xela so we squeezed on. Got a seat right at the back but had a little trouble getting down the narrow aisle to get there.
The trip to Xela was long but pretty uneventful. The Centroamericano Highway we were now travelling on was better than the other road but there were still sections where roadwork was happening which were very rough. At one stage we came out on the top of a ridge in the clouds and I found I was quite short of breath. Found out later that we were at 3760m above sea level at that point!
Got to Xela early afternoon. The bus depot was a little way out of town so we got a taxi to the center. Found a cafe called Babylon close by and had some lunch and logged on to their wireless internet connection. We were due to meet Maria at the language school at 4pm so we killed some time finding the school and having another coffee at another cafe.
Finally met with Maria at the school and went through some details before she drove us to our appartment which is 20minutes walk from the school.
Xela is not anywhere near as attractive a city as Antigua. Quite busy though and a lot less tourists. Very narrow streets with narrower footpaths and buildings almost up to the roads.
The apartment is simple but quite nice. Two story with open kitchen and living on the groundfloor, large bedroom and bathroom on the second. The shower does have hot water which is some kind of electric element stuck to the top of the showerhead. Very dodgy looking wiring as well!
We both had showers and something to eat and went to bed early. Due at school at 8am tomorrow!