In December of 2010, my semester ended at my university, La Universidad de Costa Rica Sede de Occidente. I went with a few friends up the Central America Isthmus to get a taste of Guatemala, a country with plenty to see and just at the edge of a 2-day non-stop ride from the international bussing company Ticabus. We ended up in Guatemala, saw Lago Atitlan, Antigua, climbed Volcan Pacaya, and even took an overnight double-decker bus up to Flores so we could see the famous Tikal. One of the big 3 Maya cities (along with Chichen Itza in Mexico and Copan in Honduras).
From there, we were within shouting distance of a lesser-known, well kept Maya archaeological site known as Yaxha (Pronounced Yak-Sha). It was beautiful. It was the farthest north and farthest from Costa Rica I ever got on that study-abroad journey back in 2010 - 2011. My Junior year of college. That was almost 13 years ago.
Just a few days ago, here in 2023, I crossed that path again. I'm now back in Guatemala, and I even camped at Yaxha and gave it a second visit (along with Tikal). It was incredible walking through it and getting floods of memories back. I remembered how new I was at Spanish and how new I was at seeing the world. When I was 21 back then, I hadn't ever left my home country. Costa Rica at 21 was the first time I'd ever been outside of the United States.
I'm 33. At the time I felt like 21 wasn't that long ago, but after visiting Yaxha I feel like a lifetime has passed. Everyone I went with has now moved on with their lives, graduated in their fields, gotten married, settled down, and visited places far away. Central America has pulled me back for a variety of reasons. I start to feel a feeling of being left behind. Like I'm not moving on.
In fact, on my visit to Tikal, I took pictures in the same places I remember taking them back in 2010. My East German compatriot David, member of our trio of Team Af Twin scoffed and said "You're living in the past!" in a joking manner. I couldn't help but feel like he's right.
I'm a very nostalgic person, but even this was too much for me. Even on a trans-continental journey I'm still falling back into old places. Am I really doing anything that new and different?
The colorful Guatemalan Mayan clothes are back. Something you don't see in Belize or Mexico. The accents are closer to Costa Rican than they are to Mexican. I'm getting close to the mother dialect I'd learned way back then.
Northern Guatemala is administered by the "Peten Department". Departments are Guatemalan equivalents of Provinces in Canada, or States in the US. The whole northern half of the country is Peten. It's a sparsely populated, remote, jungle of a region where people are far apart. In the traveling world, I call it a bottleneck. I'm starting to see the same travelers again that I'd seen upstream. There's only so many ways through Central America now. I'm bound to run into the same people.
Back at Yaxha, the tallest temple looms over the archaeological site with a clear view of two major lakes that flank the site. It's a popular spot at sunset, where even on a Saturday, only 2-3 dozen visitors wait to watch the sun go down.
A national park worker tells us that we're all here for the same reason and we need to respect each other's time. About an hour before the sun went down, he asked that we all be quiet for each other. Everyone sat there in silence.
A rainstorm showers the jungle in the distance. Howler Monkeys echo through the trees. The calm waters of the lake show wind lines. A calming breeze runs up the side of the temple and gently runs past us.
Sitting on the temple, I couldn't help but think about the last time I was here. I thought about who I was when I was here in 2010. Where I thought my life was headed then compared to now. As the sun set, my memories did too. The feelings blew away in the breeze. The locale is old, I'm older, but I'm someone new now. This journey is something different.
I aimed my tires south and hit a new record. I may have been here before, but this is the farthest south I've ever driven.
-JT
5/23/2023