when buses break down in guatemala.

i needed to save a few hundred dollars, and so did a few other people. so, instead of taking the 45 minute flight to tikal, we decided to take a bus. it was a charter bus after all, and i figured that charter buses are sort of universal...what with the fabric cup holders, the guy behind you that makes you anxious to recline your seat, and the overwhelming knowledge that yes, at one point, you will have to use the unairconditioned lavatory. much to my surprise, then, when after 10 minutes of driving, the piloto, or driver, got out to smoke a cigar. i didnt misspell that word. then, about an hour after that, the bus lurched to a stop, and my friends and i looked at eachother with a mixture of confusion, and amusement. yes, we were bad ass for taking the 8 hours bus ride. no, we didnt know that the driver had an overactive bladder and an unusual hankering for cigars. so, after about 30 minutes of sitting on an emergency pull out on a country highway (see the blog post a few days ago to remind yourself what that is) 3 hours outside of the city, in the middle of burgeoning rainforest, we realize the transmission is shot. to ease my mind, i went for a quick walk into the underbrush, until i ran into (literally) a cow who mooed at me in the most vitriolic way i had ever heard. then, we played some frisbee, being careful not to throw it into the busy highway. after about 2 hours, a new bus came. sure, this one didnt have airconditioning (again...rainforest), but only a short 12 hours later, at 12 47 in the morning the next day, we arrived at the tikal bus stop, feeling achy, tired, and still, bad ass.