Back to reality...

...and back to school! My first day is tomorrow (Tuesday), so you can deduce that I'm safely back in Atlanta. So far my adventures here have been going to Tennessee to pick up Bella, taking her for walks, and trying (so far unsuccessfully) to change my name and set up the internet. (I'm currently borrowing an unknown neighbor's network!) If anyone is trying to reach me, Ben's cell phone is the way to go. My old number is kaput. Or e-mail is working (thank you neighbor).

Ben has been in touch and e-mailed me a little of what he's been doing, so I'm including some of it here. He's still in the highlands of Guatemala, so it's much cooler there than just about anywhere in the U.S. right now. :)

The Honeymoon is Over

But only in the literal sense! I saw Laura off today - she caught a ride to the airport with another Atlantan we met at Lago Atitlan, in Guatemala. She should still be in the air as I type this.

Anyway, I'm now in the northern mountain town of Nebaj, where I'm planning to do some hiking for a story. The bus ride here was intersting - non stop blind curves that left the entire bus gripping the seatbacks like we were all on a roller coaster. The landscape was pretty - huge green mountains covered in cornfields, pastureland, and cornfields. The atmosphere was, of course, only enhanced by the insane man seated in the back seat of the bus. From time to time, he would curse loudly and make death threats against an unknown person. Fun.

As our trip together is over, Laura and I will have to decide whether to bother with this blog or not. I'll probably update periodically on the road, and maybe Laura will enthrall us with the intrigues of North Atlanta High School. What do you all think?

OK, off to find some food.

Pictures!

Hey! If you want to see what got this whole crazy honeymoon started, you can check out our wedding pictures! Go here for the slideshow: www.drewnewman.us/clients/lauraandben After that you'll be sent to an index. Or, go to www.pictage.com and register- then search for our names.

We're also hoping to get a few more of some folks who aren't pictured... our photographer is checking his files, but we figured that you all would have some too. So send us your pictures from the wedding! (Even if you think they aren't good, we want'em!)

The Monkeys Roar

Well, they do at the ruins of Yaxchilan, a riverside ruin situated on the Mexico/Guatemala border and accessible only by boat.

As Laura says in her post, we're trying to catch up after about a week away from e-mail access. Laura goes home tomorrow, so I'm sure she'll have nothing to do but blog, blog, blog. Everyone should email her to encourage her to blog more. Her students can wait. Remind her.

Anyway, Yaxchilan. Frontera Corozal, the jumping off point for these ruins, is only about 45 minutes or so from Lancanja Chasayab, the Lacandon Indian village where we did the jungle hike Laura writes about. The day after that hike, we headed toward Frontera Corozal.

Most visitors to Yaxchilan come on day trips with Palenque tour agencies, so Laura and I decided to get up early to beat the crowds. By 6:30 a.m., we were zipping down the Usumacinta river - broad, muddy, and fast-flowing, it's Mexico/Guatemala border here - with the yellow sunrise shining on the water. The fog was still hanging on the jungle and over the river, and our lanchero (boatman) once stopped to 0 show us a monkey, hanging in a tree over the river.

Not only did we get to the ruins before the major crowds, we got to the ruins first. When our lancha nosed into the cement steps, we had to step into a slick pile of mud left behind by the river, which had receded during the night.

The path to the main plaza of these Mayan ruins led between two tall stone walls, which funneled us into a mostly underground building called "the labyrinth." We had to go through its passageways to get to the main plaza, but it was pitch black inside and we couldn't see the exit. Laura went in first, then ran out yelling, "bats!"

Yup. A few dozen tiny bats were hanging from the tops of the Mayan vaults, making high-pitched squeaks. We pulled out our headlamps, crouched low, and ran under them (they're harmless, if creepy). The glow of the exit appeared around the first corner, and we were onto the main plaza.

The ruins were beautiful - carved tablets, stairways climbing to temples on jungle hills, huge ceiba trees sprouting from plaza floor. The best thing, though, was the atmosphere. We were there alone in the cool morning (for once, I was not dripping sweat) and the howler monkeys were crashing through the trees around us, letting rip godawful shrieks. It sounded like there were tigers above us, waiting to pounce.

The normal time for a visit to Yaxchilan is 2 hours. We spent nearly 3.5, and we had the ruins to ourselves for an hour. We both agreed it was one of the best mornings of our trip.

Then, onto Lagos de Montebello, in the south, back in the mountains. More later. Maybe.

Hiking in the Jungle

This happened last week. (We're a little behind but have agreed to each do one previous adventure. So here's mine.)

In the Lacondon jungle, Ben and I went on a hike to see some waterfalls and a lake. We went with a guide named José, who wore black rubber boots and carried a machete. These were, we later realized, good clues about just what was coming our way.

We started by walking a shaded path, José stopping to point out trees or animal footprints from time to time. We saw the tracks of wild pigs, deer, and even a jaguar. The kinds of colorful plants, flowers, and fungi are too many to keep track of. There were irridescent insects and bugs that made a noise like a circular saw at a construction project just out of sight. Seriously. Except you are in the middle of the jungle and there can't possibly be any power tools anywhere in the area.

After a while we needed to cross some small streams, and José kindly used his machete to point out the best places to get your footing. (Remember he is wearing rubber boots here.) My hiking boots were doing pretty well with only a little water at one ankle. We kept going until we came to a river. There was a log jutting part way out, and we dutifully followed our guide and his faithful dog, El Tigre, onto the log for a scenic overlook of the river.

Except it was not a scenic overlook. We were going to cross the other half of the river by stepping on a serious of tree branches that were lodged underwater. Imagine bracing your foot between two crossing branches under the surface. Imagine the water is flowing briskly. Imagine you are thigh deep in the middle of the river, wondering what you are doing there trying to balance on these sticks that cannot possibly be stable, and also realizing just how ridiculous your earlier efforts to keep your feet dry were. Now you've got the idea.

On the other side, José just dumped out his boots and led on, occasionally doing a little trail maintenance with his machete. It was worth it however, because when we got to the waterfall, it was not just a waterfall. It was an entire hillside of waterfalls. We were literally walking up and across cascade after cascade. Every direction-up, down, right, left, forward, behind- was clear spring water spilling over small limestone ridges. Ben got to swim a little (Ladies, don't get too excited... he is taken!), and José showed us some of the river wildlife. Past that further was a lake full of fish who aren't wary of people. No one fishes there because it is too remote. It was peaceful and beautiful, and a nice break before the three hour trek back the way we came, our feet making a squish-squish sound all the way.