Back in the saddle...not the place you want to be (posting from the road)

Back in Guatemala - I honestly never thought I would say that again. Yesterday I was surprised just to make it out of Seattle. Why is it that I am constantly next to that person in the TSA line-up that has to cause a scene? This time the guy that I appeared to be "with" (I made the mistake of chatting with him in line) demanded that they dark-skinned TSA agent recite the Pledge of Allegiance before he would show him his ID. This is right after he explained to me that he's not a "discriminator" or anything, he just hate "towelheads" and how he longs for the days pre 9-11 when you could run through the airport without all these foreigners trying to stop you. Well me and my foreign passport were eager to make a break and during his "show me you're American and I'll show you mine" stance I raced through security and hid in a Starbucks line (just in case he did make it through).

So in comparison, the rest of the trip was unremarkable...met a lovely couple, the Flannigans, at LAX and enjoyed my first class upgrades - particulairly on the LAX - GUA leg which is where every airline dumps their chicken-bus equivilant plane on the route...but enought rye/whisky and all is forgotten.

Carrie and Tom, a few friends from Seattle, were in Guatemala already and had pre-booked a

horseback riding adventure. Excited to get back in the saddle (no pun intended but it was a good one - hahaha) I was eager to give it a go. The description of the ride from their website... "This ride takes you on footpaths and trails on the slope of the Ague volcano. Enjoy spectacular views while riding on calm and fit horses with English or western style saddles. Admire mountain pine forest, little farms and fields and isolated indigenous settlements."

My decription "This ride takes you on a long winding drainage ditch of loose rocks obviously picked from the nearby field while in the remote visinity of a dormant volcano. Enjoy spectacular views, very similar to the views that you will see in town, while riding on tempermental horses with ill-fitting saddles. Admire dusty fields, and trash as far as you can see before entering a suburb of Antigua that is entirely constructed of concrete, there will be a guarenteed opportunity to see an indigenous man passed out drunk."

And I was being generous. My horse Ada wanted to nothing but trot at an uncomfortable pace. Tom's horse was content to not move rather stop and eat. I have not idea what was wrong with Carrie's horse in particular but all I could heard for 2 straight hours was "no, no, no, no". Our guide Vincent alternated his time between talking on his cell phone and texting. The blowing dust was so bad that I spent much of my time with my eyes closed, I would sneak a peak every few mintues to ensure that Ada hadn't run too far off course and that the vista of volcano and trash hadn't changed too much.

The part were we entered the "indigenous settlements" was my favourite. We pranced through this suburb, perched high above the locals who seemed to have flocked to the main concrete strip to see what gullible tourists the clip/clop noise brought today. The only redemming part of this section was that the horses were no longer trying to stay upright on loose rocks, now they just had to contend with tuk-tuks and feral dogs.

I shouldn't complain too much...I didn't even come close to death and at the end of the day...my old friend Gallo beer and I were reacquainted...of how I missed you Gallo.