Guatemala preparation, part 4

So I got vaccinated this morning. Bit of a balls up when I turned up at the clinic - they had no record whatsoever of my appointment and didn't have another slot 'til next Tuesday. I managed not to start cursing but did persist a bit (instead of just slinking off to wait a week or pay for private vaccinations) on the offchance it helped. I left in a pretty foul mood all the same but they called me back literally a few minutes later to tell me they had a cancellation for 11:30. They might have done that anyway, maybe being a bit persistent helped, who knows?

Got typhoid (valid for 3 years) and combined tetanus/diptheria/polio (valid for 10 years). Malaria is low or no risk so it's just a case of using insect repellant; ditto for zika and dengue. Mildly shitted up by the fact rabies is recommended for IIRC long-term travellers or whatever, and I simply don't have the time to get it done now. I've had a bit of a poke around on the web and not too worried about this now. If you get bitten and and get the post-bite vaccination promptly it's fine; I think they told me this today and I already knew. I think the post-bite vaccination is widely available in Guatemala - it's not like I'm heading off on any multi-day expeditions into the middle of nowhere either - and the suggestion seems to be that nearly all cases of rabies in Guatemala are from dog bites, and I would imagine I'm going to know about it if I'm bitten by a dog. (The idea of a bat bite had me a bit worried because it might be something I wouldn't realise was a bite.)

It seems to cost about £165 to get the three rabies shots in the UK, which takes about 3-4 weeks in total. (It's not available on the NHS anyway; I was told by the nurse today they didn't do it, presumably not even if I paid them.) I just might get this done prior to a future trip, given it lasts ten years, but I've never had it before so who knows if I will bother. See how I feel when I come back from Guatemala I guess; I'd probably have time to squeeze in the vaccinations round Christmas before any subsequent trip in January.

The vaccination booklet I have seems to imply I was due for a hepatitis A booster in August 2016, but the nurse told me today (she double checked the booklet, and I do believe her) that I didn't need it as I'd had two shots already. (As I say, I did believe her, but a quick bit of poking around on the web finds slightly confusing information which does seem to back this up; one site says the first two shots provide 20 years of protection and possibly lifetime protection.)

My left arm hurts a bit but nothing too bad yet.

I did finally manage to buy some trousers apparently suitable for hiking on Monday, after an epic trek (wearing cotton trousers; living on the edge, baby) into central London and back to see what the shops there had. (I walked; apart from saving tube fares, I figured it's only sensible to get some walking in before trying to walk uphill in Guatemala.) In the end I just bought some from Sports Direct, although it was the branch on Oxford Street or wherever not one of my local ones. I dropped them into that local tailor yesterday to be shortened, and will go over to collect them shortly - if he's done a decent job, I'll be pretty impressed (one day turnaround for a fiver, I think he would have been willing to do them same day if I'd wanted but I didn't want to push it). I also managed to buy a fleece and jacket combination at one of the local Sports Direct shops yesterday, so the enormous list of things I need to buy is gradually dwindling.

I plan to go and try to buy some shoes (local Sports Direct again; cheap 'n cheerful, that's me - I did happen to go into one boutiquey outdoors shop in town which had some trousers at £140 a pair, at which point I decided that wasn't the shop for me) this afternoon and maybe a pair of those waterproof over-trouser things. I can see the weight saved in my bag by not taking a netbook being stolen away by all this stuff, but if you need it you need it (and I must admit I was probably taking a bit of a risk that time I went off wandering into the hills in Mestia without having basic gear like the stuff I'm buying now) and while it's moderately bulky I guess most of it is fairly lightweight (I care far more about weight than volume), and I would be have been taking a jacket of some kind otherwise so the weight can be offset against that in part.

I do feel there's so much crap to sort out before I go and I'm running out of time; I've hardly managed to do any Spanish study because I've been getting so worked up trying to sort out the clothes. If the trousers are OK when I get them back from the tailor that will hopefully take a lot of the pressure off; as I think I said before, I can buy other clothes off the peg (even if I don't like the price or the neon colouring or whatever), it's just the trousers which are really tricky. The one consolation is that I'm not spending insane amounts of money on the clothes - trousers were about £25, the fleece+jacket about £50 (I could have maybe saved a tenner there by trying it on in the shop and then ordering the same thing off the shop's web store, but apart from being a bit cheap I wanted to get the things bought and in my possession ASAP), the shoes will probably weigh in about £30-40 tops. Yeah, I'm sure I'm not getting the best possible quality, but I have to assume the stuff is basically functional (doesn't leak and/or insulates, as appropriate) and I'm not doing anything terribly extreme.

[time passes]

OK, about 4 hours after the vaccinations and the muscle(s) in my upper left are hurting nicely now... On the plus side, the trousers are fine and I went out and bought some shoes, need to wear them for the next week or so to try them out but probably OK. They're a bit chunkier than I might like for normal not-hiking wear but I think an acceptable compromise. Because I'm just so goddam tough I'm going to ignore the burgeoning pain in my arm and trog out again to see if I can get any more stuff, and maybe see if I can get my Metro bank card replaced while I'm at it.

[next day]

So I did go get my Metro bank card replaced - very slick, very convenient  - and I bought some (in hindsight, overpriced - but not insanely expensive at £22-ish) waterproof over-trouser things at SportsDirect. I then ended up going for a few beers with Patrick - only a few, not loads! That was fun and he gave me some advice re all this clothing stuff which (like any advice in this area) was a mixture of scary and helpful. I got home quite early, foolishly indulged in a massive snacking binge even though I wasn't actually all that hungry and went to bed. My left arm was hurting like a bastard at this point. Long story short, I woke up several times during the night, once in a massive cold sweat, once feeling sick, another time with my brain seemingly doing the "stuck record" kind of thing, unable to move off from one (totally inoffensive, but relatively dull) thought, another time with my feet inexplicably cold. I guess this is all down to some mixture of beer, the vaccinations and the snacks.

(While I don't think the beer was more than a relatively small component of this, this did give me a kind of reminder that I ned to be careful not to render myself too uncomfortably sick while I'm away on holiday via over-indulgence. Obviously sometimes the situation gets away from me and that's kind of part of the fun, but I am also taking this as a kind of warning. It was pretty miserable feeling all these different kinds of sick in the comfort of my own home, with a private bathroom on hand and everything.)

I finally woke up about 10-11 feeling much better (but a bit tired and not really wanting to get up). I trogged over to Decathlon at Canada Water (Patrick's suggestion) - that was about an hour each way, as before I figured walking would be good exercise/practice and would save money on tube fares. I was pretty impressed at the size of the place and the levels of stock, not like e.g. Mountain Warehouse in the centre of town where most things didn't seem to be available in all sizes.

I managed to get some non-cotton short-sleeved T-shirts (really cheap; about three quid each) and since Patrick had mentioned it I also bought a bandanna/scarfy thing which I can apparently wear on my head and drape down the back of my neck instead of a cap. Frankly I'm not sure I'll have the balls to wear this, but it was only about three quid and it weighs bugger all so taking it with me won't hurt. I guess it's the sort of thing I might feel OK wearing on an actual hike but when I'm just wandering around town I will probably wear my cap, or just put sun block on my head.

No joy getting a long-sleeved T-shirt. I did find one which wasn't completely skin tight by design, but it was still a bit tight and my nipples were on permanent display when I tried it on so I decided against that. Sorry ladies. :-) Notwithstanding advice I have read that a long-sleeved T-shirt can be better for keeping cool, I am probably going to bow to what's available in the shops and just take short-sleeved ones with me, and maybe I will be able to pick up a cheap long-sleeved T-shirt while I'm over there. (My Spanish teacher tells me there's quite a bit of cheap clothing available in the market in Antigua.) I haven't completely given up, I will probably be going into town at least once more and Mountain Warehouse did have one or two vaguely possibly acceptable long-sleeved T-shirts so I may try those on; I didn't bother before because at £15 they seemed a bit pricey, but compared to other stuff I've seen that isn't actually too insane if they actually fit etc.

I am finally close to having completed all the clothing purchases. I'm not saying I won't buy anything else, but it's just the odd item or two and at a pinch I could get away without it. I hope this will allow me to finally concentrate on all the other little bits of preparation I want to do.

Guatemala preparation, part 3

Been doing a bit of casual web searching as a way of easing in to trying to find some of the information I need despite my tendency to avoid thinking about these awkward issues. A couple of web sites turned up randomly by Google for tour companies in Guatemala suggest that the equipment requirements for day and overnight hikes are not that different. (This assumes the tour company supplies tents/sleeping bags, that is - at least one of these random ones does. I don't intend to take my own and am not necessarily intending to overnight hike in any circumstances, but I thought I'd mention this while it's in my head.)

Broadly speaking they appear to recommend closed-toed shoes, not trainers with a flat sole but trail running shoes are fine (though they do seem to say hiking boots are best). Now I come to write this I realise I didn't notice anything - maybe I wasn't paying attention - about shorts vs trousers, but let's ignore that for now. (Besides, I am not wearing shorts unless the alternative is dying of heat exhaustion or someone has a gun to my head. ;-) ) They also say you need a warm layer and a wind layer; based on some earlier poking around I did on Wikipedia, I am guessing this means something like a fleece and a thin (mostly) rainproof outer layer. They don't seem to be very explicit, but I'm guessing a similar thin outer layer for trousers is required too. They do say - not that this is new advice, though I have no idea where to buy clothes which satisfy it - that cotton is not recommended as it's crap if it gets wet.

In terms of travelling light, I do normally have some kind of jacket/fleece with me on these trips anyway, so taking a fleece with me (which I'd hope could be used in the evenings in towns etc if it's cold, assuming I can get one which isn't super brightly coloured) is no major hardship. So ignoring questions of cost, the extra stuff mainly comes down to this hypothetical shell layer, which I'd hope is not terribly heavy or bulky.

I'm pretty sure I can get a T-shirt style thing which isn't cotton which would be fine for normal everyday wear, and I think there's a chance I can find a pair of trail running shoes which are sufficiently non-extreme-looking that I could just wear them all the time - I really don't want to be lugging around multiple pairs of shoes if I can help it. I'm far from sure I can get a pair of trousers which aren't cotton which would be fine for normal everyday wear, so that might be extra bulk and weight to lug around, but maybe I'm being pessimistic. After all, I know bugger all about this stuff.

I am thinking I might potter over to the local Sports Direct tomorrow to see what, if anything, they stock. I had thought I might go right into town to find some slightly more specialised and/or larger shops, but I think SD is likely to be cheap-ish and I'm not trekking to the poles or anything; no harm in taking an initial look at SD's stock anyway just to ease my mind gradually into dealing with this stuff.

Something else which emerged from this casual bit of reading up is that the best time to do these kind of things is supposedly November-March, when it's dry. This isn't to say that I won't do these things in October assuming tour companies are offering them - I guess you need the wet weather gear regardless as there's always a chance of rain, and I did read something suggesting it's often dry in the morning so the shorter half-day hikes can be done then anyway - but in terms of sketching out an itinerary it does suggest that all else being equal I should prefer doing this kind of thing in the second half of the trip. But I'm sure the weather isn't that predictable and it may be dry in mid-late October some years or still be pissing it down all the time in late November in others.

While I'm rambling, I think I forgot to say that when I booked the flights, it would have cost something like an extra hundred quid (a 20% increase on the overall flight cost!) to have chosen my seats there and then. I really really do want an aisle seat if possible, but not badly enough to pay an extra 20% for the flights. I just hope I don't regret this when the time comes to fly. I will do the usual thing of checking in online as soon as the check-in window opens (I think it's 24 hours before departure) and it will probably be fine, but if not maybe I can use my crippling cheapness as a weapon in the fight against my fear of non-aisle seating. :-) I am also kind of thinking that as the flights are overnight, if I do have a shitty seat I could deliberately get minimal/no sleep the night before the flight so as to increase the chances of me sleeping through the flight.

[Next day]

OK, so I went out and checked out Sports Direct, because they're local. One of the two local shops had closed the basement, where I think most of the vaguely hiking type gear was, due to flooding. Anyway, I had a bit of a wander round and peered at the shoes and so forth. There did seem to be some shoes marketed as multi-activity which don't have a flat sole (apparently a big no-no as noted above) which while looking a bit chunkier than I'd like for day-to-day wear are probably acceptable, if not ideal.

I didn't actually see much in the way of shell jackets and fleeces but I found a combination on sale on the SD website which looks like it would be acceptable and drab enough to wear day-to-day as well - I don't want to be wandering round town in a dayglo jacket... 

They had quite a few pairs of different "outdoorsy" trousers and I'm reasonably confident I can get something fairly acceptable looking for day-to-day wear - these may well actually be a big win and more comfortable than anything I'd have been wearing if I hadn't had to look into all this stuff.Tthey also had the waterproof trouser things which I think you wear on top (not instead) and they do seem sufficiently lightweight they won't bulk my bag up too much. Biggest worry was actually that even the "small" size trousers appeared (from just holding them up against me; I didn't faff trying anything on as I didn't intend to buy at that point) to be massively too long. However, I remembered a local tailor I'd walked past once or twice so I thought I'd wander over to see if it was still there; it was, they were open and they told me it would be £5 (a leg? or for a pair? but acceptable either way) to shorten them and it takes a couple of days, so that's probably OK. Having had a poke around on the web I think I may be able to buy a different brand of cheap trousers which actually come in a short leg anyway.

What actually seemed virtually nonexistent was any kind of fairly plain T-shirt, ideally long-sleeved, which isn't made of apparently-lethal cotton. But maybe I just didn't look hard enough.

I think I will be able to find some acceptable stuff at tolerable prices with a bit more shopping. If anything the critical path is getting some trousers, in case I do need to get them turned up. I'm thinking I'll probably trog into town tomorrow and have a look at e.g. Mountain Warehouse, as they appear to be relatively cheap and cheerful. If I can get some trousers purchased tomorrow from somewhere I should have time to get them altered if necessary, then I can if necessary dick around over the next few days buying other items.

I note some of the cheaper "outdoorsy" trousers appear to be polyester/cotton blends; a quick bit of googling suggests that there's some disagreement but that this is probably acceptable and won't be massively uncomfortable or kill me, though it depends on the environment. I have to remember that these guys are probably talking about really serious fucking hiking and I'm probably not.

I'm far from clear what would be a good idea as far as socks go, but there was no shortage of those in stock so I can easily pick some of those up at some point in the next couple of weeks.

[Time passes]

It does occur to me that maybe I'm getting overly exercised about this. I mean, it's supposed to be fun. But maybe not. Sure, the trip is supposed to be fun, and hiking (or whatever we're going to call it) is supposed to be some combination of fun and nerve-inducing novelty (for me), but shopping is not something I expect to find fun, especially shopping for clothes in the barren wasteland of the Venn diagram where my lack of expertise in hiking and lack of expertise in making tasteful clothing choice intersect. So I guess I should not quite so bothered by it, but not be surprised if I'm not particularly enjoying this.

Guatemala preparation, part 2

Some of the goodies I've treated myself to from amazon in anticipation of the trip arrived today, like a 64GB micro SD card for my phone (for music and backups of photos) and some insect repellent containing picaridin which is supposed to be effective but without DEET's wonderful plastic-melting qualities. (I suspect DEET is what completely destroyed the lens on the camera on my old smartphone, but I don't know for sure.)

Just booked a hostel in Antigua; I dithered a bit but in the end went for six nights, I figure the first day is going to be a write-off after the flights and I should easily be able to fill five days there, and as I think I said before it seems like a comfortable spot to get my bearings in before I go anywhere else. I booked via hostelworld - my old account seems to have been quietly deleted, although this is probably no big loss. About £13/night for a single room with shared bathroom with apparently all taxes included and a supposedly pretty substantial free breakfast if I can get up in time to eat it. (I may stay in a dormitory occasionally to keep costs down, but at this sort of price I'm springing for a private room while I get myself settled in.)

I did notice one cheaper hostel had small print saying there was a 22% tax in addition, whereas the one I booked didn't say this and the booking does tax is included in the price. Worth bearing this in mind on future bookings too.

I didn't spend all that long choosing a specific hostel; I went for something with cheap single rooms, a good location and reasonable reviews. I did wonder about trying to pick a lively/"party" hostel, but given my age and the fact that I want to find my feet for a few days first, I figure it's better for me to go out and try to meet people rather than trying to have everything right there at the hostel. I have free cancellation up to just before I fly out anyway, which also helped to ameliorate the desire to agonise too much over how many nights to book.

I'll probably make the final decision when I'm there and can see what it's like, but my gut feeling is I don't want to spend time in a Spanish school in Antigua. It would be too easy to just squat there for half the trip without ever seeing anything else, and while it is in some sense a very safe place *because* it's so tourist-friendly, I am also picturing it as stuffed full of 20-somethings and impossible for me to meet anyone in. No point worrying about this now anyway, I'll see what it's like when I'm there.

I haven't sorted out the bus from La Aurora to Antigua yet. I think the hostel does offer a transfer service, but I have no idea if it's competitive on price - I haven't done any research on this at all yet. I wasn't offered the chance to buy this service when I booked so I can always get in touch with the hostel in a day or two if I decide I'm interested in their service and they haven't tried to sell it to me themselves first anyway. You can probably just turn up at the bus station at the airport on the day, but given my safety concerns and the fact that I'll be zonked after the flights, I probably do want to pre-book. But I'll need to read up and see what's advised, really.

Guatemala preparation, part 1 of n

So after what's arguably way too long, I'm planning on taking another trip. I had a look at the world map on kayak.co.uk to see where I could go cheaply, and given my penchant for Latin America, I've decided to give Guatemala a try. After much dithering and agonising over the inevitable scary advice on UK/US/Canadian/Australian government websites, reading advice on forums and speaking to my (Guatemalan) Spanish teacher I went ahead and booked travel insurance and flights on Tuesday; I fly out in just over two weeks. This is a bit short notice but circumstances slightly outside my control prevented me booking earlier and I didn't want to postpone the start of the trip.

I think most of the vaccinations I had in the past have expired - I probably got them done for my 2006 trip to Mexico and they only last ten years, but I have managed to get an NHS appointment for next Wednesday after only a small amount of lecturing about short notice from the receptionist, and I think that while this isn't ideal it's probably OK. I'll be away for long enough that even if I'm under-protected right at the start of the trip it's still worth getting these shots done. I had originally planned to go private (which I hoped would save time) since I thought most vaccinations weren't free on the NHS, but when I looked it seems the recommended ones for Guatemala are.

I am quite nervous and excited about this. Not that I was ever exactly blasé about travel, but since it's been about 4.5 years since I last left the UK I half hope I will experience some of the sense of novelty and wonder I did when I first went to Mexico (my first trip outside Europe) in 2006. Time will tell, I guess.

It feels like there is so much preparation to do and very little time, especially since I would like to swot up on my Spanish before I go. In theory I am studying all the time as just a general hobby, but there's no denying I'm a bit lax and I hope that having this trip in prospect will give me a bit more motivation. I do half intend to spend some time in Spanish schools in Guatemala, but I'm not booking anything in advance and I don't intend to spend more than about half of my time in schools. Whether I go to a school or not, it will be helpful to bone up first.

After having carefully signed up for various good-for-travel credit cards over the last six months in vague anticipation of taking a trip, I have now decided I'm not taking most of them with me because the credit limits are too high (and I don't like to ask to have the credit limits reduced because I might regret that in the future when I'm back in the UK). I've therefore applied for two bank accounts with debit cards which work well abroad and am hoping the cards will arrive before I leave; I think I'll be OK on this.

I have only had a quick flick through my paperback 2007-vintage travel guide, but I can vaguely imagine wanting to do a certain amount of very modest hiking. We're talking there-and-back in a day sort of thing, not multi-day stuff. This opens up an enormous can of clothing worms; I am currently intermittently surfing the web and asking people for advice on this. On the one hand, I don't want to die of exposure. On the other hand, I don't want to be over-sold hundreds of pounds worth of bulky, heavy hiking boots and padded jackets suitable for arctic expeditions. Vague plan is to go into town at some point in the next few days and have a bit of a browse in some shops to see what's available. I suppose in theory I could probably buy whatever I need once I'm there, but I'd feel happier (and less of a forced buyer) if I can get it here before I go.

Technology has obviously moved on since 2007 (as has my ability to travel light) and I now only take electronic guidebooks with me. Having had a quick poke around, it looks like a full Guatemala guidebook in electronic form clocks in at around £10-15. That's not insane, but (especially with all the information available on the web) I'm not really sure it's worth it either. I am not sure if I have ever stayed in any accommodation recommended in a guide book - it's usually not available on the web sites I'm booking on, and the guide book is usually at least a year or two old and I tend to wonder if the recommendations are still valid. What I think I'll probably do is just buy the Guatemala chapter of a Central America guidebook - that will run about £3, will provide me with an offline reference if I'm stuck with no internet access and should cover all the main tourist sites anyway. Anything more obscure is likely to be something I'll find out about on the web or from talking to people.

I don't want to plan the trip out in excessive detail but I think it would help to sketch out a rough itinerary. Based on what I've read so far, Guatemala City sounds a bit dangerous. I am flying in and out of there, but I think I will probably get a bus straight over to Antigua on arrival - Antigua is by all accounts extremely safe and tourist-friendly (not to say exploitative?) so that way I can recover from the flight and start to settle down before I venture further afield. I may put in a few days in Guatemala City just before I fly home, depending on how I feel after having been in the country for a couple of months. I need to look into booking a bus ticket in advance (if possible) and definitely need to book some accommodation in Antigua for the first 2-4 nights ASAP.

I normally find it virtually impossible to have a mobile phone that works when I'm abroad; even when I buy local SIM cards they usually refuse to work in my oddball phones. With a bit of luck this trip will be an exception; it appears that Three's Feel At Home/Go Roam option will allow me to pay £10-£20 a month on a PAYG SIM and have a virtually infinite supply of UK phone call minutes and even mobile data which I can use in Guatemala. If I need to call a Guatemalan number that will be billed as an international call, but I typically don't need to do that, and I think I can work around that by calling via Skype using the mobile data and a few quid of credit on my Skype account anyway. I haven't confirmed that this will work yet, but I have a Three SIM handy and I'll give it a try.

On previous trips I have taken my netbook with me to satisfy my nerdy requirements for computer access. (If nothing else, I can't go out every night, and so a quiet evening in the ho(s)tel surfing the web passes the time pleasantly.) The netbook is not exactly heavy and it was never valuable (£200 IIRC) even when it was brand new, but it does weigh about 1.2kg and it is showing its age as well; it struggles to comfortably browse the web any more. I could buy a new one, but even the very lightest modern netbooks/Chromebooks/laptops seem to be just as heavy, and 1.2kg is probably 10-15% of the total weight of my bag and I think saving that weight could make a big difference in the comfort of carrying it around. I've therefore decided I am going to experimentally just take my smartphone on this trip. I did toy with taking a tablet as a compromise, but really it is the keyboard I would miss more than anything, and by the time I've added a Bluetooth keyboard to my Nexus 10 the weight is getting back up towards what a netbook would weigh anyway. I think a 7" tablet with a keyboard might only clock in at about half the weight of a netbook, but I'd have to buy both specially for this trip so I am going to experiment with just having the smartphone first.

I just hope i don't get my (unusual) smartphone, complete with UK SIM, stolen, especially early on. I am sure I could buy a half-decent smartphone for not too much money in Guatemala, and a local SIM to boot, but my actual smartphone has a hardware keyboard (which is super rare and uncool these days, of course - but is in part why I'm willing to try doing without a netbook for two months) and the SIM will be my UK-issued Three SIM so both will be kind of irreplaceable.

One downside to my current smartphone is that it doesn't have a removable battery, which I find really handy on a trip as it means I can just carry a spare battery or two and swap them in when I need to. I'm going to compensate for that by taking a powerbank, but it's quite bulky and I'd probably rather have the option to just do battery swaps. On the other hand, I can at least charge the powerbank and the phone at the same time, whereas I could only charge the spare removable batteries in the phone.

I need to resist the temptation to repeatedly say this, but I'm aware most of what I write here is pretty tedious stuff and not the kind of exciting travel adventures which just might possibly make this interesting for someone else to read. At the very best, this blog is a kind of raw material which might be distilled down into something mildly diverting. However, I started re-reading some of the entries myself just the other day - just the tedious stuff about my last day or two in Buenos Aires and flying back home at the end of the last trip - and I found it awoke some pleasant and interesting memories. So while it's a bonus if someone - a friend or a random web searcher - ever reads and enjoys any of this waffle, my primary audience is definitely a future version of myself, and I am going to stop apologising for writing crap which probably doesn't appeal to anyone else reading it.