I can confirm that deluxe does indeed mean deluxe - hurrah! I had a reasonably roomy reclining seat and the air con worked. There was even a functioning toilet (although admittedly you wouldn't want to go anywhere near it after a few hours in - I'll spare you details!)
The journey was reasonably uneventful apart from one incident at about 4am where we basically ground to a complete halt on the road and didn't move for nearly an hour. This provoked a rather animated response from our bus driver - lots of latin gesticulations and hurrumphing - but there didn't seem to be much we could do other than wait for the rather official (and officious) looking people in the cars with flashing lights to let us pass. On the bright side, I'd rather official looking people were blocking our path than any other kind!
As a result, we pulled into the bus station in Guatemala City an hour late, convinced that we'd missed our connection to Xela, but luck was on our side and we had just made it. So, in terms of minimising our time in GC, we did pretty well. I think we spent all of about 10 minutes breathing its air before another 4 hour bus ride. Although, from what I could see from the window, it looked like a perfectly normal city with normal people going about normal business. The way people go on about it, I'd almost expected to be dodging bullets!
We arrived into Xela late morning and have spent a really enjoyable afternoon. It's noticeably cooler here which meant that indulging in an authentic Mayan hot chocolate at La Luna didn't seem like such a ridiculous idea. It was totally mouth-watering... just sweet enough with just the right amount of chilli to give it flavour but not overpower the chocolate. A little taste of heaven.
At the other end of the culinary scale, today saw our first visit to Pollo Campero, Guatemala's (superior) answer to KFC. It's totally ubiquitous and somewhat of a national institution, so had to be done! Mmmm... chicken nuggets and chips!
Otherwise, we have been wandering the streets and soaking up the atmosphere in the town's central park. A great spot for people watching and for Gemma to take lots of wonderful photographs. The traditional colourful dress of the Mayan women is beautiful and the men look so effortlessly cool in their cowboy hats!
And sorry to hark back to Valentine's Day but I read something that made me smile today in a magazine we picked up in our hostel. Apparently many Guatemalans pick a 'secret friend' (acquaintance, coworker, neighbour) and buy them a little Valentine's gift to show their appreciation and in the hope of getting to know them better. Cheesy? Maybe, but the romantic in me thinks it's a lovely idea and just one example of how generous the majority of the people seem to be here.
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Location:Quetzeltenango, Guatemala
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