The beauty of traveling solo (and being talkative and speaking the local language) is that you have no choice but to converse with the random souls around you. Sometimes they are local residents, national tourist, or international travelers (thus, all the little tidbits of stories I have heard on this trip). Somewhere along the way, new friendships are struck. Whether it is by choice or serendipity. Travel stories are exchanged. New information are kept for future adventure references. Contacts are exchanged for future visits. Sometimes one is present to just help others in need (in my case: translating for these two brave girls who went on chicken buses across Guatemala to Copan, Honduras and barely speaks any spanish and then giving them a ride as there was no bus on the Honduran side of the border and it was raining). And others came along when when I needed the help and the company. This has been a beautiful trip. Except for missing reservation for the Hedman Alas bus to Ciudad Guatemala and the bus door that just wouldn’t open (thanks for E&I from Brooklyn who took the same bus, I didn’t freak out), the trip was uneventful. Hot shower and one last hot frijoles soup and beef pepian later, I was ready to sleep and catch my 6am flight back to Houston, but I will not forget the sights that I have seen.  The moments most memorable are always those very closely associated to the Modern Mayans, where ancient beliefs comingle harmoniously with more modern beliefs. And the crazy public transportation meant for the Adventurous tourists.