As I left Lanquin I didn’t know I would wind up sick in Antigua for a couple of weeks.
Leaving Lanquin
Riding out of Lanquin I was thinking I should be staying longer. I really liked it here. Of course, the anxiety over making the 11 km trek over dirt roads back to pavement may have influenced that 🙂 The road was certainly doable, after all I did it to get to Lanquin. But at the same time it wasn’t easy in some parts. At least for me.
As I made my way I passed a lot motorcycle commuters on their 125 cc bikes. They zipped along no problem while I lumbered along on my fully loaded 1200 cc bike. I got to one portion that once was cobblestone or maybe just stones. In any case, now the stones were no longer flat but sticking up in all sorts of positions and angles. I was taking it slow. So slow that I stalled my bike. The uneven stones made it such that I couldn’t get stable footing as I put my feet down. Down the bike went.
Getting the bike back up wasn’t too much of a problem. One of the 125 cc bikers stopped to lend me a hand too.
Once up and running again there were no problems. Only magnificent views.
La Sin Ventura Hotel Antigua
Once pack on pavement it was a nice relaxing ride to the La Sin Ventura Hotel in Antigua. I had picked the hotel because it was below my accommodation budget, it had great reviews, and it was right in the center of town.
The room was very small and basic. But it was immaculately clean! There wasn’t even a speck of dust under the bed.
The only issue is that is is located right on top of the Monoloco nightclub which operates 5 nights a week. For the first night it didn’t bother me. I was tired. And as I went to sleep I had a sore throat and could feel the onset of a sinus infection.
Sinus Infection to Fluid in the Lungs
The next day I had full on sinus infection. I only planned on staying in Antigua for 2 nights before heading into El Salvador. That wasn’t going to happen now. I booked another 3 nights at the hotel.
As the days went on my sinus infection migrated into my lungs. This is a problem for me as I am susceptible to pneumonia. I upped my normal meds to combat it and went to the pharmacy to get some amoxicillin.
The 3 nights passed and I still had fluid in my lungs. I booked another 3 nights. Eventually it started to break. In all I spent 2 weeks in Antigua battling it. By the time I eventually left I still had some sinus infection but the fluid was gone from my lungs.
Antigua Routine
Antigua is not a bad place to be sick. It really does have most of the comforts of home. I didn’t have much motivation to do anything but I got into a nice relaxing routine.
At about 9 am I would wake up and head to the & Cafe for coffee. The & had a really nice lounging chair that looked onto the main plaza.
The & Cafe is just to the right in the picture. And my hotel is just a block down the street. Great location.
I would sit there for a few hours with a coffee and later a smoothie, watching people, looking at Facebook, doing research for a project and basically zoning out.
Once in a while though someone would sit next to me and we would strike up a conversation.
By the afternoon it was time for a rest back at the hotel. I would just lay down for a couple hours.
By 5 pm I was thinking about something to eat. My usual place was the Londoner.
The people were friendly, new my name ha ha, and the specials consisted of comfort food like Pork Chops with mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli and carrots.
One day while I was there this guy with long thick hair down to his shoulder blades, wearing shorts with work boots showed up. He had a deep voice and was loud and boisterous. He knew everyone at the Londoner! Right away I knew who he was.
It was like deja vu! I would see the same guy acting in the same way at the Starbucks I frequented in Cook Street Village in Victoria Canada! What were the odds?
I said to him, “You are a long way from the Cook Street Starbucks.” In his loud deep voice he said “NO WAY!” We talked for a bit and he introduced himself as James.
From that day onwards I would see him at the Londoner. And everyday he would tell people how I was from his home village in Victoria and how shocked he was to see me here in Antigua.
As it turned out, he spends part of the year in Antigua and the other part in Victoria.
Back to my routine …. In the evening I would go for a walk, pick up some snacks from the same girl each night and sometimes pick up a piece of pie to eat in my room.
My hotel room didn’t have WiFi so I would spend the evening watching episodes of Friends I had purchased before leaving for those times there wasn’t WiFi.
Eventually I fell asleep and started the routine again the next day.
Errands
I did manage to do some errands one morning. Like getting my bike washed and fill it with gas. I also spent a couple hours wandering around Antigua. That is about all the energy I had.
My Route on June 23, 2017
My Location from June 24 to July 9, 2017
