Bandito,

We are scared to death when suddenly a black masked man jumps out of the primeval forest and starts to swing 2 enormous swords… For a moment I think of carnival but he starts to scream and looks pretty dangerous. With 2 bananas and a potato knife I don't have the impression that I can become the hero of this movie…

At 5 o 'clock in the morning I get on my Yamaha, together with a young Swiss, to climb the high volcano Agua, that peeps over Antigua. The crystal clear morning is bitter cold and numb we drive to Sta. Maria de Jesus at the bottom of this huge chimney. 36 of those things are spread all over Guatemala of which 3 are more or less active. The sun crawls over the horizon and in 4 hours we bridge over the 2000 metres of height difference from the tiny Indian village.
Before the clouds come, we enjoy the magnificent view from the volcano edge with in the distance the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala City and the smouldering volcanoes Pacaja and Fuego.
At 12 o'clock the fog rolls over the mountain and it is getting time to go down steadily.

Our villain with balaclava and bloodshot eyes, strucks with his shining knives very close to us. He wants money and camera's but I only have 80 Quetales and give him 20 (about 6 guilders) because to me that seems more than enough for this theatrical play. With his razor-sharp daggers he cuts in our rucksacks and if he finds nothing, he demands the watch of my companion. I can't help getting a little angry and get my belt out of my trousers to hit him on his head. The man starts swinging his crazy machetes very, very close to my leg and we start screaming and cursing panicky. With wild movements he disappears ultimately in the jungle. With a sort of heroism I run after our bandit but when he suddenly turns around and starts chopping with his big knives I run back.

Not before the adrenaline level has gone down a bit, we start laughing nervously especially when I ask what time it is. With rocks in our hands, and jumping up at every sound, we run down the mountain the last hour, happy to see "normal" people again. Not until later we realize how wrong this all could have ended. Quietly we sit on the motorbike when we drive "home".
This too is Guatemala where, after 36 years of civil war (that ended in 1996) and 200.000 people dead, it still is a mess. Many people are missing, and nobody will ever know where they have gone. There is still dreadful poverty, corruption and political instability, but in my view that does not justify a raid like this.

I have a restless night and I suddenly realize that sometimes there is only a very thin line between life and death..