La Cuesta De Las Cañas

Hola, hola, this is Cristina and Carmen, and this is Espooky Tales, the podcast for all things spooky, haunted places, myths, legends, sometimes true crime, sometimes horror books, all things spooky. And Latine. Yes, that's true. And yeah, we are here with another episode, Haunted Roads. Well, sorry, A Haunted Road. Oh, okay. A Haunted Road. Not plural. One Haunted Road. It's been a while, though. I love a Haunted Road story. Same. Same. It's been too long, really. It has. Yeah. Before that, we usually have a listener story. This is not a good time in my life right now, so I was, like, too busy to find one, you know? Okay, but besides that, we're running low, so please send us your stories. Yes, that too. Um, you can email them to a spooky toes at gmail.com. You can leave it in the comment of any video. You can call the spooky hotline. Uh, you can, did I say DM it already? I don't remember. Well, you can DM it. If I didn't say that already, you can DM it on any of our socials. Um, we love receiving them. We missed receiving them. Please send them. And so, yeah, like I said, we have a haunted road today. We are talking about La Cuesta de las Cañas in Guatemala. Guate. Yes. You know, our friend is in Guatemala right now. I'm going to force her to listen to this episode. She doesn't listen to us, first of all. You know what? I'm not surprised. It's a hit or miss with friends. She doesn't listen to podcasts. She only watches them. No. Okay. You know what? I need to get back on YouTube. I know. I've seen people commenting that. Yes. Yeah. It's so hard. Anyway. Moving on from that. She's in Guatemala. And I was like, let me find a Guatemala story because it's been Guatemala has been neglected for a while. We've been very Mexico centric. We have been, especially since we're doing the states. The states. Yeah. So Cuesta de las Cañas is a road that leads from the municipalities of San Lucas and Santa Lucia, Milpas Altas. Towards Antigua, Guatemala. Okay. And this road is known for its steep descent, which starts at about kilometer 32 of Route 10 and ends around where Antigua starts. The curves of this road make it one of the most dangerous in Guatemala. Dude, I've seen the roads. There's this one video I saw of a bus going through some curvy road. It was probably this road. Could have been, but it was like a mountain, like on a cliff. Anyway, it was so scary. I don't know if it turned over. I don't remember, but it was super scary. Yeah, because speaking of, crashes, overturned buses, skidding, and other accidents happen almost daily, but for sure like every couple days on this road. According to the General Directorate of Road Protection and Safety, PROVIAL in Spanish, The causes of accidents are speeding, mechanical failures of said vehicles, trucks, buses, and when it's raining, wet asphalt makes it super dangerous. But according to the people, the causes are not those. They are supernatural. Okay, I believe it. Me too. 100%. And this supernatural cause of accidents, it could date back to the beginning of Antigua as a city. For starters, the most obvious horror... Sorry, before I get into that. Because, like, whenever bad things happen in a place, like, I don't know, people who are into haunted places, the supernatural, like, those places then attract more, like, supernatural things, right? Like, bad things happened here and now haunted things happen here. You know what I mean? So, the most obvious horror causing these supernatural activities, colonization. Okay. This road that we're talking about leads to Antigua, Guatemala, like we said. This is the third capital of Guatemala because they had moved it two times already before it became Antigua. Once because of several Cachiquel uprisings. And then again, because of a devastating, I don't know how to pronounce this. I'm sorry. Lahar? Lahar? It's a mudflow, mudflow from a volcano. In this case, el Volcán de Agua. That mudflow devastated the area. And so they had to move the capital again. So a lot of deaths already in those uprisings. And then this volcano flood. I don't know. Lahar. So it was moved two times. Part of those old capitals are where the road, Cuesta de las Cañas, is today. But on top of that, there was at least six devastating earthquakes in the region, like all in the same like time span. Damn. So that region has really been through a lot. It's been through it. Yeah. And all adding all of the stuff, adding to the number of deaths and the violence taking place on that road. And like I said, accidents still occur almost daily. But one of the most tragic accidents on that road, at least in like recent memory, took place on the 19th of July, 1982. A group of Mexican folklorico, ballet folklorico dancers were traveling for one of their first international performances. They left Mexico on the 14th. on a bus with two drivers. They're like, we're going to be extra safe and have like drivers that switch off instead of just the one, right? Their bus, it was, you can find pictures of this bus. The bus is blue. It had the word Lobo on the side. There's a picture of like the dancers all standing in front of the bus, like so happy and cheerful. They apparently cleaned the bus themselves. They were so excited for their first out of country performance. On the 19th, They were reaching Antigua on that road when somehow the bus overturned, falling into the ravine. Oh, wow. Because the road is like on a giant cliff, basically. 25 dancers died and 16 were injured but alive. Wow. Like Mexico had to send military helicopters and rescuers to pick up those who had passed away and the injured who were still alive. And the country mourned their deaths. It was a huge accident. It got so much publicity. It was on the news a lot. Because that's a lot of people. And they were all young. Yeah. Two years before that, in 1990, a bus with 35 passengers crashed in the same spot. Only that time, all of the passengers passed away. In 1993, a group of musicians also crashed and died in that same spot. Oh, my God. There has to be another way to get there. There's not. Sorry. It's the only way. I can't. I simply would not go there. Like, obviously, people have to, but I would just, like, I could not. I get so scared even driving to, like, fucking Yosemite. You get scared on the Seattle Hills. Actually, that's true. And that's why I love public transportation. Because I'm not driving these hills. They scare me. Another bus, this time also in 1993, another bus, this time with Salvadoran passengers also crashed and they all died. This is all the early 1990s. And so they added some, I shouldn't say maps. What the fuck was I supposed to say? I don't know. Anyway. Anyway. They added like, you know, like, like, yeah. Like, what are they? I don't know what they're called, but like, there's like on the side of the road. Yeah. You see it when you're on the freeway. Almost like a bumper. Yeah. Like a, like a safety feature, like on the bed. Yes. Or like on for bowling. Yeah. Yeah. Like those things that come up. I just can't think of the actual name. Like, yes. Yeah. I can't think of the name, but they added some of those on the side. They made a lot of changes to make the road safer, especially that spot. But the accidents continued. Oh, no. And we would be here forever if we shared every single horrible and tragic accident because there's just that many. Literally, I was like adding these. And then I came across another like 2012 student bus crash. But that time only the teacher passed away. But the students all survived, which so sad. Oh, yeah. Like, again, another more recent one. And then, like, there was just so many articles. Like, firefighters called to Cuesta de las Cañas. Another crash. Just endless. But let's talk about some of the legends on this road. Because something is appearing and causing them to drive off the road. Yeah. According to legend, in the late hours of the night, Also, sometimes in the very early hours of the morning, drivers run into a woman in a white dress. Always a white dress. Always a woman in a white dress. If it's not white, it's red, though. True. Sometimes black. Yeah, but it's just those three colors. Nothing else. No. No, nothing else. So they'll be driving and suddenly in the middle of the road, there she is, just standing. All medicinally. Naturally, drivers hit their brakes, causing them to overturn. Those who survived the crash look around, looking for the woman who frightened them. But by then, she has vanished. They say that if the car's motor is shut off, she will appear inside of the car, either in the passenger seat or in the backseat. Some report seeing a man instead of a woman. I wonder if he's also wearing white. Yeah, they don't say, huh? I wonder. Hmm. Hmm. Questions. But the results are the same. Okay. Crash and die or crash and survive? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Others have reported seeing an angelic figure described only as luminous, always at the exact same time, 4.30 in the morning. You know what? Out of all of those, that kind of seems like the best option. But is there a best option if they're all causing you to crash? The angel, to me. I'd rather not see anything. True, true. The other legend is La Pareja Fantasma. A couple this time, okay. The ghost couple. According to legend, at kilometer 42 of Cuesta de las Cañas, a couple can be found asking for a ride. The man is always wearing a blue suit and a black hat. The woman wears a black dress and for some reason no one can ever see her feet. ominous that's already like nope actually seen a couple i mean yeah the the dress is always like floating you know like yeah it's never like flowy yeah it's long long and flowy and covering yes the feet but she's probably floating and not standing probably yeah they stand on the side of the road with their thumbs out waiting for a kind person to give them a ride but at some point once the curve is over the couple is gone Actually, I'd rather see them because it seems like they don't cause car accidents. I think, though, if you're like driving and they suddenly disappear, one could be like, oh, my God, and then crash. But it does seem safer. But it's after the curve. So it's like a little safer. That's true. If you're going to crash somewhere after the curve is better. Yeah. Yeah. And then we also found some stories on the road. So the swallowing one is from someone who we will call Andy. which I found on Facebook. Facebook? Yeah, yeah. I was researching in random places today. So Andy, a 20-year-old student, wanted to go see the festivities during Semana Santa in Antigua. And it was beautiful. There was like a whole procession, candles everywhere, you know, nice statues, church things, you know, Catholic things. It was truly beautiful. And then he decided that he was going to travel super early in the morning to avoid traffic leaving Antigua. So he's driving when he found himself at kilometer 34 of Cuestas de las Cañas at exactly 4.30 in the morning. As he drove, he saw a woman suddenly appear in his rearview mirror. He tried to scream, but he couldn't. Then he tried to accelerate, but he also couldn't. Oh, no. But he didn't lose control. He kept driving super slow. And as he got past the curve, the woman vanished before his eyes. Okay, that's good that he survived. Yeah, yeah. Because that could have, he could have not survived and not tell the story, you know? Right. Okay, and the next story is a little longer, and I would say creepier. Ooh. I don't remember the YouTube. I think it's El Lado Oscuro. It's in the sources. You'll see it. It's a YouTube page. That's where this story comes from. So, Don E was a truck driver. He drove through the most treacherous roads, like El Espinazo del Diablo, La Rumorosa. Ooh. Some of which we've already talked about in different episodes. In 1992, his truck was newer and he was a well-esteemed employee in his company. He was a serious man and sometimes he brought his family along on truck driving jobs, especially if he was going near the beach. That makes sense. Yeah. And so, yeah, when he was done unloading, they could vacation together. And because he was such a good employee, his boss was like, yeah, take an extra day at the beach. Have fun with the fam. Nice. Right. And so in 1992, for some reason, Don E was the one sent to Central America all the way to Guatemala for this delivery. I think because he was so trusted because he was so, you know, such a hard worker. So he went and At one of the truck stops after Chiapas, heading into Guatemala, he ran into another Mexican truck driver. And they got to chatting, as we do. Don E. told the other Mexican truck driver that his specific route... I think people use both. Okay, that his specific route to the quiet mountain town of Santa Lucia, Milpas Altas, in the department of Zacatepeque was long. and that he was supposed to go there, and then he had another delivery in Antigua, Guatemala. That's when the other truck driver told Don E, hey, be very careful leaving Santa Lucia and heading to Antigua. Go very slowly. You don't want to lose control. Be very careful. He then asked Don E what he was carrying, and Don E told him 16 tons, and the man was like, no mames. Be very careful. Because that's a lot. Dang. For these hills. Or not hills. These are like more than hills. These cliff sides. For these mountains. Yeah. These cliff sides. So he's like, oh, be very careful. And hey, if it gets dark when you're still in Santa Lucia, stay there. Do not make that drive at night. And Donel was like, pues que mal esta? Like, why? Why? How bad is it? Yeah. How bad is it? And the man was like, bad. Real bad. Then they parted ways. And Doné arrived in Santa Lucia. But by the time he was done unloading, stocking, whatever they do, it was 7 p.m. There was a heavy fog rolling in and people were all going inside their houses, shutting the doors, shutting the blinds. It was ominous. It was sus. And so then he thought about what that other man told him at the rest stop. He was like, don't make that drive at night. Right. But he needed to make it to Antigua so he could have home. So he started to drive. Oh, no. And as he drove, he was like, hmm, the road doesn't seem too bad. This is not that bad. La Rumorosa? Way worse. Come on. He kept on driving, slow but going. The fog was getting heavier and maybe another driver would have been scared. But he was a pro. Yeah, he was experienced. He, again, he had been through La Rumorosa, El Espinazo del Diablo. So he approached this big, big curve. And as he, I don't know, whatever truck drivers do, apply the brakes and slow down. Like, I don't know, I'm not a truck driver. Shifted the gear, maybe. Yeah, quite possibly. Yeah, I think so. As he did that, he thought he heard a whisper on the radio. And so he reached for the radio, like, you know, the handheld radio, to see if someone was trying to get through to him. But the only sound after that was the truck. Then he heard it again. Voices on the radio. The voices sounded like they were talking to each other, but he could have sworn that he heard his own name. Oh no. They also sounded like they were speaking another language. And then they would occasionally, the voices would occasionally switch to Spanish. And he's like, that I can understand. And then that's when he would hear his name. He's like, what the fuck? What's happening? So he's like, no, no. And he tried to turn the radio off. But it was hard to do that at the same time and focus on the intense driving that he had to do. Yeah. I mean, this is not a road you want to be distracted for. Definitely no texting and driving on this road. Or any road. But yeah. exactly but especially this road and so he but he was like i don't i'm tired of these voices like i don't want to hear this so he did it he did it and then like the truck like curved a little but he he got back uh on track and he drove a little bit longer but not even like a minute passed and he started to hear the voices again after he turned the radio off yes yes yes god oh So this time he was like, oh my God, what the fuck? And then so he tried to press a button or he was like trying to reach the radio again and he was supposed to press some button. I don't know. Whatever truck drivers do, shift gears. I don't know. And he was like going on this curve that was descending at the same time. That curve that everyone's overturning on. that exact curve and so the voices are going he's like trying to like reach the radio again he's distracted then suddenly there was a scream a piercing scream that seemed to be coming from everywhere not just from the radio but like The speakers, but also like if it was someone next to him inside the truck. There's just screaming. So he let go of the steering wheel because he was shocked, startled. Of course. Yeah. And so, again, this is a curve. He should be, you know, hands on the steering wheel turning. And he was heading straight for... the side of the cliff, the ravine, whatever, he was heading straight for it. But last minute, he was able to hit the brakes. Oh, wow. And he, the truck stopped. He didn't fall off like the bus, all those buses before him. He got out, looked around. It was pitch dark, foggy, no other car in sight. But he couldn't keep the truck where it was because, again, it's a curve. If someone's coming from the other side, they wouldn't see him. You just got to keep going, right? Yeah. Yeah. It was too dangerous to stay there. But he was he was scared. He had never felt this scared. He could have. He almost died. But he got back into the truck. And luckily, after that, he reached Antigua pretty quickly. But normally in other places, if wherever he was going was already closed, he would just stay in the truck and sleep. And he's like, no, I'm not doing that. He's like, there's no goddamn way. No way. He found a hotel, though, because this is a tourist destination, Antigua. And so there's like a lot of places to stay. And he's like, I'm going to stay at a hotel, which he never did unless his fam was with him. Then morning comes. He was tired, not hungry, still scared. But he found some food, went to the store. He was making his drop off. I don't know, inventory, stocking, whatever. By the time all that was done, please don't tell me it was dark. It was 6 p.m. There's no fucking way that took all fucking day. What the fuck? Somehow it did. Somehow it did. And he was dreading getting back on the road. He thought maybe he could make it to Santa Lucia quickly. Oh my God. Why? And he's like, you know what? I'm just going to do it. I want to go home. I'm just going to do it. But then one of the store owners that he was making his drop off, that took all fucking day apparently, they ran to stop him before he got on the truck. They like booked it. And she was like, the road is closed. You can't go down there. There's been a terrible accident. And he's like, we're on the road. And then when she told them, it was... He knew where. He knew exactly where because it was where he almost died. Oh my God. The exact spot. A bus had crashed and unlike him was not able to stop and fell into the ravine. Oh my God. 20 were dead and 22 were injured. Then she told them bad things always happen on that road. And he was like, why? And she was like, shrug, it's Cuesta de las Cañas. That's why. No, but yeah, it was damn. It's cursed. cursed, damned, um, haunted, especially kilometer 34, that specific turn curve. Don A was scared, but thought that he had driven on worse roads. He thought he had seen the worst yet, but little did he know he had not. No, he's like something else is going on on this road. Like something else is making this more dangerous than it needs to be. He waited that night and then he went back home the next day. Good. And now he had nothing to keep him all day there. He left as soon as the sun rose. Yeah. And never set foot in Central America again. And it's funny because in the story, he's like, he was so excited to go see Antigua because he heard it was beautiful. And he's like, no, I'm not going over there ever again. But he survived. So that's what matters. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, he was right. There is something else going on on that road. It's super haunted. Yeah. You have the La Dama de En Blanco, the couple, the man and the little angel thing. So, yeah. Yeah. But yeah, that was La Cuesta de las Cañas. All right. Before we go, do you have any spooky recommendations? I probably do. Let's see. Yes, I have a recommendation. I recently listened to The Dangers of Smoking. I feel like I said smoking weird. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez and translated by Megan McDowell. Yeah, and it's a collection of short stories. And I don't usually like listening to short stories. I prefer to read them. Yeah, exactly. And most of the time, I actually don't like reading short stories. Just because they're too short. And I feel like I want to sit down and read a book for an amount of time. And I feel like it's hard to switch from one unconnected story to another unconnected story. But that doesn't mean the stories are bad. It's just a thing that... Like for me. It's you. Yeah. And I feel the same way. So it's an us problem. Right, right, right, right. But obviously there are amazing short stories. It's just like, I don't tend to gravitate towards them. But yeah, there is, most of these stories are like horror. Some of them are just like weird, but they were really good. And there was one story in particular, I would say I don't remember the names of the stories anymore, but there was one story that was super creepy. It was like this little like weird, like kids. There was like a lot of disappearances in like, I think it's a, Is it in Chile? I don't remember. Argentina. Argentina. She's from Argentina. And so there's like a lot of, I can't remember where they're in Argentina, but it's like maybe Buenos Aires or another smaller town. And they talk about leaving that town. Anyway, point being, there's a lot of kids disappearing and stuff. And then all of a sudden they start coming back, but they're not the same. They're like weird. And the parents don't want them. And then, yeah, it's like kind of about that. And that one was super creepy, like eerie. And then there was another short story about the main character of the story visits her friends in Spain. And basically no one can leave. I think it's Madrid. I don't remember the city anymore in Spain. But they can't leave. Like Hotel California. Kind of. But yeah, Spain. And they're like, you haven't been here that long enough. You'll be able to leave. You need to just go. And that one was really good. And there's the other weird ass story. A group of fucking bitch ass friends... Who are freaking bitches. And then they are jealous of their older friend. And then there's, like, a guy friend that they all want to date. And the friend ends up being the one that gets with him. And then, like, they do something horrible. Because they're jealous. So I don't spoil it, I won't say. But, yeah, it was really good. Okay. That sounds cool. I gotta check it out. Yeah, you'll probably like him. Yeah, yeah. Um, I, again, I have, I don't know what I've been even watching. Oh, you don't have any recommendation? You know what? No, I've just been rewatching Broad City. Oh. But I did finish listening to, before I got sick, I was walking almost every day to the gym. And so that's when I was listening to my audiobook. I finished listening to The Nerd Reich. oh let me need to listen to that pull up the author this isn't like horror this is real life horror real life horror this is non-fiction yeah yeah non-fiction horror yes oh by Gil Duran I don't know if it's Gil or Gil but anyway oh really yeah Duran I just don't know Gil Duran well there's that well there's an accent on the A which makes me think it's Spanish oh like a Spanish last name maybe Hispanic whatever you know what I mean yeah anyway Yes. And horrifying. Like, these freaking weirdos. These tech fucking weirdo losers. Psychopaths. Psychopaths. They're going to destroy the world. They're already destroying the world. But they're, like, they're fiending for the destruction of the world. Oh, my God. I don't even know if I want to listen to it. I will. It was so infuriating. Yeah. Oh, you know what? Let me... I'm trying to figure out what should I read here. There's a little snippet. I'll read this part. This book is a thorough tour of what Naomi Klein calls the mirror world, the upside down post-truth moral vacuum of far-right politics. It leads to a grim place. It leads to a grim place. Hyper-capitalism rules. Corporations displace nation-states. Displace or corporations displace nation-states. and citizenship and civil rights are dissolved. Duran explores the weird little freaks who want to make that horrible apocalyptic future come true. Have you ever wondered what drives someone like Peter Thiel or Curtis Yarvin? I have, yeah. Yeah, this book is the closest thing we have to an answer. Oh my god. Yeah, it was horrifying to listen to, truly. Oh my god, I'm so scared. I'm gonna listen soon. I haven't been walking as much, so I haven't been listening to my audiobooks. Yeah. I started God Forgives, Brothers Don't after that. Oh, that's another one I need to listen to. The Long March of Military Education and the Making of an American Manhood by Jasper Craven. That's my next audiobook. I just love a depressing nonfiction. I do too. And the last one I listened to was, which one was it? The one about the Charlottesville. I was going to say Charlottesville. Oh, not Men Who Hate Women, right? No, not Men Who Hate Women. That one's like a little bit more. I think it's The Black Pill. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's The Black Pill. Yeah, Black Pill, How I Witness the Darkest Corners of the... Internet, Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics by Elle Reeve. I feel like it's similar to this, only these guys that are explored, examined, and nerd-rike are in more powerful positions even than the ones on The Black Pill. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I haven't been listening to anything or watching anything, consuming anything spooky, unfortunately. I have been meaning to start Rooted. Oh, I didn't recommend that because that was going to be my next one. Okay. Yeah. I've been in the middle of trying to relearn math and it's been horrible. Good luck with that. Yeah. It makes me want to kill myself. Yeah. I understand. When I told our mom and she was like, oh, you used to cry. I'm like, I'm still crying. Used to? She used to cry too doing math homework when she was getting her GED. And I used to cry doing math homework. Anyway, so yeah, that's been going on. And so again, we hope to get back to our regular schedule for Patreon members. And so yeah, other than that, anything else you want to say? Other than that, stay spooky. We'll catch everyone next time. Bye. Oh, wait, sorry. I was gonna say one more sign of how like this is just like not our month. We normally have costumes. Oh, I know. But I'm like, what's the point? We're only gonna we're not doing video. Yeah. And it would only be two times a month. Yeah. Yeah. It's just we had too many plans. You know, maybe next year we'll be a little more calm. I know we wanted to do Shrek calm. Yeah, we did. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Now, stay spooky. Well, stay spooky. Be careful on... La cuesta de las cañas. Cañas. Yes. De las cañas. I think I've been saying la, not las. Anyway, cuesta de las cañas. Okay. Bye. Bye. Spooky Tales is hosted by Christina and Carmen, produced and edited by Christina, researched by Christina, Carmen, and with the help of Dawn. Shout out, Dawn. If you're enjoying the podcast, consider leaving us a five-star review. We would really appreciate it. If you don't want to leave a five-star review, just don't leave a review, but don't leave anything lower than that, please. I'm just kidding. You can reach out to the podcast at spookytales.gmail.com. You can go to our website, spookytales.com, and fill out the contact form. If you want to support the podcast, you can join our Patreon, where we... send exclusive stickers, have bonus episodes. $ 8 members get an exclusive keychain. It's super cool. I got new ones and these ones are huge. And if you want to support, but you can't or don't want to join the Patreon, that's fine too. You can also get some merch. You can find shirts that say Espuki in old English letters. There's a beanie. I love the beanie. There's also a hat. There's a No Mamas shirt, which is a fan favorite. There's a lot of options, crop tops, sweaters. It's almost sweater weather. We're nearing a spooky season. So yeah, get your hoodies. You're going to need them. If you don't want to do all that, that's fine, too. You can just listen like you're listening now. And that's the best support that you can give us, like I always say in our ad break. And yeah, if you like history, you can follow Historias Unknown, mine and Carmen's other podcasts. And you can find a spooky tells on all of our socials at a spooky tells. All this is in the show notes and we appreciate every single listen. Thank you so much. Stay spooky.