I finally arrived in Guatemala City at 11pm! I had not booked anywhere to stay and had no money with exception to a few dollars! I had got talking to a man on the bus from Guatemala who spoke perfect english, which he should as he taught it there. I asked him if when we got to the city he could call the hostel for me and check if they had a bed available, they did to my relief and then he helped get me a taxi and asked the driver to stop by the atm so I could get some money. All sorted and only a few blocks from my hostel in zone 10, so I paid the $5 taxi fare and collapsed straight into bed. Sleep time!!!
Main Plaza
Cathedral side of the Plaza
Street off plaza
The following morning I arranged a shuttle to pick me up at 10.30am and take me straight to Antigua, which was around $12. An hour later I was there and settled into the beautiful Antigua Hostel. It was a beautiful day, so I grabbed a map and headed straight out to explore the city. I started at the central park/main plaza. I sat here for a while in the afternoon sun studying my map and trying to get my bearings, which did not take long as Antigua is fairly small and easy to navigate. I found a nice cafe and had some lunch and then started my tour at the cathedral de San Jose, built in 1670 and destroyed by an earthquake in 1773. I spent some time wandering around the ruins and gardens taking pictures and playing around with the settings on my camera, before moving on to the church of San Francisco. Some parts of this church date back to 1579. However once again most of it was destroyed in the 1773 earthquake, but you can still see the ruins of the monastery and walk in the footsteps of where a saint walked before you. The tomb of Hermano Pedro de Betancourt is located here. He is credited with powers of miraculous intervention and did many great things for the people here hundreds of years ago as well as founding the hospital of Belen in Antigua. Pope John Paul 2nd made him a saint in 2002. It was surreal walking in the footsteps of a saint!!! The sky turned black and the rain was on its way, so I made my way back to the hostel to relax. I met my new room mates a girl from the states and her boyfriend from england, we chatted for a while and got acquainted and then went our separate ways for dinner. I just got a take out from the wok restaurant and had an early night.
Cathedral
Cathedral ruins
San Francisco Church
View from San Francisco
San Francisco Church
On wednesday I just spent the day wondering around the city. It is such a beautiful place and I am happy that I can spend some time here, I can see why people get stuck here and don't want to leave. I walked under the arch of Santa Catalina, along to the church La Merced, and then I just strolled around watching the painters do their work and local life unfold before me. It is such a relaxed, chilled out vibe here. People have time to sit and chat and enjoy the afternoon sun in the plaza, meeting friends and catching up. I found a nice local restaurant my room mates recommended to me and had lunch there. I was helped out by other locals dining there with my ordering as I did not understand what was on offer, but willing to try anything, you can always count on choosing chicken as a winner every time. It was a delicious lunch of BBQ chicken with rice, beans and salad served with tortillas. All for the grand price of $3! I spent another night relaxing as I was going trekking early in the morning.
Painters working in the steets
Arch of Santa Catalina
La Merced Church
La Merced Church
6am Thursday morning! I was up and ready for my trek to Pacaya Volcano. The minibus picked me up from the hostel and we were on our way. Within the hour we arrived ready to trek up the volcano. There was a choice of walking or hiring a horse to carry you up. I chose to walk as I needed the exercise more then the horse. It was a moderate climb up, nothing too strenuous and the views along the way were outstanding. We were so lucky to see Volcano Fuego erupting in the distance and got some great pictures. It only lasted for a few minutes and then all was calm again.
Early morning in Antigua
Fuego Erupting!
The three volcanoes, Fuego erupting behind!
We carried on and within an hour we could see the peak of Pacaya. The rocks around the peak were smoking hot and we walked along the lava flow and found a spot where we could toast our marshmallows on sticks. There was some unusual colour lava and it did literally glow red from the heat I think, not sure what else it could be but was beautiful and so interesting to see and stand on a real live volcano. We spent some time at the top chatting with people we met along the way before it was time to make our way back down. The down part I always find the hardest as it tends to be tough on your knees and slippery usually if the ground is uneven. Soon we made it to the bottom and all the snacks I had not finished were shared between a starving dog and the local kids who ended up with a whole bag of marshmallows under strict orders to share. They ran off happy and laughing as I boarded the bus for the ride back to Antigua for another lazy afternoon. I decided to go and visit Lake Atitlan the following day.
The three amigos :)
The peak of Pacaya, still smoking!
lava rocks!
Smokin'!!!
Toasting marshmallows :)
I was rudely awakened by my alarm at what seemed like the middle of the night, but was in fact 5am! I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for my trip to Lake Atitlan. Typical the drivers are always late but the one time I am running a bit late he decides to turn up dead on time at 5.30am! Damn, I tore my brush through my hair, grabbed my bag and legged it out the door. I was still half asleep and so tired, I still have not been sleeping well and after yesterdays early start as well, it is starting to take its toll! However the poor guy on the bus already had been picked up from Guatemala City, so he had a 4am start!!! I will say no more. His name was Raoll and he was from Mexico City where he worked for Hewlett Packard Printers as a manager and travelled all over the world for his job. That is the reason he was here now. He had extended his stay to enjoy the weekend here. We chatted most of the way, which was a 3 hour journey, and I was learning all about Mexico and getting some good tips of places to go and the culture there and most importantly the food!!! Others came and went on the shuttle bus to other destinations along the way, it seemed it was just Raoll and myself doing this tour.
Lake Atitlan!
Finally we arrived! We stopped at a viewpoint high up to get some pictures of the lake and its surrounding volcanoes, which are all inactive now. In fact the lake itself is the crater to a huge volcano! We then made our way to the town of Panajachel where we boarded the boat to San Juan. This was a small town where we climbed the steep hill to visit some artists and see their work of local scenes, involving growing and harvesting of corn and coffee, the 2 main staples grown in the area. We then moved on to visit the women weavers who as in Peru, made everything by hand, using plant and vegetable dyes for the colours and cotton for the fabric. I had a go at trying to spin the cotton, but it was really a skill of which I was not competent to the amusement of everyone watching!
San Juan
Woman weaver
Attempting to weave!
Next we boarded the boat to the second stop of the day, San Pedro, where we climbed a building to the roof terrace to get a great view of the lake and town. This was the busy town on the lake where most tourists come to party and end up staying a while. Apart from kayaking and chilling out, eating and drinking, I can not see that there is a lot more to do around the lake, but it seems like a nice place to get stuck for a night or two. We then walked to the church and finished off with some local coffee before once again getting back on the boat to our last destination for the day, Santiago Atitlan.
Mayan face nose sticking up in the middle!
Mixing it up with the locals :)
Santiago was spread out over a large area, so we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed for the church. It was quite sad as a lot of people had been murdered here since the 1960's including the priest and other religious figures in the unrest the country has suffered up until fairly recently. It has been very unsettled. There is a memorial here for all the people who died or disappeared during this time, and the father of this parish has his remains here to this day.
Coin game!
Outside I spotted some people playing a game and wandered over to see what it was. It consisted of a table covered in metal rings with numbers in them, which you would throw a coin and if it landed in the ring you would get that amount back. I decided to give it a go. At first I was unsuccessful, but after a few go's I managed to get one in, only to find it went in the number 0!!! Oh well, enough gambling for one day. This game could get really addictive!
We walked through the local market and I bought a local dish for lunch and we made our way to the restaurant where surprisingly they were happy for me to just order some tortillas and a drink and eat it there. I was feeling a bit sick today and did not feel like eating much so this was perfect. After lunch we hopped on the boat back to Panajachel. There we boarded separate buses back to our destination. By the time I arrived back in Antigua I was exhausted. I skipped dinner again and went straight to bed!
Having my hair done local style, Panajachel
Saturday morning, my last full day in Antigua. I am really fond of this place and its people and am sad to be moving on, I will miss wandering around these cobbled streets. I checked out of my hostel as they have no beds available for the weekend and moved my stuff to the Black Cat hostel around the corner for my final night. It is nowhere near as nice but full of backpackers, so a good place to hang out, and apparently the free breakfast is awesome!!! Once settled I got directions to the market and decided to take a walk around but as I was already loaded up with stuff I did not want to buy anything until Mexico and soon moved on to visit the chocolate museum. This is free and full of information on the history and production of chocolate. I had no idea that Mr Cadbury was the one who started the uprising to not purchase cocoa from plantations where slaves were used and kept in appalling conditions, and approached other chocolate producers to do the same. I vow more loyalty to Cadburys now and will support them where I can, calories permitting! I then had a craving for chocolate and went in search of a fruit smoothie (healthy) and big slice chocolate cake (not so healthy), and sat in the plaza watching the world go by! I then went back to the hostel to write up my blog and have an afternoon siesta as still feeling really tired! I had not been in bed long until Margrit came in. We chatted for a while and then headed down to the bar for the start of a long drunken night. A couple of ozzies, Sean and Hugo were in there and we got chatting with them for a while before hitting the town. We carried on to a few bars and it all went downhill after the tequila! I have come to the conclusion that I just can not drink anymore!! However, with the exception to feeling very sick, it was a good night! I hope to be able to catch up with Margrit again in New York!
Night on the town!! Margrit and friends!
Ozzie Sean and me :)
The following morning I was still feeling very ill, I struggled with the free breakfast and just hung out with Sean watching a movie and waiting for my bus to take me the 8 hours to Semuc Champey!!!
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