Guatemala

Arrived into Guatemala City three hours late due to thunder storm in Miami. We also had to change planes as the first one developed a fault with the windscreen wipers after we had boarded! We were a little worried our airport pickup, Victor, would not be there and we would be stranded. To our relief there he was, with a big sign saying "Victor" and an even bigger grin. We raced through the Guatemalan City night in his little black car, getting chased by dogs from all angles. Eventually turned into a private complex guarded by armed officials and then pulled up outside our first hostel of the trip. Tired and happy to have arrived safely we checked into Hotel Dos Lunas and settled down to sleep. The travels have begun!

Enjoyed a good breakfast at the hostel and met a couple who were heading off to Antigua too; great news as we managed to cadge a lift with them in the shuttle bus. Caught a few glimpses of the madness which is Guatemala city on our way out and then a few more glimpses of the crazy driving skills of the Guatemalans, particularly the chicken bus drivers! Arrived into the cobbled streets of Antigua around an hour later and found a place to stay. The best thing about the place was the roof terrace and the amazing views of the volcanoes which surround Antigua.


Explored the small town of Antigua during the afternoon; you might have thought that a town based around a grid system would be relatively easy for us to navigate, but we ended up thoroughly lost a good few times. While trying to soak up a bit of culture outside one of Antigua's brightly coloured churches, we realised that a funeral procession was just about to leave; it was quite a spectacle. A band played, leading the way for the coffin and the hundreds of mourners through the streets. No pictures though, thought that might be a bit disrespectful. Had our first taste of Guatemalan cerveza 'Gallo' in the evening; the first of many!

Having viewed the volcanoes from our roof terrace, we thought we'd better climb one – Volcan Pacaya. We were picked up at 6am for the journey out to the Pacaya Volcano national park and arrived an hour and a half later, to be greeted by a crowd of children selling big sticks for the hike. Pah, we don't need sticks to climb a measly volcano! Our assent started and within a hundred metres one of the group in front had given in and took the expensive option of a lift up on a horse – oh dear, Dave said she was American! The climb was steep and hot, but the views when we cleared the forested area were well worth it.


Scrabbled over the sharp lava rock, picking up a few scratches and rock splinters on the way. We were then within a few feet of the red hot molten lava which was moving its way down the side of the volcano – amazing! After marshmallows were toasted and bananas and chocolate were cooked; I'm surprised they didn't take a few eggs up to fry, we descended and I would have paid £10 for a goddamm stick, never mind 10 Quetzals – oh well!


Next morning we embarked on our trip to Lago de Atitlan via Panajachel. A beautiful lake surrounded by three volcanoes. We opted to stay in a chilled out town called San Marcos rather than the usual tourist destination of San Pedro.


The next day we were off trekking up the sides of the lake to find a waterfall. The climb was very steep and very hot. We set off just before midday, really good timing! Eventually arrived at aforementioned waterfall. A little disappointing but the views of the lake from our vantage point were well worth it. We got a bit lost in the jungle coming down but soon ended up back in San Marcos.


Sunday is, in no doubt, market day. We had been told previously that no trip to Guatemala was complete without a trip to Chichicastenango market. What a place! The stalls were so closely packed together that sometimes the sky was a thin slice of blue above with warm shards of sunlight slicing through the cracks. It was an assault on your senses. Fresh food, cooked food, spices, boiling oil, the smell of the locals. You couldn't remain still, if you tried you were soon swept along with the current of people going about their business. We bought a few items. I haggled for a t-shirt as I had not really packed enough. Kate bought a lovely Mayan weave rug and we both treated ourselves to a small woven purse. Far more useful than our leather wallet and purse, also far less noticeable when getting cash out.


Our last day in San Marco was fairly adrenaline filled. We decided to go for a swim and to chill out by the lake with our books. I'm reading “Shantaram” (It is amazing – thanks for that Gabby). Kate has got her work cut out reading Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. We had a brief swim then decided to explore further around the headland only to find a group of lads throwing themselves off a 10m high cliff. Well I had to have go. Off came the t-shirt and away I went. Rather embarrassingly I let out an involuntary scream as I fell. I just didn't realise how high it was it felt like I was falling for ages. Eventually surfaced with a massive grin ready to do it again. We then found a smaller cliff for Kate of about 5m. She eventually launched herself off it but I missed the shot with the camera so she had to do it again! I was not popular.