Guatemala Trip: Part 1

I'm posting some emails I've sent about the trip so far so I when I come back, I don't have to recall everything I've done since I have short-term memory! Just come to this blog and read about it for yourself!


Oct. 25

Safe and sound in Antigua, a pretty colonial city 45 minutes from Guatemala City. Lots of students here to study Spanish for cheap. I have a cold! Snotty nose and everything, but other than that, everything´s good so far. Buenos Noches!

aubrey
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Oct. 27

Flight was good. Hiked up and over to an active volcano (Pacaya) yesterday, saw the lava flowing and everything...it was RIGHT THERE! Perfect weather for hiking, overcast and cool, yet nice. Someone on our tour brought along a pack of marshmallows and toasted them in the volcano fires, I got to eat one. No stitches this time, even though the volcanic rock was a lot sharper. Went dancing in a little club last night called La Casbah, danced to Reggaeton and House music.

Today, beautiful weather, clear skies and very warm. Taking a shuttle bus over to a town called Chichicastenango to get there a day early before their huge market on Sunday. Snotty nose is getting better.

- a
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Oct. 29

Made it to Chichi. Small town, but with a huge market. Got there the night before to see it all set up and woke up early to see the place being transformed. Followed loud music in the street in the evening and we ended up at this little place where the locals give alcohol and money to a god called San Simon, or Maximo, a cigar-smoking, alcohol swigging deity. They invited us inside. 4 guys playing a large xylophone, two drunk guys dancing and several people in the small room eating and drinking. We gave them 10 quetzals, well, to Maximo, $1.25 total and they brought out dishes of rice, beans and beef , homemade tamales, a white drink and a shot of alcohol. It was really cool to see. We were the only non-locals there.

Market was great, the main church, a beautiful white building, is where they have shamans burning incense, piles of flowers and a ton of people resting on the stairs leading up to it. Hills like San Francisco. Mayan women all in their traditional, colorful skirts and shirts. They carry loads of things on their heads and there´s an area where they sell live chickens and roosters.

Then we took chicken buses (local buses) crammed full of people over to Fuentes Georginas, a natural hot spring place set in a jungle-like setting. The ride up there was gorgeous, right at sunset with valleys and mountains all around. It was great because we got there just in time for dinner and then had all of the hot spring pools to ourselves for the night since only people who are staying there can use them in the evening. Not sulphorous smelling at all, and we stayed in a rustic cabin there with a wood fireplace. Stopped in a town called Zunil briefly, a very authentic Guatemalan town set in the valley, and then on to Panajachel, just got here tonight.

It´s a touristy, yet cute town right on the shore of Lake Atitlan, considered by many to be the most beautiful lake in the world!

- aubrey

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Nov. 2

So my $400 digital pocket camera was stolen (we think) at the hot springs place... I'm so bummed about that!

When we arrived to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, we took a boat over to the lakeside village of San Marcos La Laguna. A very small village with a very hippie vibe. There are holistic centers, massages, tarot readings and so on. We stayed the night there in a cool hotel, like a big cozy cabin. Went kayaking on the lake in the morning and then back to Antigua. We are planning on returning to the lake at the end of the trip.

Woke up early the next morning for this big kite festival in a nearby town's cemetery. It was Day of the Dead. The town's called Santiago Sacapatequez. The kites are handmade of bamboo and colorful tissue paper and there were some as tall as 3 stories high. A lot of the kites were crashing to the ground too, and then everyone would run or get hit by a kite. It was a spectacle! The streets were filled with vendors, games and taco stands. Rode on the rickety ferris wheel there too, pretty scary, but very fun since it was going fast.

Woke up this morning to catch a 4am shuttle bus to Copan, Honduras, a 5 hour ride away. We went and saw the Copan Ruins today, the remains of a big Mayan city. There were colorful macaws and weird creatures that looked like giant, tail-less rats, but cuter, at the entrance to the ruins.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus over to the beaches of Honduras on the Carribbean side.

- aubrey