The exchange rate is 18 to 1? Ohhh right.

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So the exchange rate turned out to be 8 to 1, but we didn't find out until after the huge amount we'd spent on dinner. I suppose we did deserve a treat after the crazy bus ride from San Cristobal de las Casas to Antigua.

Our first day in Antigua was just spent checking out the city which was really pretty and surrounded by three volcanoes. As we were sitting in the central park reading, a guy with a marijuana plant on his shirt came up and asked us if we wanted to buy some weed.. couldn't be any more obvious eh. We declined and he proceeded to fist bump us and be on his way. This is probably the first time i hadn't initiated a fist bump and i felt elated. After that, we decided to get massages, facials and pedicures. At first it seemed too good to be true with the total being Q45 each (equivalent to about $6). Then they told us it was in dollars.. once again we attempted to find excuses to spoil ourselves.. woops.

The next day we climbed the Pacaya Volcano.. well i climbed it and Tandi got a horse after about 20 paces. I'm not going to lie, it was hard work! Unfortunately we didn't see any magma, but the view was spectacular and when our guide through a stick into a hole, it burst into flames.

On the third day we decided to pay a visit to Panajachel, a town on Lake Atitlan. It was beautiful, but nothing compared to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia/Peru. The most exciting part of this trip was the bus ride on the way home. Tanz and I were sitting there, minding our own business when this girl starting yelling that something had happened and a car was following us and that we were all going to be assaulted. Scenes of "Taken" flashed through my mind, and it didn't help that i had just been reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl who Played with Fire" and "The Girls who Kicked the Hornets Nest". Tanz thought she was smuggling drugs, but then it turned out she hadn't taken her medication. Anyway it ended with her jumping off at a random village with a random local woman. We arrived safely back to Antigua and i hope she did too.

We finally said goodbye to Antigua and made another long bus trip to Lanquin, where we are now. It's absolutely gorgeous here. We are staying in a lodge surrounded by mountains and a stream, it's vary rural and the showers only have three walls opening up to nature.. though it felt a bit unsettling when i could hear workmen nearby. Oh, and last night we randomly met a boy who graduated from St Peters in 2000; small world hey!

Tomorrow we are going to check out Semuc Champey, which we are really looking forward to.

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