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Published: September 27th 2007
San Jose street
During a walk around town, pretty interesting city.Costa Rica was never on our original plans as somewhere that we intended to visit but when it came to booking our flight from Lima to Guatemala City the cheapest option was routed through San Jose. So we thought why not, and on the spur of the moment decided to pay the extra 20GBP odd in taxes and stop in for three nights. San Jose is the capital and largest city in Costa Rica (which itself is a pretty small country c.4.5m people). We stayed in an area called San Yoses which is a pretty student suberb and we didnt venture outside of the capital given our limited time. Instead we spent a fair amount of time relaxing around the hostel (free movies and pool) and wandering around the city. The highlights of the city are Avenida Central (a pedestrian thoroughfare and one of the major commercial areas in the city), the Central Park and the Plaza de la Cultura (which includes the National Theatre of Costa Rica). I (Andy) also visited The national museum or Museo Nacional which is located in an old fort, marked by bullet holes from the 1948 Civil War. The museum covered the
Interesting pottery
This was at the national museum in San Jose. Is that an extra handle? history of Costa Rica up to the present day including colonialisation, rebellions, civil wars, depressions and subsequent prosperity. There are also several large markets and churches in San Jose and some interesting architecture. Costa Rica is famed for its Coffee and you could get a coffee significantly better than Starbucks for about 30p which went down a treat.
All in all it was a nice city to visit though more time would have meant we could have explored more of Costa Rica which seems like a lovely country. The three of us were heading our seperate ways after San Jose (Fraser and Marie heading to Mexico City for three days before heading home and Andy heading up to Antigua in Guatemala for some time in central America) so we had a few beers on the second last night and reminisced a little on what has been a brilliant trip to date. It was the second last night as Marie and Fraser had to leave at 4am for their flight and Marie had learnt her lesson from previous big nights out before early flights.
Mexico City (Fraser and Marie) After leaving Andy close to tears in San Jose,
Before the rain
A view from the national museum in San Jose, shortly before getting drenched. Marie and Fraser flew to Mexico City for the final leg of their world tour. What a place to finish off the trip in - Mexico City was ace!
We had booked into a very nice place in the plush part of town run by a gay Mexican couple who were very helpful, informing us of the best places to eat and visit. Particularly good was a mexican food court where the food was cheap and fantastic - in our five days there, we visited the place four times to eat.
The first few days there, we wandered around the nice parts of the city, encountering prostects pretty much all over the place for one thing or another. On one of the main roads linking the old and new parts of the city, there is currently an art exhibition of benches & chairs - sounds dull but some of them were pretty good (such as the deck of cards chair and the fist chair). The Mexican beer was cold and refreshing in the heat and we had one fairly late night out in the city, listening to a shocking live band covering a range of blasts from the
Relaxing in the hostel
Happy chappies both reading Robert Ludlum books, Marie sporting the lastest fashionable PJ bottoms. past.
Despite the strong catholic influence and the large amount of churches, Mexico City is the most liberal place we have visited, with gay couples walking hand in hand and embracing each other all other the place - Swarbs would fit in well over there.
Fraser managed to drag Marie to a football match in Mexico City - it was at the Stadio Azteca, the largest stadium in Latin America with a capacity of 100,000. Although not full, the atmosphere was electric and the Corona girls and Bimbo girls who walked around the edge of the pitch before the game and at half time were a nice touch. People were walking around selling Corona beers, mini Dominoes pizzas, tacos and many other things to make the football experience all the more complete. We joined in a number of Mexican waves, which all created great hostility between the two sets of fans as the away fans refused to join in any of them.
On our last two days in Mexico City, we toured the city on an open top London red bus taking in both the southern loop of the city and the historical center. The historical part
Antigua
Fantastic church on the main square. of town is beautiful and the architecture on the buildings there is superb - this was best appreciated from the Mirador (the tallest building in Latin America and just over 50 years old).
The flight home was horrific, full of screaming children and unfortunately we were the last row to get served for every meal and refreshment. We landed back in the UK to a temperature of about 17 degrees and sunshine - had the UK climate for September changed since we were last here?
Antigua - the start of Andy on his own 😞 I flew in to Guatemala city arriving in the middle of the day and jumped on a quick 40 min shuttle to Antigua avoiding Guatemala City which has a somewhat sketchy reputation. Was fortunate to share a shuttle with an American couple who live in the town and they filled me in on the best things to do around town, and also about the upcoming elections and festivals. The elections here are of crazy importance and its been pretty interesting learning all about them. They have 14 candidates for president and so far there have been over 50 murders attributed to
An old church front
There are lots of these scattered around the town due to a history of earthquakes many overgrown with flowers. politics in the two month leading up to the elections. There are also some of the crazy rules including that you cant buy alcohol two days either side of the election. I was also told that more than 10 people can not congregate in a public place for the same period (with a couple of exclusions such as churches) although I have since found out this was a joke at my expense. In every major town there are political rallies everyday with thousands of people marching, music and many vibrant indigenous costumes. It really is a spectacal. There is a massive variety of candidates running ranging from a Nobel Peace prize winning Indigenous lady to a far right candidates.
Antigua Guatemala (referred to as just Antigua) is a city in the central mountains of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spanish architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruined churches. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its a small city with around 40,000 inhabitants. La Antigua Guatemala means the "Old Guatemala" Antigua being the third capital of Guatemala. In 1773, a series of earthquakes destroyed much of the town, which led to the Spanish Crown ordering
The artist markets - 1
There was lots of mini squares with fountains and people sitting around. the removal of the capital to a safer location (Guatemala City). The earthquakes are the reason for a number of ruined churches around town. Three large volcanoes dominate the horizon around Antigua. I was staying in the Black Cat hostel which has a reputation as a sociable hostel which I was keen on being on my own from now on. The hostel lived up to its reputation and I made a lot of new buddies some of whom its likely I will see again (indeed I travelled with two girls to my next destination) and others who were good company for nights out. During my stay in Antigua I spent a fair amount of time wondering round a couple of very cool markets, visited a museum detailing the history of the town, the Cathedral and various other ruins around the town. The weather hear is tropical which means hot in the day time and lots of rain for 2-3 hours in the afternoon (time to relax in the hostel).
The nightlife in Antigua was a lot of fun, there was a decent sized group of us and each night we generally stayed in the hostel bar till 10pm then
The artist markets - 2
Lots of bright colours headed to a couple of bars (where there was often live music) or on one night a decent club with a roof terrace. The city officially shuts down at 1am with all bars forced to close however each night it wasnt difficult to find an after party. We were with someone in the know who took us to the places and you basically walk through a curtained doorway with no signs. Inside there are bouncers with torches (the lights in the hallway are off), they lead you to a queue where you pay your entrance c.1GBP and go through another curtain doorway in to a huge room which is exactly the same as a decent bar- club with music, lights and plentiful beverages. These shut at 4am so then its back for some sleep in order to get some sightseeing done the next day before the rain hits mid afternoon. These after parties often get raided by the police (not while I was there) but it is commen knowledge that 20Q (15Q = 1GBP) is the standard price to be let out without any hassle.
Travelling solo you have more flexibility and so pretty much from when I arrived
in Antigua I decided to scrap any original plans (which were sketchy anyway) and just see where the flow takes me. I met a lot of interesting people in Antigua and heard a lot of stories about different places in Guatemala. The country sounded so awesome that I decided to spend a lot more time than originally planned including doing some more language classes in the countries second city. I stayed an extra day in Antigua as I was told there was not much point arriving in my next destintation on a weekend and so opted to to take the bus with Jessie and Em (two American girls) on the Sunday to Quetzaltenango.
This left Saturday free so I booked a trip to Pacaya which is an active volcano close to Antigua. It is one of the major tourist attractions in the area. After being dormant for a century, it erupted violently in 1965, and has been erupting continuously since then. Since 1965, eruptions have been virtually continuous with hundreds of small explosions occurring every day and occasionally, larger eruptions. The most recent signifiant eruption was in 2000 which briefly forced the closure of Guatemala City's La Aurora International
The main square in Antigua
A very pretty square alsways packed with people relaxing and presently political marches and parades. Airport. See the link below if your interested. When we were there you could actually see mini explosions which were very cool.
BBC Story. This was a really decent trip and well worth the $10 or so it cost! We had a decent group so the bus journey eachway was cool. You then treck uphill for an hour, followed by 20 mins across volcanic rocks to reach the active area with the return walk (in the dark) taking a little less than an hour. When you arrived you are mobbed by locals and kids trying to rent you sticks for $1 or offering you horse taxis. Its a fairly strenuous start to the treck and as you get to near the end of the steepest bit and are feeling tired there are some more kids on horses shouting "horse taxi, horse taxi" all very amusing. Returned to the hostel had a few beers and then woke up early the next morning for a quick hop around the market before meeting the girls to catch the bus.
The word bus doesnt describe the experience, we opted for the less expensive buses used by the locals (known as Chicken buses) which are old
When it rains it pours
This was 10 mins before we were supposed to set off on our Volcano trip (though we were delayed a bit as the guy had to fix a flat tyre), fortunately it wasn´t raining when we reached the volcano. US school buses designed to fit half to a third as many people as are often crammed in. Think 3 to each double seat with the aisle full of standing people. We first got one for 45 mins to a crossroads town where we jumped off to board another bus which we were on for 3 hours getting dropped off at the crossroads 10km from Xela for our final chicken bus in to the centre. All in all a 4 hrs bus ride cost $4 vs the $25 for a tourist shuttle and it was a lot more fun and almost as quick (though at times very uncomfortable).
Quetzaltenango (Xela) Arriving in Xela on the Sunday day time I walked the 2km from the bus station to town with my rucksack (times are tough!). Quetzaltenango is the second largest city in Guatemala, with 300,000 inhabitants and three major universities, Quetzaltenango is situated in a valley (though still over 2000m) and is surrounded by rugged hills and volcanoes. Many people recommended Xela for its language schools and still being keen to continue learning spanish I decided to head up for a week or two depending on how I enjoyed
classes (ended up staying three weeks). I opted for Celas Maya as a school see http://www.celasmaya.com/ for details. I arrived on Sunday afternoon booked my classes and wandered around grabbing a late lunch (3 Chicken tacos for 70p). The town was dead aside from a market in Parque Central though it is the surrounding areas, volunteer opportunities and language schools that draw people to Xela rather than the town itself (although the central square is very nice and the people very friendly). Caught up with a guy in the hostel Id met previously for some dinner then hit the sack early for classes the next day.
I started doing 5 hours of classes a day (well 4.5 with 30mins break) running from 8am to 1pm. Its a large school with about 40-50 students (and thus 40-50 tutors as it is 1-1). My first tutor was a guy of similar age called Byron and he was really good, and the Spanish definitely started improving. Im also doing a homestay where you stay with a local middle class family. I met mine Monday afternoon (Lidia and Santos) and had my first meal with them Monday evening. They are a really nice
Pretty hot
And it was warm too. You couldn´t get much closer without passing out and you could feel the rubber almost melting on your trainers. couple and are very friendly and talkative which is both really interesting and a massive help for the Spanish. Santos actually has pretty decent taste in music and likes football and International movies so despite the age gap there is a lot of common ground for conversation. In my first week there was also a girl from Chicago staying with them who previously did Sapnish lessons and was volunteering while I was there, having been in Xela three month. At meals we speak mostly in Spanish but anything I dont get or more likely cant express as it is a lot easier to understand than speak a language as a beginner Corrie can easily translate.
Teaching at the school is set around a court yard which is nice as you are not stuck in a class room, and the school organise numerous activities in the afternoons. On my first day a group of us took various methods of local transport (chicken buses, pick up trucks etc) to a natural Sauna in the hills (more like a steam room actually) where the steam is naturally occurring and is funnelled from the ground. A very relaxing experience and some superb scenery.
By the volcano
This was a little before it started getting toasty. We also saw a massive political rally on the way (see pics) which meant the roads where closed so the bus couldnt go any further. This wasnt a problem as we walked past the rally to the end (about 1km) where the teacher just went garage to garage until someone agreed to take us in the back of their truck the rest of the way for $1 each.
The following day the afternoon activity was a trip to an orphanage for abondoned children from abused background or with special needs. It was an eye opening experience which was both rewarding (seeing how much fun the children had mixing with gringo visitors with ballons, sweets and staionary) and truly saddening knowing how little difference such a trip makes. The kids seemed to have so much energy, were keen to learn English words, show off their drawings and play with ballons whilst at the same time there was so many basic things we take for granted that they were lacking. If Im not doing an activity in the afternoon such as Weds and Thursday of my first week Im generally just relaxing either in the city in a bar or coffee
Toasting marshmellows
Marshmellows taste pretty good when toasted over larva. shop with friends or socialising with my family. There is also normally an hour or two of homework (Tarea) to complete.
Friday afternoon of my first week was spent wandering around the market to pick up sone stuff for the weekend treck I had booked, with the remainder of the afternoon spent in a local bar with Craig (a welsh lad of the same age who Im also going to catch up with in the Bay of Islands). Went home for some dinner and then went back to school for a graduation dinner which was basically a free dinner with BYO booze with about 20-30 students and 10-15 professors. After that we hit a local cafe for some live music. I left around midnight having consumed a few tequillas which wasnt the best idea with the alarm set for 4am but you live and learn. 4am the next day wasnt the best time to be waking up but unlike my Welsh compatriot Craig I managed to wake and make it to Quetzal treckers for the departure time. He lost his deposit but got most of his money back. More details of the treck are below but its basically a
Sun setting
This picture doesn´t do it justice. two day hike, camping on the first night and getting up early for sunrise on Sunday morning. Its actually the highest mountain in Central America (go me!). A pick up truck ride, some breakfast and a couple of chicken buses later we were ready to start the trail and it was a fantastically clear day. This didnt last long however and about 3-4 hrs in tp the treck it started to pour down for the last couple of hours of the walk (and then all evening and night). This resulted in our tent flooding to the point where you had water inside your sleeping bag but there wasnt much you could do. Camping at 4000m with water in you sleeping bag is cold! It was all worth it for the views the next morning though which were stunning (see the pics). Below is a description of the trip from the companies website. We had a group of 17 people with 4 guides mostly American but a good variety and some very funny people including the guides. Particualrly nice couple with the girl being from Australia (Sarah) and guy from Germany (Tristan).
Day 1
We leave Xela early in the
Pretty impressive views
These were the volcanoes that we couldn´t see earlier. morning and make our way by bus to the town of San Marcos, near the Mexican border. After a hearty breakfast in one of the local indigenous comedors, we board a second bus which takes us to the beginning of our hike. The trail begins at a small village and winds its way through corn milpas and farm land. Due to the altitude it is very difficult to grow crops and the trail soon gives way to wood land pockets and grazing pastures for sheep. We hike for a few hours making our way over several ridges stopping, around mid-day, for lunch at one of the pastures (we didn{t because it was raining and headed straight for the campsite). The trail then takes us into high-altitude pine forest, with some wonderful views over the country. We finally reach our campsite 220m below the summit at around 4pm and begin to prepare for the coming night. The tents are pitched and firewood is gathered while the water is heated for a well deserved hot drink. After sundown, dinner is cooked and we gather around the fire, enjoying the tranquility and, weather permitting, an unobstructed view of the stars (we all sat
Our group for the volcano trek
Check out the local kid posing! in tents!). At this altitude we can see many more stars than normal, there are also no bright city lights to affect our view and it is sometimes difficult to make out the different constellations. After our meal we take to our sleeping bags early for some much needed rest.
Day 2
At 4am we creep out of our tents into the cold morning air and begin to hike the final 220m to the summit in time to see the sun rise above the horizon. In the distance we can watch Volcan Santiaguito and Volcan Fuego erupt as we look across the volcano chain of Guatemala. We look east to Volcan Tacana and the Mexican border and far to the north-west we can see the Cuchumantanes Mountains near Huehuetenango. After sunrise we take a short hike around the crater of the volcano. This offers us some wonderful scenery down the plains into Mexico and the Pacific coast. The shadow of the volcano becomes visible shortly after dawn. After we have rested we make our way back down to our campsite for a hot breakfast and some coffee. After our morning meal we clear up the area and make our
Antigua square
Really relaxed atmosphere around the aquare, seeall the péople sitting about. way back down to the trail head where we board a bus which will take us back into San Marcos. Here we have lunch while we wait to catch another bus back to Xela and the comforts of warm showers and clean sheets.
On my return to Xela I was locked out the house as no one was in and I had lent my key to Corrie. Went to a local bar where I know a lot of people and watched Bourne Identity 3 with some friends had some dinner then headed back for an early night (my first in Xela). The next two weeks were more of the same lots of Spanish tuition, a few of trips with the school including a historic tour of the city (In Spanish with some English translation) and some football both watching and playing (go England - Anton what was the score against Russia?). I organised a game of 5 aside football with some mates and teachers which was a lot of fun. During the week I also visited some very interesting bars with different student or ramdom friends I have met in Xela. One in particular stood out where you could
Political March # 1
They get pretty in to there marches. buy 1/2 L of coke and a 250ml bottle of strong home brewed spirit for 60p. The toilet was in the corner of the main room and was only enclosed to chest height. Very amusing.
So far its been a lot of fun staying in Xela for an extended period because you get to learn so much more about the local life, go out with the locals and also get to know a whole bunch of people from around the world. Its been nice being in a country where the average traveller is slightly older and there are very few English travellers for a change. A lot of people I have met have been incredibly interesting. Its also been fantastic staying with an awesome family and getting to grips with Spanish to the point where (whilst my grammer is not superb and pronounciation avergae) I can now hold conversation, and unsderstand more or less what is in the newspapers and television. One American girl even commented that she understood me better in Spanish than in English which I took as a compliment as opposed to a gripe about the speed and clarity of my English.
My second weekend
Political march # 2
Check out some of the colours I opted to relax in Xela as it was perhaps the biggest festival in the Guatemalan calendar. We had already visited the fair on Thursday which was a lot of fun as ther rides were 60p at most and there was som many decent food and drink stools. 4 of us opted to stay after the others left and returned at night for a couple more bars with some other friends I met in Antigua. Xela is also the place where people come to celebrate. It would have been stupid to leave. They have free live concerts, parades, beuty pagents etc. A big group of us met up for dinner and beers in a cheap hostel in town on the Friday before heading up to town to watch some live bands (in the rain). Had umbrellas though and Ive always had a great time drinking in the rain (brought back memories of the cricket at Edgbaston). Most people headed out to a club about midnight knowns as Coco Locos (where I found myself at least two or three times a week) but myself and a couple of others opted to stay till the end of the musice instead. Saturday was
Political march # 3
Again such vibrant colours spent relaxing around Xela with people recuperating from hangovers and then Sunday I headed to some natural sulphur springs and hour away having woken up at 5.30am to treck Volcan Santa Marie with another girl from the school only for the guide not to show up. The springs were brilliant however (have a look at their website @: http://www.lasfuentesgeorginas.com). They are natural sulfur springs set in what looks to be a scene from the movie Jurassic Park with fantastic views of the surrounding areas until the clouds roll in. The ride down to town in the pick up to catch a bus back to Xela was scary to say the least. The pick up was full with rice sacks and we had to siton to of the rice sack with nothing around us and the driver wasn´t taking it slowly. Still it cost 10Q as aopposed to 35Q on the way up so you can´t complain.
Despite wanting to stay longer I decided to do only one more week in Xela so I could make it to the Bay of Islands in time to meet some friends there. I also changed my classes to the afternoons (and only 4
Political march # 4
See how far itr extends hours) so I could achieve more in the mornings whilst it was sunny and so I could have a couple of big nights out. I was gald I did. Monday we had a few beers in the normal places (including Black Cat hostel and Kings and Queens bar which were both very friendly and we visited most nights). At the end it was only me and Yoris left and we headed back to a local house after the bars closed. I appreciated the afternoon lessons as I understand from Yoris that he struggles with 8am lessons.
Tuesday was a relaxed day as Weds had been set aside for a lot of activities- Weds morning I climbed Volcan Santa Marie starting at 5.30am (which was hard) with a teacher from the school who doubled as a guide. I can have conversations pretty well in Spanish now so it was a good chance to practice Spanish whilst taking in some spectacular scenery (3rd volcano in Guatemala). It was a heroic day with Spanish classes following the treck and then after school going straight to a local football match (followed of course by a night on the town till 2.30am). The football
Cool dude
Checkout those ears! match was Xela (Super Chivos) vs Municiapal (a team from Guatemala being a combination of clubs). Xela where expected to lose as it was the quarter finals of a major tournament in central America with teams from neighbouring countries. In the first ten minutes they went behind and had a man sent off but went on to equalise with very little time to spare. It ws agreat game despite the rain and Dominos pizza being brought round all the time was a definite plus. Afterwards a bunch of us headed out on the standard route for Weds, Kings and Queens, a Salsa club and then Coco Locos untile the early hours.
Thursday and Friday was spent at school. Thursday evening I had a last dinner with the family and two other students which was really nice. A few drinks and good conversation in Spanish! I offered to take them out to a restaurant but they said they would prefer if we got take out Pollo Campenero (the local equivelant of KFC) which is a Guatemalan firm that has spread throughout south and cenral America and will no doubt make Europe at some point. The locals love it and you
Standard mode of transport
Thankfully this one wasnt to crowded. sometime see queues out the door. It was a nice night and me realise how much I will miss the family. Friday night was my graduation (I had to give a speech in Spanish) and a bunch of us had a few beers before heading to a couple of bars (including Kings and Queens again) before innveitably ending up in Cocos. The place has the same draw as walkabout though plays significantly different music and the guys can actually dance. As a result I spent most of the night chatting to a cool girl from the states called Elizabeth rather than embarassing myself on the dance floor.
There are lots more photos from the first couple of weeks in Xela on Craigs website see the site below (copy and paste in to browser). http://picasaweb.google.com/TizzleOnTour/Quetzaltenango . These include the football game we played the dive bar (complete with a picture of me using the toilet), the fayrem the school and lots of friends I met.
Lago Atitlan First the spiel about Lago Atitlan for those who like to know more about the places I´m visiting as opposed to just the "actividads sin and con bebidas alcolicas" (a little
Nice view from the Saunas
This was an interesting trip from Xela Spanish for you!). Lago de Atitlán (Lake Atitlán) is a large endorheic lake in the Guatemalan Highlands, the deepest lake in Central America with depths of 340m. The lake is characterized by towns and villages of the Maya people that surround it together with 3 large volcanoes on the Southern shore. The lake is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed in an eruption 84,000 years ago. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. A quote I liked was by Aldous Huxley who wrote of it: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
There are lots of towns around the lake and every town feels very different ranging from the hustle and bussle on Panachael, the hippy/drug culture of San Pedro, and the mediation centres of San Marcus to name but a few. As with many places in Guatemala I stayed longer than intended, planning to stay for only a couple of days but not leaving for over a week. The lake is absolutely beautiful as
The Sauna team
There was a welsh lad as well but he was taking the photo. you can see from the photos, there are so many activities and I met so many decent people that it was difficult to leave. I arrived on Saturday, walking to the bus station in Xela at 9am despite a latish night on the Friday(2.30ish). It was really sad to say goodbye to Lidia and Santos in the morning because thay had been such wonderful hosts. They were lots of fun, helped me immensely with my Spanish, taught me a lot about their country, made me feel so at home and to top it all Lidia was a great cook. I was sceptical about a homestay to begin with, intending to stay only 1 week and then move back to a hostel but it was a brilliant experience and one I would thoroughly recommend.
So back to the lake. It was a pleasurable three hours on a chicken bus (which is an incredibly rare statement) due to having to share a double seat made for two school kids with only one other fully grown adult as opposed to the normal 3 or 4. The guy I was sat next to was a really friendly Guatemalan and we chatted in Spanish
Something you all take for granted
A double bed in your own room. Decided to settle down in my homestay as have a nice family, a room to myself and a double bed. These are luxuries I amnot used to! most of the way which was an achievment for me! He pointed out a lot of things I wouldn´t have seen otherwise which was cool. Arriving in Panachael I stopped in a restaurant to avoid the rain and after took a launch (a boat) to Santa Cruz, and a hostel that had been recommended many times called Iguanas. It was a great recommendation. Yoris came to meet me in the hostel as he was spending a weekend on the lake and we hit the beers fairly early as it was raining as it generally does after 3pm. Generally at the lake you wake up early and do some sort of activity in the morning and then return after lunch for some relaxation time (or I did anyway others just slept). Unbeknown to us every Saturday the hostel has an infamous cross dressing party. Fortunately they have a whole room full to the brim with costumes so after a few beers and before the communal bbq we donned some dresses (which were significantly more reserved than many of the other guests). It was a really funny night and there were loads of people I recognised from Xela there which was cool.
Rain again
It rains quite a lot in the afternoon in Xela also. Check out these puddles. However having a tab system for the duration of your stay though is a bad idea as it is all to easy to over indulge in shots (when a donation to charity is given for each shot). They raised a lot of money, one lad brought 28! Another lad fell for the old one nights accomodation free (30Q or $4) if your bar tab exceeds 500Q for the night. He achieved it with some to spare despite it being only 10Q a beer in happy hour and 14Q outside. It was a large night!
The next morning was a fairly relaxed sitting in the sun and then in the early afternoon Yoris returned to Xela and I went horseriding for three hours with three girls I had met in the hostel. They were all experienced riders and so when we did start galloping I was left eating dust. It was a brilliant trip though, the scenery was stunning and the horses had so much power (though mine kepts stopping to eat!). We rode around San Pedro and the surrounding areas up in to the hillside. The evening was standard for the hostel a few beers with new friends and
A few more drinking games
From left to right Christin (Swedish), Corrie (US & sister for first week of homestay), Ida (Israel) and Craig (Wales). a 3 course communal meal which was always brilliant. Jane and Steve arrived from Xela and it was good to catch up and we arranged a trip for the day after next.
My third day in Santa Cruz 8 of us from the hostel including 5 Brits and 3 Aussies headed over to San Pedro on an early launch to ascend San Pedro. We weren´t the most organised and turned up having booked nothing and just sorted a guide out after a big fry up. We didn´t end up starting till 9am (most people start at 6am!) and as a result it was a little cloudy when we reached the top but the views on the way up were fantastic and it was a good crack. The night in the hostel was again similar though fairly messy as one of the Aussie lads who had stayed a month was flying home the next morning.
On my final full day at Santa Cruz I went with Steve, Jane and Jan on a three hour hike to San Marcus (3 or 4 towns along) this is along the hills surrounding the lake and was beautiful and scorching hot. Was less
Guatemalan town
A typical Guatemalan town with locals milling around, vendors and chicken buses. difficult than the previous two days though I was still aching from the horseriding. Arriving in San Marcus we went to an area where you can jump in from rocks (up to 12m!) and cooled off in the waters before returning to Santa Cruz for a realaxed afternoon followed by dinner, beers and cards. After 4 nights I decided a change of scenery was in order and decided to move to another town as opposed to heading onward to Antigua. I opted for the tiny town of Jailabato which I had walked through the previous day a some dirt cheap but beautful accomodation (the only place in town). I decided to stay a little longer so I could visit some more towns in the mornings and try and teach myself some more Spanish in a lovely place in the afternoons as I wasn´t able to at Iguanas as there was always too much else going on. At my new accomodation there was only one other guest which is what I was after but again the scenery was beatiful and the food surprisingly good given the prices!
Whilst staying here I visited a host of different town either walking or
Volcan TAJUMULCO
Volcán Tajumulco is large stratovolcano in western Guatemala. It is the highest mountain in Guatemala and Central America at 4,220 m (13,845 feet). Tajumulco has had several historical reports of volcanic eruptions, but none have been confirmed to be true eruptions.Its the mountain in the background. by boat and I also did a fairly long cycle ride 20-25km over some stunning windy roads with a lot of steep up and downhills (I only walked once which was impressive given some of the slopes). Having a fantastically relaxed time and currently have a day left here before probably heading on to Honduras and then Antigua.
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