Gasping up a volcano

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Hello from Guatemala - hope you are all going well. Another quick update on my travel adventures......

My latest travel adventure has been climbing the Tajamulco Volcano, the highest point in Central America at 4220 metres. This was a two day hike with a local tour company called Queztaltrekkers (highly recommended if you´re ever in the area). We hiked straight uphill for six hours on the first day, slept in damp and overcrowded tents overnight, then got up at 3.30am (that´s in the morning people!) to make it to the summit by dawn.

Now someone pointed out to me that Tajamulco can´t be that good as it is not even the highest point on a continent, meaning that everyone who has climbed Kosciusko in Aus has actually achieved more. Well all I can say is, stuff you. You try climbing a mountain at high altitude while carrying food, water, tents and a sleeping bag on your back. It was hard work my friends as the oxygen up there was in short supply and the backpack kept getting heavier no matter how much of the food I ate!! But it was definitely all worthwhile for the fantastic views we got at the top.

I am still in Quetzaltenango in the highlands of Guatemala. I have finished two weeks of a spanish course and am slowly but surely improving my spanish. I am also still staying with a Guatemalan family which is going really well plus doing plenty of sightseeing around the country side. I have visited a coffee plantation, ridden my bike to a nearby town which has a crazy Mayan god that is dressed like a cowboy, and done salsa lessons. The only downside has been that it has rained for the last 3 days straight (big storms in Mexico apparently).

I am now heading off into the countryside to attend a language school in a rural area which should be pretty interesting. Drop me a line sometime!

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Photos

On top of Central America
Me at the highest point of Central America at dawn. In case you can´t tell, it was freakin cold.

´The view from the top
Although I was on the highest volcano, Central America has heaps of others....as you can see

Guatemalan Countryside
The view from a bit lower down the mountain - don´t I look good in my best hiking gear?

Comments

[rina]

Cool
Hi Penny! Woooww, cool! From the pictures I bet it's totally gorgeous out there... U should post more pictures.. Try to use flickr, so we can see more picts :D www(dot)bitsofrievees(dot)blogspot(dot)com

[Nick]

All the Spanish I know I learned from Scarface...
There you are, struggling up a rock face for 2 days, waking up at the "fictional" time of 3:30am (as far as I'm concerned, there's no such time), you get to the top at sunrise, and all you see is a bunch of even taller mountians in the distance, sneering at you. I couldn't handle the shame. In fact, the mere thought of it makes me want to have a good sit down on the couch with a beer and a DVD (though I am sure Mount Taylor is laughing at me from behind the curtains). I hope your spanish is going well, make sure you get the words for 'beer' and 'toilet' down pat....they're probably the most important. Also, if you find any good cuisine/dishes while you're there, send the recipe back to us, so we can experience your travels without having to leave Canberra, horrible, horrible, Canberra. Cheers!