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Published: October 28th 2008
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Erst Englisch, dann Deutsch:
We had a smooth border crossing into Guatemala and passed through the capital, bustling Guatemala City and headed straight towards Antigua. We noticed a bus pulled over with lots of passengers on the roadside, some of which were weeping. Then someone pointed out that there were bullet shots on the bus windscreen. Scary. Don’t know what had happened but it hadn’t been good. It was a horrible feeling and I was fuming when I saw one guy in our group take photos. There are some things you just don’t take photos of.
As soon as we arrived in Antigua, it struck us how similar it is to Granada. Again, there were lots of brightly coloured facades and cobbled streets with a main square. It is another colonial jewel which is nothing like the rest of the country, but beautiful nevertheless. I had finally caught a rotten cold - not bad going after 7 weeks of travelling but rotten all the same, especially as it was time to be introducing ourselves to the new group members and all I felt like doing was curling up in bed and sleeping. There was a funny overlap between our
goodbyes to our old tour group and hellos to the new group. The Volcano Trail part is over, and we are now on the Mayan Sun part of the tour. Our new guide is called Michelle, she’s from Toronto and she seems really organised and generally more experienced than our previous guide. On the last day, he told us it was the first time he’d run the Volcano Tour and so we kind of have more understanding for him. Michelle however, is very experienced and we can actually understand her!
We left Antigua at 6.30am to head to Lake Atitlan on another fab chicken bus. The lake is formed in the crater of an ancient volcanic eruption and there are now three new volcanoes in the middle of it! Amazing views. When we arrived at Panchchel, Michelle had arranged a boat tour for us and we spent the day on the lake zipping across to four different lakeside locations. Firstly we had a delicious breakfast at a hotel overlooking the lake. Then the others went for a swim and were able to jump in from the balconies on the cliff. The water looked so refreshing but I was too
ill to go swimming. I was sorely tempted, but knew I’d regret it if I did. I learnt my lesson about sitting around in a wet bikini in Lake Garda last year! Christian went in though and had fun trying to make a huge a splash as possible. After that we visited a town where they worshipped a pagan statue called Muschi Mang. It was one of the strangest things weve seen and there was even a glass coffin with his friend lying in the same room. Odd. Later we visited a women’s cooperative selling traditional woven goods and bought some souvenirs. The boat ride got chilly and didnt do my cold any good but had a long sleep the next night and felt a lot better. 5.30am wake up calls not good when trying to get better!
On Sunday, we went to the infamous Chichcangesto market about an hours ride away from Panachel. It was very busy indeed and full of hustle and bustle that you expect in any market, multiplied by ten! Saw a pig market, chickens and turkeys being carried home in baskets, tortillas being made on hot stoves, different coloured maize kernels that I we
never knew even existed. All sorts. We bought a few bit ands pieces too. It was hard to cope with the constant demands for money, begging etc and it really started to grate on us by the end of the day. A little boy even followed us to lunch insisting on cleaning Christian’s walking boots but they weren’t dirty we’d just waxed them! He just wouldn’t leave us alone. Anyway, was a good day all in all. We’re back in Antiuga now, leaving to head to Rio Dulce tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon, we went on a proper volcanoe hike up Pacaya Volcano. We climbed up at daylight, enyoed the sunset between gasps of breath and arrived at our goal: the lava flow at the top of the volcano just as the sun set. It was very windy indeed and it was getting pretty scary. When we fel the heat of the lava and saw its glow against the black sky, it all seemed worth it. Amazing. The volcanic rocks were very sharp and loose, its a miracle no one hurt themselves! We manged to get as near as 15m away form the lava, was cool. Without doubt the coolest, but
most stupid and dangerous thing we´ve ever done! The climb down in the dark was unnerving as you can expect. There is a video clip on the blog. Nowhere near as amazing as the real thing sadly.
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Hallo ihr,
Nach der schoenen, zum Teil aber auch sehr chaotischen Zeit in Honduras haben wir das Land verlassen und sind Ende der letzten Woche in Antigua, Guatemala, angekommen. Wir haben damit die erste Tour in Zentralamerika beendet und nun die naechste begonnen. Wir haben einen neuen Tourguide - eine Frau! Sie ist extrem gut organisiert, ... - kurzum, sie ist das ganze Gegenteil von unserem vorigen Tourguide und es scheint, als ob diese Tour richtig gut wird. Alles laeuft bisher wie geschmiert. Wir haben nun 4 Tage in Antigua, einer alten Kolonialstadt, verbracht, d.h. viele leckere Baeckereien besucht (und dort viel Geld gelassen) und tolle Kirchenruinen gesehen. Die Stadt ist wunderschoen, man sieht alte, durch ein Erdbeben zerstoerte Gebaeude neben liebevoll restaurierten Haeuschen.
Die vier Tage wurden durch einen 2-taegigen Ausflug nach Panajachel (am Fluss Atitlan) unterbrochen. Von 'Pana' aus haben wir am ersten Nachmittag ein paar andere Orte am See besucht. Sie liegen alle am Fusse von
Vulkanen, denn der See ist ein alter Vulkankrater, in dem sich 3 neue Vulkane gebildet haben. Interessant, aber auch sehr touristisch. Am zweiten Tag sind wir nach Chichicastenango gefahren, um den beruehmten Markt zu besuchen. Der Markt ist so farbig, da jedes umliegende Dorf seine eigenen Farben und Muster haben. Unglaublich, wie viel Zeit und Muehe in den Kleidungsstuecken stecken. Zudem gibt es alles nur erdenkliche Essen. Fuer umgerechnet 1 Euro haben wir eine Ananas und 10 Litschis gekauft - lecker!
Gestern Nachmittag sind wir nach Antigua zurueckgekehrt und haben eine Vulkanwanderung zum aktiven Vulkan Pacaya gemacht. Im Hellen sind wir aufgestiegen und haben gegen Einbruch der Dunkelheit den Lavastrom erreicht. Die Wanderung ueber Vulkangestein - erst kleine, sandaehnliche Steinchen, die dann mit abnehmender Entfernung zum Vulkan und dessen Krater immer groesser werden und aeusserst scharfkantig sind - war anstrengender als erwartet, v.a. da der Wind maechtig stark war und so manchen fast umgeworfen hat. Das Bild, das sich uns bot, war aber umso spektakulaer (Video). Wir sind bis zu 15m an den Lavastrom herangekommen, waren aber nur ca. 1.5m von der Lava entfernt, die sich in Gesteinsspalten sammelt. Das war so faszinierend - wohl auch nicht ganz ungefaehrlich. Der
Rueckweg im Dunkeln hat so einige Nerven gekostet.
Heute haben wir eine Frauenkooperative besucht (siehe letztes Foto). Die Frauen haben sich ein wenig emanzipiert und geben Touren und Presentationen ueber das alltaegliche Leben der Mayas, deren Kleidung, Essen ... Unsere Koepfe platzen vor lauter Eindruecken. Nun bleibt nur noch Geist fuer einen Besuch bei der Post und der Baeckerei.
Morgen geht es in aller Fruehe nach Rio Dulce - Dschungel.
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