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Highest man in Central America
At 4220 m above sea level having climbed the Tajamulco Volcano After the easiest border crossing so far (no forms no questions no hassle) from Belize we entered Guatemala, taking an interesting bus ride with locals from the border to Santa Elna and Flores twin towns 50m apart which are very different. Santa Elna sits next to the lake and is dirty and dusty, whilst Flores is a pretty little town full of cobbled streets and quite little buildings, the two sides to Guatemala couldn't be clearer in this small town.
After spending our first day exploring the local area we prepared for an early start (3.30am!) to visit the ruins of the Mayan city of Tikal. Tikal is famous for being one of the major ruins of Central America and is used on all postcards/pictures of Guatemala. The reason for the early start was so that we could climb the fourth temple and watch the sunrise over all the other temples in the area. The only problem was that our bus was late setting off so in the mad dash to see the sunrise our tour guide decided it was a good idea to have 12 people standing on the back of a small pick up truck so we
Antugua
The beautiful colonial town where we spent a few days could drive to the first temple rather than walk and risk missing the sunrise. I ended up at the very back of the truck so as it accelerated I was learning off the back of the truck taking the weight of everyone; it was without a doubt the scariest and most dangerous experience of traveling so far! Once we arrived in one piece (unbelievable!) the sunrise was a fantastic sight and well worth the early start, also to hear the jungle (which deeply covers most of the ruins and surrounding area) coming to life as birds and howler monkeys awoke making a hell of a noise! We spent the rest of the day with a guide exploring the ruins, up and down the temples (which only 6 days previously a tourist had died falling down) and learning more about the city. By the end of tour, only midday I was truly shattered. Tikal was a fantastic experience however and was one of my favorite Mayan sites so far. The next day we further explored Santa Elna and also walked into the countryside to nearby caves, Babs and I were the only people there so to be inside such a quite
Tikal
The famous Temple number 1 at Tikal, well worth the early rise to see the sunrise over the temples and cool place outside of the hectic town was a good experience.
Moving on from Flores we went down south to Antigua taking one of our old favorites - the over night bus! Flores is a fantastic town, its very colonial and full of old churches, palaces and ministries as well as cobbled streets, small cafes and restaurants (but also tourists!). The town is also at high altitude to it was great to be somewhere a little cooler for a few days as Central American weather has been hard to bear so far! Although as a town its not true to the modern Guatemala its still a great place to come for a few days and explore the past of this Spanish Colony. Having spent our first day exploring we met up with two America's we had made friends with in Flores and traveled to Antigua with for a few drinks and to watch the Guatemala Vs USA football match. The locals are so passionate about football over here (there’s always a game on) its better watching them jump around and shouting and screaming at the slightest hint of a goal than watching the game itself. The following day
Sunset at Tajamulco
Sunset at Tajamulco Volcano, a great sight before collapsing in my tent from the 15km uphill trek! we headed to the nearby Papaya volcano. Antigua is surrounded by volcanoes but this one is popular with tourists as it is active, and you can walk right up the volcano and up to the lava! A very surreal experiences but a fascinating one never the less. Needles to say your feet get very hot, one person in our groups shoes melted apart!
Moving north from Antigua to the beautiful lake Atitlan and the town of Panajachel based right on the lake. It’s a nice little town, although very touristy and gives a great view of the lake. This lake is particularly spectacular as it’s surrounded by steep volcanoes as well as small indigenous villages. That evening when eating dinner by the lake a far away lightening storm kept lighting up the volcanoes and their shilouettes looked fantastic over the lakes.
The following day was a Sunday, in Guatemala this means market day so we headed to the town of Chichicastenango home to one of the largest, most colourful and definately most famous markets in Guatemala. This market is particuarly impressive as nearly all the products are hand made and can´t be found anywhere else. Although many tourists flock to the markets its predomiately locals buying things, reassurring the quality of the good. Also impressive about this market is its logistics, it’s so hectic there’s so much packed into a tiny space, you can hardly move for so many stalls and people. Also nearly all the stalls seem to be run by 4ft old women in traditional dress, all of whom carry about twice their body weight in produce on their heads, which is disturbing as well as impressive to see.
Our final destination in Guatemala was the town of Quetzaltenango, the second largest town in the country. However we didn’t come here to see the town rather use it as a launch point for a two day trek up the dormant Tajamulco Volcano, which at 4,220m is the highest peak in Central America. Following an early start myself, Babs and Marco our guide set off on the up hill trek to the base camp, this took around 3-4 hours and was probably physically the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! We have done a lot of walks and treks since traveling however this was constant steep incline as well as carrying my large backpack full of supplies for the two days and the very high altitude made the climb extremely difficult. So once we reached the camping area I was very relieved and we just missed the rain too. The following day we had an even earlier start (4.45am!) in order to finish off the final ascent to the summit in time to see the sun come up and it really was worth it. The view was spectacular, particuarly as the clouds had cleared and you could see well over the border into Mexico as well as most of Southern Guatemala; on top of this was the simple satisfaction of over coming this mountain. Following a 2 hour dissent we were ready to collapse for the day, having trekked over 30km up and down the mountain. This was one of the best things I have done since traveling and without a doubt the feeling at the top was the most satisfying and will stay with me for a long time.
A quiet evening followed as we made plans to leave Guatemala and head into Honduras. This involves a one night stay back in Antigua, not a bad thing after I enjoyed it so much the first time, although it did mean a long journey by "the chicken bus." The chicken buses are Guatemala’s local buses, basically they are old school buses from the US which are very dodgy on the inside but pimped out with lots of colours on the outside. They are always packed with at least 3 if not 4 people to a seat and a hectic crazy experience. Hundreds of these run all over the windy narrow mountainous roads and are a scary experience as the drivers go full pelt around blind corners! What makes it worse is there’s nearly always a crash in the papers showing over turned buses, not reassuring at all. Thankfully we survived the journey and are ready to move on. Guatemala has been another great country to see and certainly covered a lot of ground. The people here have been fantastic always willing to help and be patient with my broken phrasebook Spanish, as well as some of the most amazing sights, and of course the highest peak in Central America!
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Babs' mum
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Top of the World
James well done you 2 - what a fantastic achievement I wonder if you would ever have gone if you knew what trekking you would have to do. Sounds great meeting with the locals and you have obvously been great ambassadors for the UK. well done!