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Published: December 6th 2007
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Volcano
At the top of the hill Back again!
I´m now on my own again in Cancun after Sarah left this morning.... but it´s all good for the moment! I left off in Panachel where we were meant to take a chicken bus back to Antigua last Saturday morning, but given a couple of the people on our tour were sick we had to take a minivan.... shame!!! So we arrived back around midday back in Antigua, fitted in some more shopping and all jumped on another bus to go hiking to the Pacaya volcano which is about an hour from Antigua. Again, this is a popular tourist route and there have been some problems, but never fear, our bus driver had his gigantic bloody gun strapped to his hip so we were of course completely safe.... We had decided to do the night trip as it´s meant to be more effective to see the lava at night so we set off for the hour long hike up to the volcano which seemed pretty much vertical over rocks and mud, combined with a lot of horse shit from all the horses on the hike for those who didn´t want to walk it. We finally made it to the
top of a hill right next to the volcano base. The view from here was absolutely amazing and you could see the molten lava pouring down from the mouth of the volcano. I personally probably would have been happy with this view, but from here we decended the hill on the other side and were able to go as far as we liked on the dried lava. The dried lava to begin with felt pretty solid, but was extremely rugged and was a similar texture to coral. Some people had sticks to tap the lava to see if it was safe to walk on, but most of us were pretty much walking blind having no idea. It was about this point that I was thinking this was perhaps not the safest thing to be doing. Our guide had told us all to stay together, but he had forged ahead with a handful to get up close and personal to the molten lava. There were people standing below where a river of molten lava was throwing off rocks and even from a distance you could see how mad it was. I got to the point where you could feel the heat
Volcano
On the way up.... and had to keep moving your feet to avoid your shoes melting. Sarah was kind enough to point out a crack in the dried lava where the molten lava ran directly underneath. That was enough for me! Did I mention that we were doing the night tour? I forgot to add that by this time it was getting dark and the fog was setting in over the volcano so you couldn´t always see it.... We headed back over the dried lava trying to make our way out without falling and practically ran over it when we heard a big boulder of dried lava crack as we passed it! Once off the lava area I made my way by torchlight back to the top of the hill where I assumed the group would wait until we were all there. I´m not sure what the plan was if someone didn´t return as the guide spoke only spanish so we actually had no idea what we were meant to be doing. But we all arrived back on the hill safe and sound, some with torches, some without and the fog completely setting in so that you couldn´t even see the molten lava. From
Volcano
On the way to the lava here we had the one hour hike back to the bus, this time in the dark going downhill over the mud and rocks. We all managed to make it back alive and in one piece, not sure how that happened to be honest! It was an amazing thing to do and see, but only in Guatemala could you do something so dangerous and without any form of safety precautions in place. But I´ve done it now and don´t feel the need to do it again..... We returned back into Antigua late saturday night and hit the town for a late dinner and a drink. Antiguan nightlife is slightly different and tends to close up early, but we found another local option which made for a highly hilarous night! The next day we put aside purely for shopping and seeing Antigua and basically wandered the streets enjoying the atmosphere. That night was our last group dinner so we all headed out for what ended up being an allnighter given most of us had very early morning flights and had to be up at 3am. It was a great night and a great way to end up the tour! After Sarah and
I said our goodbyes we headed into Guatemala city airport where we had five hours to kill before our flight which we spent asleep on the floor.... Our plan to Cancun was a little propela job, which was a bit of a worry to begin with but turned out to be fine. After more sleep on the plane we arrived in Cancun early afternoon and headed to our apartment where I am staying until Saturday. Guatemala has been an amazing place to visit, so beautiful as you can see from the photos! The safety aspect is lacking a bit, but definitely worth a visit!!!! The next chapter will be Cancun! Look out!
Hope everyone is well, will be back on again soon!!
Jack xoxoxo
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jo
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Lava
OMG!! I can't believe the adventures you are having. Good grief, I can't believe that lava story, you are braver than me, I would have turned around after stepping in horse shit!