http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Guatemala , Western Highlands en-us Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:55:15 +0000 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:55:15 +0000 Note...definitely scroll to the bottom for some amazing photosOn Day 3 Wednesday I explored more of Antigua with the two English and Denver guys from the hostel. They were a fun group to hang out with and we visited a museum and a few ruins. I was going to book my trip to hike Volcano Acatenango but unfortunately they changed the schedule and would be leaving Saturday instead of Friday. I di http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/San-Pedro-La-Laguna/blog-791337.html We came to Xela officially Quetzaltenango pronounced Ketzaltenango primarily to have Spanish lessons and do some volunteer work. It39s a small town a city in the Highlands of Guatemala 2300m elevation and is reknowned for it39s language schools and temperate climate. So this was to be our home for 5 weeks and the school started at 8am. It was wierd being back at school meeting n http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-779306.html I rose at 4.30am on Viernes Santo to see the 5am Viacruces. I was almost in doubt as to whether it would happen as my leaflet of cultural events has proved ridiculously unreliable but as I advanced towards the Parque Central gradually more and more people appeared. When this was just one person walking behind me in the dark it was slightly disconcerting but by the time I reached the Iglesia th http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-778647.html Easter or Semana Santa is no small thing here and this week has been a lively one. After various events for Cuarismo Lent the Semana Santa celebrations began last Thursday with a small children39s parade which I saw in passing in the Parque Central. Things got more lively on Thursday with the Huelga de Dolores. This 115yearold event is organised by the politically minded students at San http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-778646.html One of the activities at my Spanish scool El Mundo en Espaol is chocolate making in the traditional Guatemalan style run by Cyndi who has her own small chocolate company. But Guatemalan chocolate is very different to what you buy in bars in England and has only two ingredients. So here39s how to make your genuine Guatemalan chocolate1. Sort the whole cocoa beans by size and toast them on http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-778595.html Having been in Quetzaltenango over three weeks without managing to get to a museum I eventually spared an afternoon to pay a visit to the Casa de la Cultura which sits at one end of the Parque Central. This now ranks amongst my Bizarrest Museum Experiences Ever Right up there with the Lake District Pencil Museum. The first room I entered featured details on industrial uses of various chemical e http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-778593.html On Saturday I walked up Quetzaltenango39s little mountain Bal with Cindy from the language school. While it39s unwise to climb Bal alone particularly in the afternoons in the mornings it39s a very popular walk for city dwellers. The path up passes under fragrant eucalyptus and pine trees tranquil except for the subdued noise of traffic from the city below. From the wooded top y http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-776428.html After a week in Xela I decided that I needed to do something a little different for the weekend before starting Spanish classes. And where better to begin my Guatemalan travels than Lago de Atitlan which everybody here has been raving about since I arrived I got up early and caught the microbus to Minerva terminal where various helpful drivers directed me to the bus to Panajachel. It was a for http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-775678.html Blog 8 Adios Atitln We are approaching the end of our idyll here on the world39s most beautiful lake. We have a thick vine of orchid flowers on our terrace and every evening tiny hummingbirds come to feast on the nectar just as night is falling. All day long we hear exotic bird calls and sometimes we spot the birds they belong to. And there is always the deep blue Lake Atitln in the b http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-774989.html Yesterday was an exciting day. Yesterday I was reunited with my bag. Guatemala City airport sent it swaddled in cling film covered in a variety of red stickers directly to the door of my room.The important thing about my bag arriving was of course that it was full of lots of lovely donations for the Nuevos Horizontes shelter. And as yesterday was my first visit I think that39s perfect timi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-774601.html On Sunday March 3 we hired lvaro son of the owner of Hotel Bamb and went off with two other gringos Robert and Carol from Washington state to explore the village of Santiago Atitln. lvaro speaks excellent English but has never been to the US. He is well educated and will probably inherit Hotel Bamb some day and ruin it by good management. Santiago Atitln is about a mile down a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-774435.html We left our wonderful 55 per night hotel in Antigua Posada La Merced and came by van with several other turistas to the town of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. It was a pretty nice drive through little Guatemalan towns that almost crowded onto the road interspersed with long stretches of the verdant Guatemalan countryside. We rose fairly steadily at first into the Western Highlands a winding hi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-774198.html Directly up 15a Avenida from the Hostal and not at all in the place given by Rough Guide La Dispensa Familiar sits hidden behind the busy market of La Democracia. Since I gather Steve is interested I thought Id give a little description. There are two guards and a row of lockers just inside the wide door but inside things are much like a normal small supermarket except a lot dirtier and mo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-774169.html Having now spent a full day getting thoroughly lost in Quetzaltenango I feel I am qualified to call it Xela and write opinions of it. In St Petersburg the guide book said that all locals affectionately called the city Peter but I got the feeling that calling it that as a visitor would be looked on a lot like being introduced to the Queen and calling her Lizzy. Not so with Xela. Xela comes from http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-774164.html Left Hotel Dos Lunas at 6am to catch the bus to Quetzaltenango. In the Guide this is marked as leaving town at 6am in the leaflet for Linea Dorado it says it leaves at 8am but it actually left at 7am which I will take as a warning to call the bus station before any long distance journey. Victor the driver from Hotel Dos Lunas took me to the bus station via McDonalds which is the breakfast pr http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Quetzaltenango/blog-774141.html After 4 nights in Player El Tunco we headed up to Guatemala. The beach was beautiful and we had a great time relaxing and catching up with other people we met in San Juan Dur Sel. Scott got a haircut we swam in the ocean each day enjoying the sun and ate great food each nightGuatemala has a population of 13.1 million famous for maya sights and the budget was around 20 USD a day. After a 7 hour http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-774012.html 39Paradise39 is such a fleeting concept no Five days ago we arrived in San Pedro and considered never leaving. Tomorrow morning we leave at sunrise. A lot can happen in five days I39ll try to recount the highlights and explain our change of heart.Let39s start with the positives we39ve had a great time in San Pedro met a couple interesting folk and enjoyed our beautiful apar http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/San-Pedro-La-Laguna/blog-768035.html Not to start off this blog post bragging but with 20ish countries under our belt Sara and I might be getting a hang of this traveling thing. Within 24 hours in Guatemala we39d made it to our destination a sweet hippieinfested town called San Pedro la Laguna on the beautiful Lake Atitlan signed Sara up for her first week of spanish classes and secured ourselves an amazing apartment wi http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/San-Pedro-La-Laguna/blog-766966.html Minor update. We have just survived a 400m and 150m zipline between two rather large mountains. We all loved it apart from Carey who cried and wet herself a little. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-764621.html So we have done so much in such a short time that I can only list the key points.Between Flores and Antigua we stayed in the jungle for a few days at a place called Lanquin.We did not have internet and electricty and water were intermittent.We went to a place called Semuc Champey which is a natural limestone bridge which has caused a serious of natural infinity pools stepping down in the mountains http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Guatemala/Western-Highlands/Lago-de-Atitlan/blog-764528.html