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Published: October 8th 2007
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hi all, well i have been a busy boy.
I Took a night bus down to antigua in southern guatemala via guatemala city. my yank/oz pals went up to balize so we parted. Antigua is surrounded by 2 massive volcanos and is a really pretty place, more touristy than anywhere ive been so far tho due to lots of spanish schools. I got some 1 on 1 spanish lessons for £2.50 an hour with free drinks. This used to be the centre for the spanish in the 16th century for all the americas.
stayed at the wonderful negro gato - again a funky little place with top food. this place was from word of mouth too and not in any book.
police have massive shotguns and the town is quiet but bussly with lots of art and craft boutiques. If you go on your own out of the town or to a nearby village, theres a chance of getting shot or at least robbed but its all good in town - lots of nice cafes and a good scene.
Met some people from England who came here passing through a few years ago and stayed here, and are
now working for NGO's (non government agencies) doing projects to help the local people.
The view down every road of the massive volcano is awesome. this baby is due to erupt this decade and was rumbling the other week. The sunset behind two other volcanos from my friends roof terrace is amazing.
Bumped into my USA mate Brent who i met in flores in the street in Antigua, we hit the volcano pucaya together. We rented walking sticks of local kids for 50p. There was about 10 of us hiking up and it was very steep and hard - about 5km. Once at the top of the woods we saw the volcano and others in the distance. We where above the clouds and the view was amazing. We climbed onto the brittle volcanic rock to get to the lava, it was so dangerous - the guide was laughing and said we could do what we wanted. The streams of lava kept changing direction and you had to jump across brittle rock that would cave in below you. My leg fell thro some and i did my knee in a bit, my foot was inches from lava. It was
crazy. you could also hear the volcano rumbling.
It got dark and the lava got brighter, and when we hiked down a thunder storm came. So i was hiking down a steep wood for 4km in the pissing rain pitch black with italian tennis shoes and a man bag - none too appropriate. Brent is ace, he hates america so much he might not even go back "thats one scarey country" he keeps saying.
On the way back our van had no electrics, lights, wipers or side windows - we where on a main road and massive trucks where overtaking, a friend was taking photos of the driver driving with his head out of the window to see. Finally and luckily it broke down and 4 of us hailed a taxi - saved!! err no, the taxi driver got lost and he nearly broke down too - We had a laugh tho and it was all very funny.
I have just moved on to san marcos which is a small town on lago atitlan 100k away. This lake is said to be the most beautiful in the world and has been written about lots, there are 5 or
6 towns around the lake which are all different. After a scary high up van trip we got a boat to san marcos from Pana. The lake is 5000ft above sea level and surrounded by volcanos - the air is as fresh as you like and the views are breathtaking.
There are no roads in san marcos and you need a flashlight to get around after dark. This town is quite a holistic centre with lots of yoga, massage, metaphysics and rieki places all dotted around the tropical wood. All of this is a tenth of the price you would pay in the UK. There are old ladies selling homemade bread and fresh fruit and veg. The whole place is full off coffee, banana and bird of paradise plants. I saw a snake and had a spider crawl over my foot. First week in mexico i was like ahh a bug, now i am like "oh another bug so what".
I will take some photos of san marcos over the coming week or so and put them up.
hope you are all well, and dont forget the clocks go back soon in the UK (snigger snigger).
ps
my orange sim has not worked for a few weeks - orange say they cant help.
you can text me on 661192842 (spanish sim, you may need spanish code?)
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