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Published: January 27th 2008
Our flight touched down in Guatemala City around 9pm and seemed like the last flight of the day as the airport was empty....and not really finished yet! There were people painting one of the corridors and the toilets had no lights or water....first time I´ve had to use my head torch in an airport toilet! The baggage carousel was also not working so the airport staff were bringing the bags out through a hole in the wall and just dumping them in a heap. Still, both our bags turned up and we scoured around as we went through arrivals for a card with our names on. No card, but we did spot the minibus for the hotel we had booked. There were a couple of guys throwing luggage into a large minibus so we just handed ours over only to realise that we had got ourselves mixed up with a group of around 50 Americans who were on some kind of church run trip. We managed to explain that we were not with them but were staying at the same hotel - it was too late to dig our bags out but the guy in charge put us in a taxi
to the hotel so that we didn´t have to wait for the big group to sort itself out. The room in the hotel was lovely - huge and a lovely bathroom (Hugh made use of the whirlpool bath despite it being late) but then it should have been for the price. We´d splashed out on a place close to the airport as we were arriving late and wanted to be sure we would be met at the airport. I even used room service as I was starving but by the next morning they had lost the details so I didn't have to pay for it!
The following day we managed to get up late enough to miss the large American group and after breakfast went in search of cash as none of the machines had been working in the airport. After a couple of attempts we managed to get enough to last us a couple of days and then set off in search of malaria tablets. We had intended to buy these in San Francisco but had discovered that it required a prescription there (in the UK they're just over the counter) which would cost us a fortune in
doctor's fees. And then the tablets were about 10 times the price they are at home so we had taken an informed gamble on finding them once we arrived. We knew we were not going to be in a malaria area for a few weeks so had time on our side. Luckily we managed to find 2 pharmacies stocking them which between them had enough for our requirements. So a successful first morning in Guatemala!
After lunch we were picked up in a minibus for our trip to Antigua which is about an hour away. Unfortunately we were somewhat delayed as we had to wait for another passenger who was having an argument about her bill with her hotel but eventually we got away and arrived into Antigua with no problems.
The bus dropped us at the hotel we had booked but they told us that they had actually reserved a room in a sister hotel two blocks away. We were not too pleased as we had picked that one following reviews on line but they were full so we had no option but to take the other one. The room was on the ground floor with the
window out to a corridor so not much natural light and the beds felt a little damp. We asked if they had anything higher up with more light and arranged to change for the following two nights.
So, Antigua was once the capital of Guatemala but I am guessing is unlike any other place in the country. It is a beautiful small town filled with brightly coloured single storey colonial houses on cobbled streets surrounded by volcanoes. For this reason it is obviously a big tourist centre and has many language schools so there are lots of foreigners but, to our surprise, even in many of the restaurants and hotels they don't speak English. We have been recovering our long forgotten Spanish fast, mostly with success!
The first day was spent finding our way around, getting more money (it's a little more expensive here than we expected, though we hope that is because it is such a touristy place and that it might not be so bad elsewhere), sorting a trip up a volcano and getting washing done.
We were up early the second morning to visit Pacaya, a grumbling volcano about 25km away. There were 11
of us on the trip so a slightly squashed minibus journey gave us our first real views of Guatemalan countryside. The road to the start of the walk was very bumpy and windy and I was glad to finally get out into the fresh air (Hugh had managed to get the front seat for his long legs!). Pacaya last properly erupted in 2005 but still has molten lava running down its sides in various parts and rivers of slowly solidifying lava in many areas. It was quite a steep hike up to over 2000m (though still about 400m from the top) and then the guides took us scrambling across the lava. This was sharp and crumbly in parts, and very hot in some areas.
We trekked across the new lava for some time while it seemed to get hotter and hotter. Suddenly to one side some rock fell away to show molten red lava very slowly moving down the hill towards us. Just beyond that was what can only be described as a river of glowing lava flowing slowly down the hill in front of us. See Hugh's videos to see what it was like - fantastic but a
little scary that close up.
(H: The videos are still in Beta testing on the TravelBlog site, and it's the first time I've tried using it, so let us know how you get on with viewing them.
Lava Flow A is of a lava flow from a few feet away
Lava Flow B is of a different lava flow in close-up
They're low resolution so they should download reasonably fast, if I can find a computer with enough memory I might try make some higher reolution ones (can't complain too much about the computers here - the internet access is reasonably quick and it's only 20p an hour (in San Francisco it was £4.50!)))
At one point one of the guides put his bag down on a rock to take a picture for us and a strap slipped down a gap in the rocks. Suddenly there was a smell of burning and he grabbed his bag to discover that the strap had completely burnt through and he had melted the front of his pack. We (at least I!) retreated rather quickly to a slightly cooler area where we cooked marshmellows on sticks over white hot gaps in the
solidified lava - quite surreal! All the time we were there the views of the volcano we were on and the others nearby were fantastic. Fuego is still pretty active and there was lots of steam coming out of it.
Back on harder ground we stopped for an excellent lunch with our first Guatemalan avocadoes then trekked back down the volcano and jumped in the van for the trip back. Part of the main road had a diversion due to parts that had been washed away during the wet season so we had to go on a very small road through a village. This hadn´t been a problem in the morning but the traffic was much worse and it was very difficult for two vehicles of any size to pass each other so the large truck in front was clearly a problem! Our first, and I´m sure not only, experience of Guatemalan traffic jams.
The following day in Antigua we took in some of the sights (after moving to a different hotel cos ours was full). The city was badly damaged by a large earthquake in 1773 and is still full of the remains of churches and other
buildings that have never been rebuilt. We visited one that was a convent and still has the ruins of a circular building containing cells around the edge which the nuns lived in and a very beautiful cloister. Looking at the gardens just outside the cells and the views from the walkway above the cloister I´m not sure that the nuns were onto such a bad thing!
From there we visited Santo Domingo, once a major church but the ruins now form part of the grounds of a fancy colonial style hotel. The ruins are even more atmospheric as a result of the tastefully designed gardens planted between the walls. There´s a creepy crypt still containing bones and some of the buildings now contain small museums of various kinds, the most interesting being the pre-columbian art which was cleverly compared with modern glass pieces - an interesting modern take on ancient cultures.
We had a bit of a nose around some of the public areas of the hotel too and wondered at the cost but Hugh would not let me ask.....maybe next time!
We finished the day off with cocktails at a roof top bar on the edge
of town with views over the 3 volcanoes - a beautiful way to end a lovely day.
Our last full day in Antigua Hugh took off on a bike again:
H:
My bike trip was with the same company as our Pacaya volcano trip 2 days before, and my guide was Wilber, one of our two guides on that trip. I started this trip in a much better frame of mind - I'd just heard that my mum was out of hospital. We'd only heard she was in hospital just before the volcano trip, even though she'd already been there over a week - the folks at home didn't want to worry us...
My bike for the trip wasn't quite as good as my trip in Laos, but it did have the advantage of being big enough for me! We started with a short ride to the edge of town where we caught a pickup truck to a nearby village. From there we cycled off road on single tracks to the Mayan village of San Andreas Itzapa. On the way we saw the remains of the corn and black bean crops, and the growing of coffee, broccoli,
lettuce and asparagus; plus avocado trees (apparently the rest of Guatemala call people from Antigua 'green bellies' because of the all year round availability of avocado).
The ride was labelled an intermediate one, which was in parts a little challenging, there were a couple of steep bits both up and downhill which I had to complete on foot, and I didn't even contemplate crossing the river (neither did my guide). I found it hard enough on some of the deep tracks on the flat - if I didn't stay exactly in the middle of the track then my pedals would catch on the sides and send me off balance.
In San Andreas Itzapa I visited a Mayan temple which was very different. The temple was for San Simon and people lit a candle and then went up some steps to an image of him and washed out bad spirits by brushing herbs over the body. It's also common for people to sit outside smoking huge cigars, perform sacrifices (e.g. chickens) and light firecrackers - fortunately there weren't any sacrifices while I was there.
We then cycled back to the village we started from and then continued on
back to Antigua. At this point I was very glad that the ride in the pickup had been largely uphill which meant the ride back was a relative breeze. I was still pretty tired at the end even though the ride had only lasted about 4 hours.
Back to S:
I had considered catching a bus to a small local town but could not drag myself out of bed (despite the fact that this was one of the most uncomfortable beds I´ve slept in so far). We had been kept awake by a variety of noises during the night including a bar across the road, some kind of water pump, the guy upstairs snoring and the cockerels so I was badly in need of sleep. Instead I had a leisurely breakfast and did a few chores, washing etc.
As you can see above, Hugh was pretty tired on his return but after lunch we squeezed in a couple more atmospheric ruins before having a lovely dinner in a little restaurant close by. Luckily the bar was quiet for our second night in that hotel and the snorer seemed to have gone so with only the water pump
and the cockerels it was a much better night!
Hugh had discovered a bit of bad news when he´d logged on in the afternoon, though, as it turns out that our bank are changing their security methods and reissuing all debit cards. Without going into long boring details this ranges from annoying and frustrating to possibly disastrous as it is not clear when they will be sent out and whether we can get them sent to Guatemala which is the only place we know we will stay for a while at the moment. Unfortunately the cheap phone place was closed first thing the next morning so we went on our planned police accompanied trip to the Cerro de la Cruz - a cross up on a hill to the north of the city which gives excellent views of the city and volcanoes. The tourist police now take groups up in the morning and afternoon as there have been many robberies from tourists up there. Sadly we had picked the worst weather day we had seen so far and the clouds sat firmly on the flanks of all the volcanoes - we even had a few spots of rain. Still,
the views were very good and we may go back another day.
Back in town Hugh got through to the bank but the department we needed had finished for the day.....yes, you can feel a saga coming on can´t you. Not sure if I mentioned this before but my bank have already done this to me, reissuing my debit card without any warning only 2 weeks after we left the UK despite the fact I had explained to them that I was going away for a year. That was a back up arrangement but now we have the prospect of not being able to get any of our joint money......sometimes I think it´d be better under the mattress!
Anyway, we had a shuttle bus booked for a trip to Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela) that afternoon where we are to spend at least 4 weeks learning Spanish and doing some voluntary work but more of that next time.....
So come on, tell us all about your holiday plans, new year resolutions etc....we want to know what you´re all up to too (though if the holidays involve ski-ing just send the email to me rather than Hugh - he doesn´t want to know any more about the excellent snow conditions!)
Hope you´re all fit and well. Lots of love.
S + H
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Alice
non-member comment
no resolutions but some talk of snow
Hi guys, enjoying your blogs although it means that Gabby no longer plans to do her paper journal next time we go away! Can you do a TravelBlog for a weekend in the Isle of Wight?? No NY resolutions (too busy to drop any vices!) but our 1st ski trip since I don't care to remember planned for March. We are meeting up with Andrea (did you know A? next door neighbour at The Chine) and her 3 older children (It husband staying at home in Como with their toddler) up in the Dolomites. (Stop reading Hugh)... Snow is good at the moment, but not going until Easter, so hoping it will last.... (OK... no more snow talk). Take care..... Alice xx