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12/05/09
Yesterday we spent the day in Antigua, it is a beautiful colonical city surrounded by 3 volcanos. Although it is a city there are no highrise buildings and the parque central is a pretty little square with the cathedral at one end. We started by wandering around the streets looking in the various artisan shops at the handicrafts available. The woven blankets are beautiful and we were very tempted but they are expensive and we plan to have a look in the markets.
After lunch we went to the Cathedral. It has been hit by 2 earthquakes and so the main structure is in ruins with just the front section still intact and restored. It was great to look around though and the architecture and stone carvings were very impressive.
Later in the afternoon the rain came so we headed to the indoor market to have a look around. We both ended up buying a traditional woven blanket despite our plans to go to the big market in another town. The day was very relaxed and we spent a lot of time in the central park talking to the sales women and people watching. We had both been
feeling unwell for a couple of days so it did us good to have a relaxed day.
13/05/09
Today we spent the morning shopping for food, writing and sending postcards and generally sorting out our plans for the next few days. Then this afternoon we climbed Volcan Pacaya. Of the 13 vocanos in Guatemala there are 3 which are active, one of which is the Volcan Pacaya. So we were shuttling up the volcano in our tin van when the heavens opened and a huge thunderstorm came over the volcano. On one hand we were glad we were wearing our rubber soled walking boots as we were heading for the top amid the thunder and lightening, on the other hand we had been warned that the volcano rocks were very hot and a lot of people had to turn back because their shoes were melting. Thankfully though we rose above the clouds and the storm, so by the time we had to get out of the van the rain had pretty much stopped. We got out at 1800ft and spent an hour and a half walking to the bottom of the crater. The walk was tough and muddy,
and unfortunately there was no view as we were still walking though the clouds. When we came out of the forest we came to a few concrete huts which were half submerged in volcanic rock, with the clouds swirling around is it was very quiet and quite eerie. We pressed on the the bottom of the volcano and as we were approaching got our first glimpse of the lava flowing down the rock. As we got closer we were very aware of the heat and the footing became very unstable. Thankfully we had been warned so Laura and I had bought sticks at the bottom of the hill to help us climb up as you could not use your hands due to the temperature of the rocks. When we finally made it to the lava the heat was unbearable so we got as close as we could, about 2 meters away, took a couple of hurried pictures and ran away. Just standing that close was painful as the heat was burning our skin. It was pretty exciting though as the lava was still moving down the hill and every now and then a piece would break away and roll further
down. By the time we had finished looking at the lava and had taken enough pictures the lava had flowed about 4 meters downhill.
Then we took about half an hour to chill out and chat to the other people on the tour. While we were doing this our guide took our stick and some coins and threw the coins into the lava. He then pulled them out using the stick and cooled them so we have a piece of lava with a coin stuck in it to take home with us.
It started to get dark so we headed back down the volcano, the fireflies came out to guide us down but soon disappeared when when the rain came back. It was raining really hard and by this point was very dark as we slipped down the muddy forest path. It started to feel like a bush tucker trial! An hour later we were absolutely soaked to the bone but back at the van ready for the journey home. Tomorrow we will be heading for Panajachel on the Lago de Atitlan.
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Nic
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joke
Q:How many Petsin's can you get in a mini? A: 2 in the front, 2 in the back and one in the ashtray. sorry! seriously cool photos of the lava! xx