Advertisement
15th MAY 2009 - A DAY FOR FILMS AND SLEEPING!!
We got off the bus driven by Colin Mcray at around 6am after arriving in Guatemala City. Despite it being the capital city, we had been advised that it was very dangerous and not to stay there. We therefore jumped straight on another bus with the 2 girls from last night and 4 folk from Israel (who were in their pajamas) and headed to Antigua. All the roads were cobbled and it was a pretty bumpy ride. Only on it for an hour though before arriving in Antigua. It was raining pretty heavily which was a shame as it is never nice to arrive somewhere new when its raining. Can taint your first impressions!! Didn't help that I was very tired either. I hoped things got better quickly!!
The bus dropped us all off at 'Jungle Party' hostel which has been recommended to us. It was only just after 7am however and they would not let us in. It's strange out here as all the hostels and shops have bars on the front and are all locked up especially at night. Really creates a feeling that there is a potential
danger or threat....quite unnerving! As it was daylight though it wasn't too bad and whilst the Isralies decided to go to find a cafe for breakfast in their pajamas, Nat, I and the other 2 girls decided to try and find another hostel. The Black Cat had also been mentioned previously as being a good hostel and didn't look too far away on the map so we walked there. Again it was all locked up but after ringing the bell a little man came to poke his head through the bars. Luckily one of the girls we were with spoke Spanish and asked if they had space. After looking in his book he said we could come in and wait until reception opened at 8am. Good to get out of the rain and chill out. All I wanted was a bed but I settled for a chair as it was my only option.
8am arrived and we went to reception. She advised that they did not have any beds right then but that there should be some available at 11am after check out time. She put our names down as first on the list and told us we could
use the facilities whilst we waited. It seemed like a really nice place and it had a TV room which always goes down well with Nat and I. We were all starving though and so we headed out again into the nearby square to look for somewhere to eat. The rain had ceased to a drizzle now and although quiet, the square did seem nice and I got a good feeling for the place. We also found a cute bagel shop to have breakfast in where I ordered my usual fruit and yoghurt. At that moment as my food came out, my day got better!! Simple things....!!
Once eaten, I left the others back at the hostel and went around the other corner to phone home. I spoke to mum and dad who both asked if I had enjoyed my birthday and said they were looking forward to me coming home. I will give it 2 weeks before they are fed up of me again!!! It was nice chatting to them as I hadn't spoken to them in a while and we had a lot to catch up on. BT was right...it really is good to talk!
Back
at the hostel, I joined the others who were watching a film (21). I would have put money upon finding Nat in the TV room. It was a good film too and just nice to relax and switch my brain off....been in overdrive of late!! Once the film had finihsed, I was even more tired than before as was Nat. We were finally given beds by reception and that was where we spent the next few hours. The room was dark and smelt a bit musty but it didn't affect my abilty to sleep! Felt so good and we slept right through until 2.30pm.
I felt better for the afternoon nap (2nd nature to me) however Nat...not so much...she felt worse. We decided not to do much with the rest of our day as we would have time to explore tomorrow. As such we went back to the movie room to watch another film. So many to choose from and we choose Bond....the newset one. I was loving it until it began jumping half way through. Really angers me that they are put back in the cupboard when the quality is that poor. So should have been binned! It eventually became unwatchable and we had to miss the end. So annoying but at least we had seen it before and knew what happened. After the film failure we headed back to the room to get our journals. No key and we were locked out. Nat took it on the chin and climbed through the window....so funny!! Once we had broken into our own room we headed back out to the internet and blogged for a while before going baclk to the hostel to have tea. Really busy hostel in the evening as there is a bar/restaurant part at the front. Loads of people gathered there but we managed to find a spot to sit down. The food was really nice too and it had a good atmosphere going on. After food, I was back to being sleepy and Nat felt the same. We decided to call it a night and head to bed. Sleep really is the best thing in the world and I was so happy to be able to close my eyes and drift into the land of nod!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.197s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 31; qc: 126; dbt: 0.1608s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb