Lago de Atitlán and Volcán Pacaya

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I'm now in Antigua, Guatemala, where I plan to stay for a couple of weeks or so as I'm taking some Spanish lessons. I had my first one yesterday, and absolutely loved it. In about an hour or so, I move in with a Guate family and will stay with them for the next couple of weeks, which is all very exciting!

Guatemala is absolutely brilliant. There are vistas everywhere you look; even in the cities the views are awesome. Antigua is surrounded by 3 volcanoes which tower over the town, makes it very atmospheric!

My first stop in Guatemala was the town of Panajachel by Lago de Atitlán, a lake that Aldous Huxley once described as "one of the most beautiful lakes in the world" (thank you guide book). And I can only agree, it is absolutely breathaking! Sunk in a crater between moutains and volcanoes, it really is a sight to behold! Photos barely do it justice (but I've not yet found an internet cafe in Antigua that'll let me plug my memory card in, so photos may have to wait for a while, sorry).

I only spent two nights in Pana as there's not really very much to do there besides the lake; if anything, it was pretty touristy, more so even than the last few places in Mexico, as I think all the Americans come here cos it's cheap. I went on a boat tour of the lake, and stopped off at some of the tiny little villages around it.

From Pana I've come here to Antigua, and a couple of days ago I climbed a volcano! It was easily one of the most incredible things I've ever done! Our guide (a mixture of Manuel from Fawlty Towers and Dr Nick from the Simpsons) led us to 300m from the summit, where we were right next to molten lava, and where the ground was so hot we had to keep moving lest our shoes started to melt! I have some stunning photos that'll make you all jealous.

Not really much planned now for a while, as I'll be concentrating on my espanol, but I'll try and get some photos up asap. Adios!

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Photos

The Town of Antigua
With Volcan Agua in the background

Comments

[dad]

apenas consigue mejor y mejor por el sonido de ella! Palacio para la venta en el Financial Times de hoy! Señor nos ayude ...