Antigua & Volcan Pacaya

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I woke up with the sun this morning. Surprise surprise. I decided to go out & take some photos of the streets of Antigua while everyone was still in bed, I hoped! Geoff decided to stay in bed. Another surprise. 😉 I'm so glad I did though. The streets were relatively empty & the sun was just coming up over the mountains. It was stunning. The only people out were locals heading to work & a few other tourists with the same idea as me. I snapped a bunch of photos, all the while keeping my guard up. It seems like everyone takes a gander at your purse or bag. Or maybe I'm being overly paranoid. Tough to tell. It was nice to be out before all the cars/buses/tuk tuks/motorcycles/ & people were out ruining the air.

Back to the hostel & I got Geoff out of bed. We had some fresh fruit & cereal for breakfast. I love the pineapple here. It's soooo sweet. Yum. We headed out & walked around town for awhile in search of some groceries so we can use our kitchen. In these touristy towns the layout tends to keep the tourists in one area & everyone else in another so you usually have to walk a bit to get away from the tourist zone. We found the market & walked around for awhile. The Mayan women carry huge baskets of fruit & veggies & who knows what else on their heads. It's impressive. Usually with a baby strapped to their back too. The market was kinda small but typical of the area. Lot's of trinkets & then everything you could need. It's like one stop shopping but outside. There were guys walking around with handfuls of blenders, a guy wearing a sandwich board that had all kinds of remote controls, a guy with a long pole full of little kids backpacks. Kind of like a flea market I guess but things are generally brand new. We eventually found a huge grocery store. Jackpot! We purchased some ham, cheese, chips, eggs, tortillas, pretty much the usual for us. Oh & rum, of course. One interesting tidbit we've noticed is that beer is typically cheaper or equal to the price you can find it in stores. It's like there's a general price for beer & everyone charges that. Which is nice actually. While paying for our groceries we saw a dog barking from the rooftops. So many dogs hang out on rooftops in this part of the world. It's so funny.

We headed home to rest up before our big volcano hiking adventure this afternoon. Of course we had to stop & get a snack first. I had the best cup of coffee since Punta Allen at this cute little cafe where they use locally grown coffee, according to the owner. Geoff had the most delicious french toast with bananas. The bananas are sooo good here too. It's amazing the difference in taste when the fruit is fresh from the region it is grown in.

Back to the hostel where we changed rooms, thank god. The shared bathroom deal was getting a little scary. At one point I had to use the bathroom & it almost became another emergent situation (like Caye Caulker) because they only have 3 bathrooms for about 40 people (I'm guessing, but that's what it felt like in that moment). Everything was ok though, whew. But shared bathrooms, when not well cared for are some of the scariest places to visit. So, we upgraded & paid another $6 for the night to have the use of our own bathroom. It smelled like bleach when we walked in the room! That always brings a big ol' smile to my face. I just want to stand there & enjoy the smell of bleach as long as I can (until the exhaust smell takes over, or cigarettes because EVERYONE smokes). In the comfort of our new room still near the bar, but who cares we have a bathroom!, we rested for a bit. A little reading, typing, the usual. Geoff's finished about 8 books. I'm lagging behind amazingly but that's because I spend so much of my free time typing. I think I've finished 6 or 7 books.

We made some tuna sandwiches to go, packed our mini-backpack (aka the Joey because when we travel Geoff carries it on his belly) & headed to wait for our bus to Volcan Pacaya.

I have to digress for a moment. Geoff's been reading my journals lately before I post them because I'm having a consistently difficult time with the English language lately. I think it's because I do so much translating from Spanish to English & English to Spanish & I've found it's getting tough to find the words I need. Sometimes I can't think of the most basic words. My mind will just go blank. The language center of my brain is definitely working overtime these days but my Spanish is improving all the time which is fun & makes me happy. I enjoy speaking it so much. We've met a ton of people traveling who don't speak a word of Spanish, so I've found myself helping people with translation a lot. Good practice though!

So we got picked up by another mini-van & headed to the volcano. We were on a bus full of Brits, Aussies, & a Canadian. The usual mix it seems. The drive was long & bumpy, as usual. We drove through the outskirts of Guatemala City to get to the volcano. We sat in some crazy traffic because of a funeral procession walking down this main street we were on. The funeral procession had about 100 people following the casket, which was being carried down the road by 5 or 6 men. They were walking & playing horns, tubas, guitars. It was quite beautiful. As per usual our shuttle driver ignored all rules of the road & would get into the other lane whenever he wanted & pass everyone. The only rule of the road that I consistently see in use is: the bigger car/truck/bus has the right of way because they will not stop & will win the draw if an accident occurs. It's a little scary always when you are in the smaller vehicle. All these guys who drive for a living are a little nuts.

But, we made it to the volcano in one piece. We met up with our guide in the little town at the base of the volcano. There were little kids surrounding us selling us sticks for the walk up. They were funny because when you'd say no thanks, they'd say "oh it's so dangerous, you could fall, you need a stick!" Then the second one of them walked away another would take his spot & tell you the same thing all over again. Once we were all together we began our hike up. It was literally straight uphill. The guide only spoke Spanish & most of the group only spoke English, so I was translating for everyone. It was kind of fun & a bit of work at the same time. The town has a geothermal plant that uses the heat from the volcano to create power for 14 villages around there. Pretty cool. So we walked from 1900 meters to 2500 meters. It was work for sure. It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the top. One girl got pretty lightheaded & looked faint so I had to kick it into nurse gear too. We had to sit with her for a bit & one of the villagers brought up a horse for her to make it the rest of the way (she had to pay of course!). The top of the hike was amazing. The volcano loomed above us, right in front of us & you could see the steam spewing out of it at the top. It was a beautiful wasteland. It's erupted twice in the last 10 years & it looked like the surface of mars all around it for miles. The dried lava rock was soooo sharp & it was just a black scary looking mountain. The guide told us there are 37 volcanos in Guatemala & 3 of them are active, including the one we were standing just below. We walked a little further up the volcano & passed vents where steam was escaping. The vents were ridiculously hot. One guy burned his leg hair off just getting too close to one of them. We walked into a little cave that was near a vent & it was so hot in there you started sweating immediately. Our guide called it a natural sauna. No joke. This French guy brought marshmallows with him & we roasted them in a huge vent. The marshmallows would catch on fire in about 3 seconds of being exposed to the vent. It was super hot. The French guy also had me hold his camera for him while videoing him running through the shot. It cracked me up. He said he's getting these short videos of himself running everywhere he goes & then he's going to make a movie with them all together. He's going all over the world. This girl from Britain, Susan, brought tortillas with her to heat up on the rocks. She put a one in this little hole on a rock & heated up marshmallows on top of it. It actually cooked it & melted the marshmallows. We named it the Susan Quesadilla & each had a bite. It was pretty tasty.
We watched the sun set, which was incredible. The clouds were hovering on the horizon & it was beautiful. It looked like we were standing on a different planet. The moon came out on the horizon. The clouds cleared over another volcano near us. It was spectacular. We headed back down & were reminded of how steep it was. We were all practically, & at times literally, sliding down the hill with the little fine black rocks moving under our feet. It was like little avalanches with every step. It was kind of fun except when you would slip & fall because the rocks were a bit sharp. It got dark pretty quick & we busted out the headlamp to get us down the rest of the way. Guatemala City was all lit up & looked pretty at night from up there.

We tried a red Fanta at the bottom. Yuck. It tasted so funky I can't even describe it. It just tasted red & icky. Lesson learned, stick with orange. Back in the van & back to Antigua. It was a much quicker drive home. We passed one procession of people carrying & Virgin Mary on a stand. The townspeople were standing outside their doors waiting for the Virgin to walk by. We zoomed by them in the other lane of course.

Back at the hostel in the luxurious comfort of our room with a bathroom we had to shower. The dust from the rocks & the hike was all over us. I'm not sure my socks or shoes will ever be the same. We were beat. No music blaring tonight. Yippee! Off to sleep.

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Photos

Not all of us
are up with the birds.

Best French Toast
and Coffee in Antigua!

No need
for a shopping cart.

Turns out German Sheppards love
rooftops in Central America.

Totally winded
but so far so good.

Volcan Pacaya
from the below the main lava flow.

Sunset
from the top of the world.