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Published: June 12th 2013
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A perfect cup of coffee To start off my trip, I took a cab at 4:30am to go to the Philadelphia airport. I was sleepy-eyed, but didn't expect my cab driver to be the same. He missed the exit to the airport, which resulted in an additional 20 minute cab ride. What should have been a $55 cab ride became $92 by the time we got back to the airport. Of course, he offered to lower the fare because of his mistake, but still wanted to charge me $75. I thought I may get swindled in Guatemala, but did not expect this to happen before I even got there! Needless to say he backed off his price hike and left me with the $55 fare. At this point I was worried I wouldn't make it to my flight in time, and I got to the gate with only 10 minutes to spare. Always an adventure, I guess. I flew to Atlanta, then a second flight on to Guatemala City, which both went smoothly.
My brother-in-law's friend, Rafael, lives in the capital city and he was nice enough to pick me up from the airport and drive me to Antigua, a beautiful colonial city just outside
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Ornate facade of Church La Merced of the capital. It's funny when even locals tell you that there's absolutely no reason to go to their capital city. Guatemala City, or "Guate" for short, is traffic-plagued and has a reputation for being very dangerous. After a nice lunch with Rafael in Antigua, I explored the town. As you can see from the photos, it is beautiful here. It's all cobblestone streets and old colonial architecture. There are plenty of decaying ruins, including several churches and monasteries. It has a laid-back vibe and is surrounded by the towering Agua Volcano. Even though it's rainy season at the moment, it's been pretty dry. Clouds can cover the peak of Agua, giving it an eerie feel.
One of the first things you notice about Antigua is the amount of gringos (foreigners) here. I mean, it is just
packed full of them. Everywhere I go I hear English being spoken, and lots of restaurants cater to local tourists. Although this is certainly a common sight in many places, to me it was quite jarring at first. Besides for some time in Cuba and Mexico, this was my first real foray into Central America. In South America there are almost no
Americans, only European tourists. Guatemala, and Antigua, is chock full of them. Although I stand out with my pale skin and red hair, I at least try to blend in a little by wearing neutral, plain clothes. Many of the Americans here will have none of that. They will still wear their Chicago Bears shirts, USA shirts, and safari hats. It honestly embarrasses me a little bit, but maybe I'm just being snooty myself.
It's easy to get lost in Antigua because there are virtually no street signs. Getting lost was a great way to explore the city, and I was able to witness all of the unique architecture. Yesterday I went on a tour of a coffee plantation (It's called Finca Filadelfia, or "Philadelphia Plantation,") which I thought was pretty cool since that's also the name of my hometown. I learned how coffee was made, which is a slow, painstaking process. They pick all of the beans by hand, and then wash it and dry it before they roast it. I was able to try some of the coffee at the end, and it was truly delicious. Strong yet balanced, it was a smooth cup. I bought a
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View of Antigua and Volcano Agua from Cerro de la Cruz, a hill near the city. bag of beans for only $7. In the US, that same bag would probably cost about 3 times that.
Last night I went out for dinner with some gringos from my hostel. They were a good group, including one medical student from Denver, where I'll be moving in a month. I talked to him a lot about Denver, and where to live. Afterwards we went to a bar run by a British guy to watch some of the NBA Finals. It was a bizarre place, and there were only gringos in there. Afterwards we went to a hopping bar that was packed with a mix of gringos and locals. Again, it felt bizarre being in a bar in the middle of Guatemala with a bunch of gringos, listening to US Top 40 music. I could do that back in the States if I wanted to. Although it's nice here, I'm looking forward to traveling on and going off the beaten path away from the swaths of tourists. There's WIFI everywhere, which is a nice touch. But here in the hostel, that means that everyone is on their smartphones a lot. I didn't bring mine, for this and other reasons,
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Cerro de la Cruz, and Volcano Agua and I'm glad to be able to take a semi-vacation from technology...I am using a computer right now, after all.
Today I met up with Rafael for breakfast and talked more with him about my travel plans. I still have 15 days left but still have lots to see and do. I'll see how much I can actually fit in. He has a house on Lago de Atitlan, a beautiful lake a few hours from here. He initially hoped to go there this weekend and said I could tag along. Unfortunately, he then realized he has a lot of work to catch up on, so it will not be possible. That's a shame, because I would have been able to see the Lake in style. For today and tomorrow I'll take it easy around Antigua, and then on Friday and Saturday I'll plan on doing a guided hike of Volcano Acatenango, which is nearby. You can see it in one of the photos. It will be an overnight hike, sleeping halfway up the cone. It's 4000 meters high (13,000 feet), so it will be quite a slog as you get closer to the top and the air becomes quite
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Volcano Acatenango, which I'll be climbing, is on the right. thin. It is supposed to offer unbeatable views of the area though, and should be quite an experience. I'll report back once I'm done with that hike. Chao!
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Folkert
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Bernie, das sind super fotos und vielen Dank für Deinen Bericht. Jan geht bald nach China. Ich werde ihn bitten das auch so zu machen. Mal sehen ob das klappt. Gruß Folkert