Antigua

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Antigua is the old capital of Guatemala. It is a pretty city around an hour away from Guatemala City with the vibe of southern Spain. It has cobbled little lanes and is surrounded by volcanoes- mainly being overlooked by volcan de Agua on the south side of the city. It is really tourist central for Guatemala but has definitely been one of my favourite cities of the trip so far.

Antigua is one of those cites that you could wonder around for weeks and still managed to find something to do. It has a lots of old , ruined churches which have not been restored and more modern churches, cathedrals and buildings, some of which have been turned into hotels and restaurants. Along with this I found the Cerro du Cruz which is a cross on top of a hill a short walk from town and gives fantastic views of Antigua. I also went to the Casa Montoblanco which contains the museums of Antigua. It was really interesting to wonder round the crypts and discover more about the history of Antigua. The following day we went to a the filidefia coffee plantations in San Felipe which is a short bus ride from Antigua. It was fascinating to find out about the actual chemistry, timing and production of coffee to get the finalised product. So much time and energy goes into getting the perfect beans and in the end of the day making fantastic coffee. (I'm going to turn so pretensius with coffee and chocolate now!)

Another great thing about Antigua was the markets , both the fruit/veg and bits and bobs market and the fabric, painting and souvenir markets. Southern Guatemala still maintains of weaving via a back strap which produces these beautiful fabrics. Antigua was covered in little and large places where you could buy all shapes and sizes for fairly cheap prices.

The final activity of Antigua was climbing the active Pacaya volcano which is an easy 90min hike up to a barren, volcanic land that reminded me of somewhere in Mara or something. You could see the lava and the heat rising off the volcano and it was a reallygood experience.



Next stop Lago de Atitlan

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