Day 5 - Chichicastenango

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So last night I ended up heading out into the rain again. I met a girl named Kelly in my hostel room whose been travelling around Central and South America for a year. She loves salsa almost as much as I do so we went on a journey to find a salsa club in Antigua. Doesn't exist. We ended up finding a lot of reggaeton which made me think of/miss Walt.

It was a good night though. Before the salsa hunt, Kelly (from Pensylvania) and I went out with another one of the girls from our hostel (from Kansas) for some cheap drinks. It was about 30 cents for a rum and coke. Special Fridays.

This morning I caught a shuttle bus from Antigua to Panajachel, on Lago de Atitlan. It was about a 2.5 hour bus ride through the winding mountains. I thought the trip to Tegus was winding??? OH WOW. I don't get car sick but felt queezy the whole time.

Once in Panajachel, I found a travel agency and booked a bus ticket to Chichicastenango (chichi for short), got some food, and wandered around the little shops. I didn't buy anything though as I'm saving up for the market tomorrow!

Caught the bus to Chichi. What a BEAUTIFUL view on the way there! We came into Panajachel some backwards way (according to a guy from the States who has been here about 6 times) so we didn't see the beauty that is the lake on the way to it. Words just can't describe it... surrounded by volcanoes, and mountains. Huge and just... beautiful. Haven't got any pics yet but hoping on the way back down to Panajachel tomorrow, or while I'm at the hotel on the lake the next couple nights.

Got to Chichi and found a decent hotel where I have my own room and bathroom for about $10. Place called Hotel Giron. Tried to have a nap once I got there (totally tired from late night out and early morning bus) but it was thundering so I figured I'd better get out and see what I wanted to and take pics before it rained.

Note to other travellers: Chichi is boring. There is a cemetary that is super colourful and really worth the visit for some cool pics but that's about it. I'm mostly just here for the market though, and that's gonna be awesome tomorrow. You can't even see ¨Central Park¨ because there are stands everywhere. People setting up and such.

Definitely gonna be interesting. I'm going to have to work on my bargining skills. Had some of the cutest kids come up to me today and ask me to buy things from them. I almost want to buy the useless trinkets just because they are so young and so cute. Had a conversation with a couple of the little guys. One was 7 years old and just said ¨yes¨ every time I said ¨no.¨ Another asked me if I was my first time in Chichi, then welcomed me when I said it was. Breaks my heart to see such young children spending their time on the streets begging in order to feed their families. Why aren't they in school? Is this how they will spend the rest of their lives?

Ate a good dinner (homemade pizza) in a little restaurant on the corner near my hotel. Gonna try to call Walter from another internet cafe that actually does calls to Honduras (first I've found in Guatemala) and then head to bed. I'm sleepy, plus I plan to rise early to catch all the craziness of the market early and look around while it's not busy. I'll save my purchasing for the end of the day though when the deals are better 😉

Buenos Noche!

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