Chichicastenango

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Before I go on about Chichicastenango, I realized I forgot to explain why the local buses are called Chicken Buses. Basically anyone is allowed to bring aboard pretty much any kind of cargo which sometimes includes live chickens. You pretty much never know what to expect when you get on. I also forgot to show you a picture, this one isn´t that great, I have to take a better one, but you get the idea... Most of them are more colorful and have a woman´s name painted across the side, usually a daughter´s or wife´s. The same is for most of the comedors, restaurantes, cantinas, etc.
Anyways, So yesterday I visited the town of Chichi to walk amongst their weekly Sunday market which covers about 10 to 15 street blocks, it is so big! I thought that I would do a lot of shopping there, but I think because there are so many tourists that visit the place that they double, even triple their prices than other vendors would charge elsewhere in the country. I think it was definitely here that I seen the most foreigners I have seen during my whole trip. Bus loads of them come in from all different cities or towns in Guatemala for the day. I just ended up walking around for a few hours, took a few photos, ate some food and chicken bused it back. You get so tired from walking around markets and get sick of being pushed around and stepped on by the hundreds of people also walking about. It reminded me of being in Thailand. The markets there were always like that. After that I just spent the day here in Panajachel and did a little shopping. I really like it here in Panajachel, it´s quite cheap and Lago Atitlan is so beautiful. I like being able to escape the city and sit and relax down by the water. The weather is great too, although at night it gets pretty chilly because of the elevation. I am up in the mountains. I have decided to spend one more night here and will take a bus back to Antigua tomorrow morning. It is from there that I have a shuttle to take me directly to the airport in Guatemala City on Thursday morning. I absolutely hate the city, it is full of gangs and crime and makes me feel uneasy, so I would rather just stay in Antigua and pay someone to drive me directly to catch my flight, it´s only about an hour from the city.
So this is it, the last blog of my trip. I hope that you all enjoyed the pictures and journal entries and thank you all for your interest. If you are ever thinking about coming to Guatemala it is a beautiful country with lots to see and do, and is really quite affordable for travelling about. I had a wonderful trip and thank you all for the support I have had while here...
so until my next journey,
Adios!

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