Blogs from Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 105

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Hola! Right now I am at what is said to be the most beautiful lake in the world, lago de atitlan. It is a huge body of water surrounded by volcanoes and many small villages that you can take boats to and visit or stay for the night. When I first arrived here I went to the village Santa Cruz La Laguna. It is a very tiny village, and most of the people don´t actually speak spanish, they speak in their mayan village language, I forget the name of it. Anyways, while there I stayed at this place on the water called La Iguana Perdida (the lost iguana). It was a really nice place with great staff, and a great Saturday night party. Every Saturday night they host a cross dressing party where everyone staying there ... read more
Cross dressing party...
the girls...
San Pedro La Laguna


OK, first of all I want to let eveyone know that I´ve added a few pictures to the blog entry about our jungle trip. If you were curious about some of the stuff I talked about in there visit it now for additional pictures! I left Antigua on the 16th. Ryan, I, and a girl named Sarah travelled to Lago de Atitlan which is a huge lake a couple hours northwest of Antigua. There are several towns on the lake, and we´re staying in San Pedro. It´s very cool being on a lake, the lake is huge, windy and we had to take a boat over to the other side. The bus from Antigua took us to Panajachel and from there we got on a boat and eventually to San Pedro. We´re staying at a place ... read more
Lago Atitlan


Yesterday I began my trip to Tajamulco, after bussing for 4 hours I came at the starting point of the ascent. Only a couple of locals around who were surprised that I would try to climb this vulcan solo. Not only of going up solo but also with the weather conditions. Clouds everywhere, the cold temperature and ofcourse the strong winds. After 2 hours I really was thinking what am I doing here, not the cold, but the visability especially. The last 30 minutes lasted so long. I just got a glimpse of the summit a bit before, It did´t look that far anymore, but just the altitude was killing me. With the pack on my back, I only could like 10 steps and than I had to catch my breathe again for a couple of ... read more
My camping spot, 250 meters below the summit
Sunrise at Tajamulco
The Vulcan Crater


Guatemala...I love it... De sfeer is hier zo geweldig....mensen zijn vriendelijk, natuur is prachtig en de ruines van Tikal waren erg indrukwekkend!! Na Mexico 3 dagen Guatemala in geweest. Om de ruines van tikal te bekijken. Geweldige steile piramides in de jungle. Wat het nog mooier maakt is dat er apen boven je hoofd rondslingeren en de toekans die af en aan vliegen. Na 3 dagen Guatemala...was ik al verkocht. Via Belize naar de caribian coast van Guate gegaan. Daar heb ik 3 dagen in een jungle lodge gezeten vanwaar ik met medereizigers kanotochten heb gemaakt en een beetje gehiked. Vooral de kayuko (native kano) erg onstabiel, maar wel geweldig vervoermiddel om wat van de omgeving te zien. De dagen zien er wat anders uit...opstaan bij zonsopgang en je bed in voor 10! maar bevalt me ... read more
kanoen in guate
Semuc Shempay
caving in semuc schempey


Quetza que?? Chicken bus rules man!! You ride cheap, run a lower risk of getting your bus ride hijacked and you get to sit with 2 other big hipped Mayan women on a seat built for 2..if youre lucky you get their kid in your lap, or a chicken...but hey, why sit alone when we can be one big happy international family all together!! Yea so after a liiiindo beautiful scenic trip over and under and around mountains, valleys and volcanoes we finally got to the place. They call it Quetzaltenango or Xela for short..figure that one out..makes getting the right bus a bit tricky. Theres not much in particular to see in town, you got the colonial church by the big sqare, casa de la cultura and the national museum, aa the museum of Marimba ... read more


Websites and guidebooks told us not to go near San Pedro on Lake Atitlan as it is a hotbed of armed robberies and rapes. So how did we manage to end up there digging in to a rare fried breakfast complete with crispy bacon? Well, as some of the small roads around the lake are too dangerous to travel on, we reckoned we would be safer on a boat! We booked an all-day boat trip around the lake. The first place the boat stopped, for breakfast, was San Pedro! Anyway it seemed quiet enough and we had a beautiful view of the lake from our cafe (we didn't stray far from the boat!).... read more
Cross at San Antonio
Couple on pier
Three boats


Trying to get some photos from the last few days... Got out of Quetzaltenango after more wrong turns...if there's a one-way street, I'll always find it...and head down the wrong way!...endless bumper to bumper, trucks, cars, bikes, down narrow, dusty, bumpy, crowded little thoroughfare, sudden turns for a few blocks, back on the straight, cutting along the inside to pass, trucks trying to run me into the gutter, cars pushing at the back wheel, pedestrians dodging out of the way, dirty, dusty, shop fronts or whatever covered in dust, no signs at all, just hope we're on the right road!..get a good passing break and stream past half a km of traffic while they're stopped for roadworks, huge potholes and puddles...always a dangerous move as you can't tell how deep its going to be...finally turn off ... read more
on the ferry back in Baja
on the balcony
Our humble donga


Rugged up for the first time in a while...v strange after sweating it for so long. So, where were we? back to the 22/7 looking for Barra de Cruz, the famous point break...only 100 something ks from that last beach...can't remember, stayed there for 3 days tho'...Tony at his new bar El Burro Barracho was good host, dinky little hotel...surf scene..right on the beach..oh yeah Puerto Escondido, yI think I,ve written it up, tres pretty and in the early stages of development, sure to be unrecognisable in another few years, sorta close for americanos and canadians to fly in......so, on the road, good to be back in the saddle after a couple of days off.....down the highway, lovely curvery again...light and dark shadows under tree lined roads winding down the coast, stroe effect of the light ... read more


Spanish Language Schools Guide Today I'll write about La Madrastra from business point of view. What they keep saying is "Don't miss the final episodes... Don't miss the final week of La Madrastra..." for past 3 weeks I think. After investing more than one month of time watching it, I do want to watch the conclusion of the program. And the another thing that they do is to start the new show before finishing the old one. For example, the running time of La Madrastra is from 8pm to 9pm. But this week, La Madrastra ends at 8:30 and begins the new show. Since I already have 8pm-9pm ready, I keep watching the new one too. This is a very smart move for the transition. By the way, anybody knows what the San Roman Enterprise does? ... read more


I got here to the town of Panajachel yesterday and immediately found a cute hotel and fell asleep. I had an tiring day on a series of chicken buses getting here. It wasn't bad, just long. After a long nap I looked around the town which isn't much to speak of. It's a gringo tourist town with booth after booth lining the streets with Mayan, Mexican, and Caribbean tourist kitsch, hotels, restaurants and travel agencies. I can eat well here with many of the restaurants serving Plato Vegetariana Tipico (including tofu), but it's not Guatemalan food by any means. The lake itself is breath taking and I understand why so many Americans wound up moving here and then telling their friends. The lake is a collapsed volcano crater filled with water. The surroundings are beautiful. Today ... read more
 Panajachel
 Hello from an internet cafe




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