Fear not team, I am alive and well in the town of San Marcos on the shores of Lake Atitlan in the highlands of Guatemala. And no, the flowing lava didn’t{t cause the children to run, that was something else entirely.
So, 5 days into the trip, I have already had some great adventures. From being the only (and I mean ONLY) tourist in Guatemala City downtown to traveling on a boat on the lake, to meeting some very cool people, and a surprising number of American{s. I guess this is where they go ´to travel as opposed to SE Asia.
Anyway, After an afternoon in Guatemala City, I took a shuttle the 45 minutes (read that it took 2 1-2 hours because of traffic... just like Los Angeles, wooooo!) and ended up in Antigua, the old Spanish capital of all of central America. The town still has cobblestone streets, a central square (which includes a fountain surrounded by four cement women who have water shooting out of their breasts... hmmm... kinda different), and is surrounded by three volcanoes (though in all honesty there is only one that is obviously a volcano). There are a lot of gringo{s here as it is a hub of Spanish classes in the area.
The next day I decided to go on a day trip to climb VOLCAN PACAYA... another 2 1-2 hour drive, but this time in a pimped out 70{s party van with shag carpet on the walls! Met a great bunch of folks, and made some friends. You don{t hike anywhere alone in Guatemala, as it isn{t a very safe country. One of my new friends Kate had been robbed and mugged the night before in Antigua, so we are all on guard. Thus, you have a guide on any hike and there are the Touristica Policia who keep you safe... in theory, but crime apparently is much less now than it was in the past.
We climbed up through cloud forest, where it began to rain and we actually entered a thick cloud when we reached some lava which had been cooled for a month or so... (so thom, it was just like Hawaii, misty, cloudy and lots of lava rock...) but, then the skies cleared and there before us stood MOUNT DOOM!
Okay, so it’s not mount doom, but it looked exactly like it with this sprawling lava field and surrounding us, thousands of feet below was the plains around the volcano. it was awesome. we went out on the cooled lava, it breaking beneath our feet like glass, and getting hotter and hotter until we found it.... flowing lava... A LOT of flowing lava. Being mostly dumb Americans and a dude from Holland we made sure to get really close to it and take photos with it like 6 feet away. it was hot as hell, sorta like the fires of the netherworld had joined us on earth. It was really hard to breath it was so warm, and I got a suntan on my legs from the heat. But it was AWESOME to see it flowing...and HEAR it flowing...
INCREDIBLE...
danced and ate in Antigua and then, on Thursday... low and behold... RUNNING CHILDREN!!!! thousands of them. all blowing whistles and carrying torches... hmm, doesn’t{t seem to safe. But turns out that for Guatemalan independence day (which is actually friday) all the kids travel to towns and light the torch with the freedom flame and run it back to their town or village. It represents the spread of the news from Antigua, Guatemala 185 years ago when it was the capital of all of central America. There are kids from Honduras, el Salvador and beyond...
the festival went all day and was a lot of fun. I hung out with Quinn, victor and the others I had met the day before here and there. Danced to some salsa in the town square and went to a club that though Raggaeton music was all there was. Still a good time.
Friday I got out of Antigua and headed to Lago Atitlan with Kate (no team, no RBR here, just friends). We checked into this crazy ass mediation center called Las Pyrimida´s... where yes, every building is the shape of a pyramid. (or so they say, mine was actually a hexagon... hmmm). We went down to the water for a swim, and as we were out in the water a Guatemalan teenage boy STOLE OUR SHIT!!!! yes indeed, I had a $9 pair of sandals and my sarong from Ko Phangan stolen... and they took Kates shorts and key to her room... which has a laptop in it! So we charged back to the pyramids, and proceeded to get lost on the mazelike trails and jungle paths that surround this loony town.
Turns out he didn’t{t come back, but the super SUPER mellow guy in charge of the pyramids acted like we were some weird folks for having anything stolen. I can’t do my impression of him here, but it is pretty amusing if I do say so myself.
So, I’ve been robbed, Kates been mugged and robbed... ah yes, VIVA GUATAMALA!!!!
But in all honesty it{s been pretty cool. Most of the people are nice, but there is a definite caution that has to be maintained at all times. we met up with a group of teachers and ate and joined the festivities in town square... which is really a basketball court... where they had music blasting and about 8 kids dancing. the rest stood on the sides like a high school dance. so anyone says that all Latin folks dance is lying to you, they havne{t been to san marcos. We danced. to some raggaeton... oh yeah!... and trance, ¨which was very fun and some of the same music I heard at the full moon partay last year in thailand.
All in all I{m in the groove of traveling, it{s time to do laundry and go scuba diving tomorrow. Hope you are all well and let me know what you are up to.
Rock on
Craigo
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