San Ignacio

Off to Belize today! Leaving Guatemala was simple - S collected our passports and the money needed to exit the country and did all the work for us.Belize was a bit more "normal" - we filled in our own forms and actually talked to an immigration officer! It was pretty slow, though, since they didn't have any computers so were writing down all our passport information by hand. After immigration, there was only a something to declare line, so I waited for another group member to come before going through. I think they thought M was my dad - they asked him questions but waved me through with him! It was only about an hour drive to San Ignacio where we had lunch and then listened to a guide operator tell us some of the activities that were available in the area. About 8 of us decided to do the river tubing, but since no-one had a waterproof camera, I don't have any pictures :(

Tubing was nice and relaxing, especially since it was a hot day and the water was nice and cool, even though it wasn't the cleanest (pretty green). There were a few rapids for us to go down which was fun when we didn't get stuck on the rocks - it's the end of the rainy season, so the water levels are low. There was also the added challenge of staying away from the river edge - that's where most of the garbage and plant matter accumulated.

For supper, we headed off to a carnival in the next town. It wasn't that big or exciting, so most of us left soon after eating.

Tikal

We got up at 5 am again (so much for sleeping in on this trip!) and jumped in the vans to Tikal. The ruins are inside a national park, so along with ruins, we were also looking at birds and monkeys and all sorts of other animals that would run past us.

The ruins were amazing and what was really great was that we were able to climb some of the pyramids! The first one we climbed was off by itself and we didn't know what to expect, but the view was great, even if the morning mist hadn't burned off yet. We sat at the top, eating our packed breakfasts and listening to the howler monkeys while enjoying the view.

The first temple had normally spaced and inclined stairs built along the side, the second temple we climbed was a bit more of a challenge (some of the group didn't come up). The stairs were more like a ladder, but once you figured out the rhythm, they could be done quickly.

The view from the top was definitely worth the climb. L was a bit scared about where we were standing to have our pictures taken, though - right on the very edge, with one foot on the part that starts to slope down, with no safety rails!

Our guide left us at the main plaza to explore by ourselves. We met back up with him around noon as the crowds that come in from the resorts in Belize were just arriving ... along with the heat of the day! On the drive back, L, M, P and I got our driver to stop at a grocery store so we could pick up some stuff for lunch - we ended up having a great meal of fresh fruit, yogurt (well, not me), chips, and guacamole beside the hotel pool. The rest of the afternoon was spent looking for a post office, swimming in the pool and not so hot hot tub.

At sunset, we took a boat to a tree house overlooking the island of Flores. Since it had clouded over there wasn't a sunset to watch, but the view was nice. We also walked a bit to find the monkeys that we could hear howling to each other.

Flores

We got up at 5 am, loaded our van, and off we went up to Flores. It was a long drive, about 10 hours, with a stop for breakfast and a few for bathroom breaks, but that was it. We arrived in Flores just in time for supper, which we had at a restaurant alongside the lake.

The view behind our hotel

Antigua - Churches and Chicken Buses

We met up with D for breakfast, even though he was technically finished with our group ... I guess he just didn't want to leave! I then spend the rest of the day walking around Antigua with M, checking out church ruins (but not paying to go inside), the central plaza, and the chicken bus station - looking for a good picture!

We had a group meeting in the evening, then went for supper with the new group. The new additions to the group were:

DS and S - computer guys from Connecticut

N and J - guys from Australia ... and showed up totally wasted to the group meeting!

MG - and older guy who lives only 6 km for me!

E - a middle age guy from Montreal

and our guide S, from Brazil!

Antigua - Villages and Volcanos

We visited a women's collective this morning for a demonstration of weaving (cloth and reeds), coffee and corn grinding, tortilla making, and were served a traditional meal for lunch - gallo en chicha!

It was interesting to learn the story of their village and how they have been in debt to the same coffee plantation owner for more than 200 year. Because of the interest, they will never be able to pay it back, so the men have been working for him 2 months a year for the last 200 years for free. The money that the women raise selling their handicrafts they use to buy books and supplies so they can send the village children to school.

After returning to Antigua, most of us met up with another guide (who spoke no English, unfortunately) and group of tourists to climb Pacaya Volcano. The climb up was hot, dusty and tiring - and every time someone stops for a break, a guy with a scrawny, sad looking horse would appear beside them saying "Taxi? Taxi?"

The "taxi" guys only went part way up the volcano, quitting when we got to the hardened lava (from an eruption in 2004 or 2006, I can't remember which). It was a different experience walking on the lava - it had the same rolls as a pile of cow manure, with lots of loose and jagged rocks. Walking over the lava tubes, I could hear the hollowness as my walking stick knocked the rock, and feel the heat rising out of the cracks I had to step over.

I had heard and scene pictures of the top of the volcano where we could stand right beside flowing rivers of lava, but for some reason the day we were there, there wasn't any lava! There were a few glowing red vent, so were were able to roast some marshmallows which got a nasty sulpher flavour.

It had rained on us a bit as we hiked up, but we dried within seconds from the heat, but hiking down the hill a massive thunderstorm rolled in. The hike down was not fun at all - it was pitch black, pouring rain, the dusty trail had turned to mud, and the horse manure had turned a lot of it into a river of poo. Yuck!

We got back to our hotel late, only having time to quickly change before meeting up for our final group dinner.

(That evening D told us that a few days before we did our hike, a tourist fell through one of the lava tubes and lost their leg, and less than 2 months after our hike, the volcano erupted, killing at least 3 people)

Lake Atitlan

The group chartered a boat to tour around Lake Atitlan this morning. Our first stop was a beautiful bed and breakfast for breakfast. The food was awesome, as was the view of the surrounding volcanos and the gardens. We spent close to an hour just relaxing and taking it all in.

The second stop was to visit Maximon, the fabled effigy said to be a combination of Mayan and Spanish deities. He's revered and cared for by the traditional Mayan villages, with people leaving donations of rum and cigarettes (and helping the wooden statue to smoke them) for good blessing. We then went to the church in the same town, where behind the alter is a stone carving depicting people honouring Maximon (meaning that he's been around for a few hundred years), though the people who attend this church don't visit him.

Our final stop was a village where our guide D's extended family still lives and owns a bakery. The family was very inviting, giving us free fresh bread (delicious!) and letting us in their house so that D could show us some pictures of his grandfather.

The lake got rougher as the day wore on, so it was a bumpy and slightly wet ride back to Panajachel where we got on a van and left for Antigua. Antigua served as Guatemala's capital city for more than 200 years until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1772. Today, it's a peaceful, partially restored colonial city. After settling into our rooms, D gave us an orientation tour through the quiet cobblestone streets, then we enjoyed a restaurant serving traditional Guatemalan foods - I had gallo en chica, a rooster cooked in a tomato, onion, and spice sauce, served on a banana leaf.

Chichicastenango

This morning we braved the Guatemalan chichen buses, taking 3 to the Sunday morning market in Chichicastenango. The chicken buses are old north American school buses, that are given standard transmissions, roof-racks, and a crazy paint job! Three people sit on each bench and the centre aisle gets crammed full of people. We weren't able to take any pictures of the full bus - the one below is from BEFORE it got crowded!

We survived the chicken bus (all thankful that we had paid for the upgrade the day before!) and got off just outside the market. We had breakfast at an upstairs restaurant overlooking the market, then went out to practise our bargaining. I realized pretty quickly that I suck at bartering! I didn't buy much, just 2 sets of placemats and napkins - one for me and the other for my parents who were taking care of my house while I was gone.

We headed back to Panajachel in the early afternoon - to the sound of G throwing up a couple times. (Our group seems to have caught some nasty bug). I wondered around town a bit, then went back to the asian restaurant where we wrote up a pre-nup agreement for K and G... in crayon, of course.

Crossing into Guatemala

To avoid taking the Guatemalan chicken buses with all our packs (and to shorten the length of our trip), we upgraded to our own private van. We left San Cristobal early in the morning, eating breakfast as we drove. It was an "interesting" trip. Our first snag was a road block, causing us to have to turn back and find a route around the protest, adding about 20 minutes to our trip. 3 km from the border, we stopped at the Mexican immigration building where D took our passports to be stamped. I'm not sure why they didn't need to see us, but noone was complaining!

We drove the last few kilometers to the border, unloaded our bags, and walked through the open gate surrounded by market stalls into Guatemala. D still had our passports, and after we had changed a bit of money into Quetzals to pay for our tourist cards, D stood in line again and did all the paperwork for us. Unfortunately the computer system was down so it took about 30 minutes to get it all sorted out, but we beat the other large group of tourists who were all standing in line individually. It was definately not your normal border crossing - no one ever compared my to my passport ... and people were walking back and forth across the border the whole time we were there with nobody stopping them or checking who they were.

We got a new van in Guatemala ... one with a driver who had a hard time finding gears (lots of grinding) and road the brakes going down hills (stinky!). We got to the look out over Lake Atitlan just after sunset and stood admiring the hazy view for a few minutes, then continued down towards the lake. We didn't get far before we had to stop again - this time waiting over an hour for an accident that was blocking the road to be cleared (it would have taken 4 hours to drive around). We managed to entertain ourselves pretty well though, singing along to songs off of Mm's iPod! The people behind us must have wondered what was going on as our van rocked from side to side :P

We finally made it to our hotel in Panajachel, and went to a great asian restaurant for supper.