caught a chicken bus and a pick up with sam, anna, scott and nicole (met them all on tajumulco hike) to fuentes georginas-some highly rated natural hot springs outside of xela. was really cool riding in the pick up up past the farmers in the hills and then into the mist which was really surreal. the springs themselves were really nice with the hot water coming straight out of the rock into the pool very misty, not too crowded and was lovely to actually find some hot water!
caught a shuttle in the arvo with them and ezza once she had got out of bed, down to san pedro on lake atitlan. our driver had to ask for directions a few times but did eventually manage to get us down the usually steep windy roads to the lake. we got some awesome rooms with beautiful lake views, hammocks and occasional hot water for $3 each a night. for some unknown reason san pedro just happens to be one of the cheapest places in guatemala. had a few beers in the hammocks listening to a local bad practice down the end of the balcony then out for dinner by the lake. very pleasant.
we went kayaking the next day with sam and anna which was so beautiful. got a little burnt after 4 hours on the lake but it was all worth it. paddled across towards san marcos and sam and anna tried to kidnap some local kids for angelina and madonna, but eventually gave them back after muchos persuasion. got a bit choppy heading back which was fun bouncing around all over the place. cool to paddle past the shore and see the local houses, fishermen, people, washing rituals etc and i am always amazed by how they grow corn on what must be at least 60 degree slopes. guess you gotta do what you gotta do.
came back to the hotel to no water (not uncommon over here) went and had some good lunch by the lake and got offered weed. again. repeated the beers and hammocks routine cos it is awesome and scott treated me to my first haircut in going on 5 months. probably the shortest i have ever had it now! got offered more weed and had some good tucker in the evening.
sam and anna headed off to coban whilst scott, nicole and us took the boat across to panajachel and found ourselves another cheap spot but this time lacking the view and hammocks. pana has got nothing on san pedro for beauty but the shopping is good and i may have dabbled a little for the first time in a while and consequently had to spend some considerable coin to send it home as it wouldnt fit in the pack. bloke at the shipping company proceded to empty all our stuff out and then 'pack' it in a garbage bag and then one of those big plasticy bags used for chicken feed, which he then sewed up. amusing. am sure it will all be worth it when i get home (and i find it waiting for me).
whilst haggling for some shirts
V - ´how much for the shirt´
storekeeper - ´75´
V - ´30´
storekeeper - ´one moment please´
he had to go and get the owner for such serious negotiations. she wouldnt give them to us for 30 but we did find another place down the row who would.
was very amused by a poster advertising paragliding over the lake "fly like a bird, with roger". lol.
took a couple of chicken buses to antigua with scott and nicole. scott and i were hanging off the back of the chimaltenango to antigua bus for a while before we were told to go and force ourselves inside. was much more comfortable outside!
met by a dodgy bloke at the market erminal named edy who showed us a really nice hotel and then ripped us off for a tour up the active volcano pacaya. we got him down a fair bit but we found out on the bus we could have got it a lot cheaper. we were trying to fit a lot into one day and couldnt be bothered to go to a reputable travel agency so i guess $6-7 is our punishment for being lazy. hasnt happened to us much though and we are not really out of pocket much so pretty lucky really.
the upside was the tour of the volcano was really cool and i didnt mind so much paying a little extra as climbing up to the volcano and seeing moving lava from a few metres away for the first time was a pretty cool experience. threw a few rocks at the lava but got no love as they just bounced off! still is always good to throw things. must be a boy thing cos i wasnt the only one. was really awesome to see the moving lava, especially as the sky got darker and the lava seemed redder and redder. dunno how hot it was but heard some big numbers and when the wind blows the intense heat your way its not hard to believe those numbers.
headed back down by torch and non existent moonlight trying the impossible task of avoiding all the mud and horsecrap we couldnt see. bit at the top was really cool running down the loose volcanic soil at high speed. maybe a boy thing again.
we were followed up and down by little boys and their 'natural taxis' (horses) which shat all over the trail but were used by a few strugglers. one girl i swear lasted about 30 seconds before she jumped on one and it wasnt really very hard going.
checked out the market, went searching for edy and just strolled around town taking pics the next day before saying goodbye to scott and nicole. liked antigua a lot more this time, heard a lot more spanish and i guess we stayed a bit longer and gave it more of a chance.
grabbed an early morning bus to copan in honduras and had the same conversation leaving guatemala
BB '10 quetzales'
V 'why'
BB 'tax'
V 'there is no exit tax for guatemala'
this guy was a bit more persistent and wasnt keen to give our passports back but after having my favourite conversation a couple of times it was a win for tasmania which leaves the score at us 3, border bastards 1. very happy with that!
not quite so happy that our guatemala stamp covers us all the way down to costa rica as i do like my pretty stamps, but in the years ahead as the old passport runs out of spare pages this could be a very good thing indeed.
guatemala was definetly my fav country so far. has a fairly well defined gringo trail but has so much to offer. definetly worth a look.
liked how the council workers do most of the grass cutting on the side of the road with machetes, and theyre pretty good at it.
guatemala is having the presendtial elections next month so we have been subjected to many a vehicle driving slowly down the road blaring proproganda at us, and they seem to paint their party logos everywhere, even heading down some random dirt road in the middle of nowhere you can see logos painted all over the roacks, trees, telegraph poles etc
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