Guatemala

For once we decided to take the easy option when traveling! From Copán we hopped on a shuttlebus, which was a little more expensive, but it meant quick and easy border crossings and also meant we could stay on the same bus for the duration of the trip, instead of catching four different ones.

Six hours later we arrived in Guatemala's colonial gem, Antigua. We arrived midday, so we had the remainder of the day to explore the town.

Antigua has several really stunning churches and a cathedral. Unfortunately the town was hit by a huge earthquake in 1773, which destroyed all but the facades and external walls of them all. However, this does actually make for much more dramatic viewing. When entering the buildings the first thing you notice is they have no roof, so the buildings are filled with natural light, and a lot of the large debris from the earthquake is still sitting in the same position is was the day it collapsed. Despite the damage the buildings are still very impressive.

Antigua also has some amazing cafes and cake shops, which it a novelty for Latin America, so we thought we would be rude not to take advantage of it. When the afternoon rain set it, as it does as regular as clockwork everyday in Guatemala, we took to a cafe to enjoy some export quality Guatemalan coffee with a delicious piece of Pineapple and Papaya pie. As it happened we got talking to lovely lady from Sydney and ended up stopping in the cafe for about three hours. Needless to say when we both left we were buzzing from all the coffee refills!

The following day we decided to do a climb up the active Volcan Pacaya. I know what you are all thinking, not another volcano, but this is not normal volcano...

So we arose early, much to Mel's frustration, at 5am to depart at 6. We began climbing the volcano and it was not long before we were surrounded by fields of hardened lava and ash. The environment was very much how you would expect Mordor to look, for all you Lord of the Rings geeks. Up ahead of us we could see the heat haze that was being emitted from the ground, which was getting steadily hotter the higher we climbed. We walked over several pieces of lava rock that had cracked open due to the intense heat, and from out of the cracks poured super hot air that was being given off by the lava flowing beneath it. After about an hour of climbing we came across of first river of lava. We could see the red hot molten red gradually creeping down the side of the mountain, but at this point we were about five metres away and we wanted to get closer to get a good look as this was an amazing sight.

To get closer to the lava flow we had to cross a scree slope made up of very unstable hardened lava rocks, which were razor sharp. If you did not move quickly and carefully you could easily get caught on the moving slope and slide 10 to 15m down the side of the mountain. I started my crossing of the slope, but the guide had failed to tell us that every now and again pieces of the flaming, molten rock randomly dislodge themselves from the lava river and come tumbling down the scree slope. I was about half way across the slope when I looked up and saw 4 or 5 pieces of scorching red rocks, about the size of footballs, coming tumbling down the slope towards me. I scrambled to get out of the way, completely loosing my balance in the process, therefore having to grab onto the razor sharp rock to keep my balance. Fortunately I managed to stay on my feet and avoid the tumbling lava, but to the detriment of my hands, which got sliced to shreds. The rocks only narrowly missed Mel as well, who was on the other side of the slope, and she to had to take cover also.

We both eventually made it to the other side safely and were now only about half a metre from the lava flow, which was as close as we could get before the heat got too intense. It was quite amazing being that close to something that is so rare to see, especially at such close proximity.

From there we both made our way further up the mountain to see more lava flows. On the way up some of the rock ahead of us worked loose and came tumbling towards us, hitting Mel in the shins. The sharp boulder knifed it's way through her trekking bottoms as well but fortunately did not pierce her skin. Mel was on the verge of turning back at this point due to the extremities, but gritted her teeth and carried on climbing. When we reached our highest point we got to stand on top of a lava tube and watch the lava pour out of it right in front of our feet. Unfortunately you could only stand there for 10 seconds or so, as the heat was so intense and the soles of you feet got extremely hot. We melted some marshmallows and threw some wood into the lava, which instantly combusted due to the heat.
After all that excitment we started to make our way back down the volcano to the safety of our minibus, which transported us back to Antigua.

In the afternoon we took a stroll up a small hill at the rear of the town. Set atop of the hill is a huge cross and a cleared area that acts as a viewing platform form from which you can see the whole of the town with the volcano in the background. It was a great place to sit for a while and take in the beautiful view. During our descent we felt that we had had a fairly exhilarating and tiring day, so we made our way to another cafe for some more coffee and cake.

The following day we would make our way further west to Guatemala's highlands and Lake Atitlán. The journey to the lake was stunning as we rose higher into the mountains we had some great vistas of the Guatemalan countryside which is strewn with huge volcanoes all venting out smoke. It is a very prehistoric landscape and after only 3 days in the country we were already starting to think that this could probably be our favorite country in Central America, and may end up being equally as amazing as Argentina and Bolivia.

As we caught our first glimpses of the lake the only words we could muster were "WOW". The lake was set in a lush green depression in the land surrounded by three volcanoes, and the turquoise blue water glistened in the morning sun. Dotted all around it's shores were small villages and towns, and our destination was the town of San Pedro de Laguna, about 40 minutes boat trip from the main town of Panajachel. We hopped on the boat and skimmed across the water taking in the amazing views. In the afternoon we wandered up and down the extremely steep streets of the town, stopping at a few places for refreshments. The San Pedro was not as quaint and pretty as we had expected, but we had to remind ourselves that we were at a lake in Guatemala and not Italy. While the natural views were brilliant, the town was pretty shabby and run down, as most Guatemalan towns are.

We got up the following morning and stepped out onto our balcony, which overlooked the lake and was drenched in the morning sun. We ate breakfast there and went for a saunter around the lower part of the town. This area lies on the banks of the lake and was much cleaner, with an abundance of cafés and quaint little restaurants, much more inviting than the upper part of the town. One thing the town did not lack was hippies. San Pedro has been a hang out for hippies since the 60's and a lot have never left since their first visit. So when strolling the town you are never to fall away from a head full of dreadlocks, hairy female legs and (sometimes)the distinct smell of body odour is in the air.

That same morning we set off on a walk around the East shores of the lake, which took us through some of the smaller local villages and finished in the town of San Marco. The 3 hour journey was full of stunning lake and mountain views as well as lots of "Buenos Dias" and "Buenas Tardes" greetings to all the friendly locals we passed on the way. We even bumped into a old man who claimed to be a Shaman, who some started rubbing all sorts of ointments onto our arms telling us it was a cure for bad stomachs, which would have come in useful given our record over the passed 5 months.

We eventually reached San Marco, after taking a slight detour off the main road and up a steep path into the backstreets of the town, which was a great insight into the local life. San Marco is famous for it's Yoga and Spiritual healing retreats, which line the shore of the lake. Therefore, the place has a very calm and laidback air about it's streets and people. From San Marco we hopped back on a boat back to San Pedro for lunch and to spend the afternoon in the hammock.

For the next two days we decided to make the most of the stunning lake views from the balcony so we did nothing but lie in our hammocks and read, paying the occasional visit to one of the local cafes for our daily fix of the stunning Guatemalan coffee and the ice cream parlour, which was perfectly positioned directly outside our hostel.

Our next stop was the little visited town of Quetzaltenago, Xela for short (pronounced shay-la). Two things had become very apparent to us during our stay in Guatemala. The first is that the locals shorten the names of all the towns that have very long names, which is most of them e.g. Guatemala City is just Guate, Chichicastenago....Chichi, Panajachal....Pana, you get the gist. The problem is if you don't know about this you can never figure out which bus you need to catch, as the guys that stand on the outside of the chicken buses shouting their destination always shout the shortened version.

That brings me nicely onto the second, travel in Guatemala is painful. The buses are uncomfortable and they squeeze as many people onto them as possible, the journies are long, due to Guatemala not having a square mile of flat land, and the buses never ever leave or arrive at the time they are supposed to. Add to this the fact that a bus, even if it says it's going to a town, will actually drop you halfway and tell you you have to get on another bus to go the remainder of the way, only to be told on the next bus that you have to catch another bus to take you all the way to town. Frustrating, yes, tries your patience, yes, but it's a great experience and it's all part of traveling the amazing and beautiful country of Guatemala.

Anyway, Xela is 90km away from San Pedro, so two and a half hours and three buses later we arrived at our destination and soon realise that Xela is massively under-rated.


Unfortunately Mel had come down with her fourth upset tummy of the trip, but only her first in Central America, which took the wind out of her sails, so she put her head down for the evening and I ventured the night streets on my own for a while. I made my way to the main square, which was buzzing with local excitement and the stunning colonial buildings around its perimeter were lit up to extenuate their best and beautiful features. The local excitment was aroused by the sunday night market, which sold wood carvings, food and general tat. I had a quick stroll round and took in the atmosphere before continuing with my original mission, to find some food.

The following morning Mel was feeling much better so we went for a walk around the town, taking in all the sights, which looked even more stunning in daylight. In the evening we found some really cool little cafes and restaurants that wouldn't look out on place in London. So we sipped a few coffees and beers and took in the local noctural atmosphere.

From Xela we took a long 10 hour, two leg journey to the coffee growing region of Cobán, and our first stop was the capital of the province, Cobán town.

Our first day in the town we went to visit a local coffee finca (Spanish for farm). We were greeted by a lovely Guatemalan lady who had worked at the finca for 29 years and spoke amazing English, she would also be giving us the tour. We had the tour to ourselves so it gave us chance to ask lots of questions and really get our heads around the details of the coffee making process. In fact we got our heads around it that much that I have decided I'd like to try and grow a coffee plant and cultivate the beans when we get to Oz!

The grounds of the finca were absolutely stunning, exactly how you would imagine a coffee plantation to look 100 years ago. The original wood built farm house still stands and is still in full use to roast the beans, which smell divine. The windmill that was used to pump the water from the well for irrigation purposes still stands, although it is no longer in use, replaced by an electric water pump.

After the tour of the grounds and the roasting plant we were treated to a cup of coffee that was rich in aroma and as smooth as velvet, made straight from the premium beans of the finca. We sat and enjoyed it while watching the roasters hard at work, roasting and grinding 400 bags of coffee a day.

From there we took a walk 20 minutes outside of town to a orchid farm, where we were given a tour around more orchids than we have ever seen in one place. The farm was huge and the species of orchid endless, some as small as the eye of a needle and others that looked like an octopus with the body of an orchid flower. It was quite something but after an hour we were all flowered out, and we headed back into town in the blazing midday sun. We reached the hostel, had a cold shower and lunch and headed to the bus station to get the afternoon bus to the tiny town of Lanquin.

We eventually arrived in Lanquin at 7pm after waiting for one bus that still hadn't left an hour and a half later than scheduled, so we went to find an alternative. The ride there was stunning, traveling over the tops of the mountains looking down onto the smaller lush green hills that resembled bubble wrap, as they were so close together and went on as far as you could see.

The town was tiny but beautiful, set in the middle of the central Guatemalan lush green mountains and our hostel had a huge terrace with a great view over the town and the mountains behind it. The reason for traveling to Lanquin was to visit the amazing natural lagoon pools of Semuc Champey. We piled onto the bus the following morning outside the hostel and thought we would soon be off. In the traditional way of Guatemalan transport, our collectivo then continued to circle the town for three quarters of an hour to try and fill it up. During this time the sun was getting hotter, indeed was the inside of the bus, and we were getting sweatier and more frustrated, as all we wanted was to dive into the cool water of the pools. We finally set off along and our very full and hot collectivo bounced along the unpaved road, throwing everyone inside it about every time it went over a boulder.

One hour and 10km, yes that's right, 10km in one hour, we arrived at Semuc Champey, and we practically ran all the way to the pools. The pools have been formed on top of a 300m long limestone bridge, which the powerful river flows underneath. The water in the pools is cool and amazingly crystal clear, with some reaching a depth of about four metres, but the water is so clear that you could see the bottom in as much detail as if they were only a foot deep.


We quickly tore off our clothes and slowly immersed ourselves into the water, breathing a sigh of refreshed relief as as body temperature plummeted. There was also a large number of small fishes, who happily nibbled on our toes as we bathed. We swam in the pools and sunbathed on the rocks for an hour or so before making our way further up stream.

At the top end of the bridge, where the pools start, we made our way through clouds of yellow butterflies to get a great view of where the river rapidly cascades into the black abyss of it's underground passage leading it under the pools above. It was like nothing we had ever seen before, and it made you want to jump in and ride down the underground rapids, but after our Volcán Pacaya experience we were tired of risking life and limb! So we decided to head back to the pools for a little more bathing.

Upon leaving the pools we took a different trail back to the road. This took us along the bank of the river where we got a stunning view of the river pouring out the other end of the underground tunnel with the beautiful waterfalls trickling from the pools above it. The setting in the mountains, the natural beauty of the pools and the spectacle of the underground river was truly incredible and Mel and I both agreed that is was one of the highlights of our entire trip, and it reinforced our opinion of just how amazing a country Guatemala really is.

When leaving Lanquin we had to head back to Cobán, as we could only get a bus to our next destination from there. We thought we were saving the best until last in Guatemala, but after Semuc Champey we started to think that the most extensive and best presevered Mayan ruins in Latin America had to be something special to be our Guatamalan highlight. Next we were heading to famous Tikal.

It was a five and a half hour journey from Cobán to Santa Elena, where we would hop on another bus to take us to the small town of El Remáte, on the banks of Lago de Izabel, 33km south of Tikal. The trip passed relatively quickly and was one of the least painful trips we have taken in Guatemala, unfortunately when we arrived in Santa Elena we could not get a bus that dropped us right in El Remáte, so we had to walk about 2km down the road into the town with our backpacks. Now I know 2km does not sound far, but the El Petén region of Guatemala is known for it's stifling and intense heat and we were arriving at midday. In the minibus on the way to our drop off point the sweat was pouring off us just sitting still and by the time we had walked the 2km into town and up the hill to our hostel we were truly drenched and gasping for refreshment.

Our room at the hostel was an open air bungalow with a thatched roof and only three walls, which meant that it was completely open to the outside. We had a double bed with a mosquito net, which was full of holes the size of your fist. Mel jumped straight into a cold shower, while I continued to perspire. After an hour or so I started to cool down and we decided to get a cold drink and some lunch to recover from the walk. We spent the afternoon relaxing and sweating, waiting for the sun to set and the air to cool. The following day we had to catch the bus at 5.30am to get to Tikal for 6am when the park opened so we could experience it empty and with all the howler monkeys still at their most active, so we got an early dinner and hit the sack. After carrying out some repairs to the mosquito net we went to sleep in our open bungalow.

We arrived at Tikal at around 6.30am the next day. The site is right in the middle of the jungle so a walk of about 30 minutes is required before getting to the main area. The Howler Monkeys were already in full voice, so the air was filled with their roar along with the calls of all the jungle birds.

Our first sight of Tikal was the rear of Temple I as we approached the Grand Plaza from the rear. Temple I, even from the back, looked incredible. When we got to the Grand Plaza there were only two other people there and the plaza was still shrouded in a light covering of mist. It looked truly magnificent and we spent about 10 minutes standing in the middle of the Plaza marveling at the incredible structures. Unfortunately you can't climb Temple I anymore as several people have fallen and died, but you can climb Temple II, which lies at the opposite end of the plaza. It was only 7am, but it was already 27 degrees, so the sweat soon started to flow. When we reached the top we sat down and enjoyed the stunning view over the Grand Plaza.

We spent the next hour or so clambering around the Central Acropolis and Northern Acropolis, which lie either side of the Plaza. We managed to spot a beautiful Grey Fox sitting at the top of Central Acropolis. From here we took the trail around to Temple V, which rises high above the jungle canopy. On the way we spotted our first group of Spider Monkeys diving through the trees.

The lack of people around astounded us, the entire 15 minute walk to Temple V we did not see a single person. From out of nowhere the Temple suddenly appeared in front of us. The jungle is so dense at Tikal that you don't actually see the temples until you are right at the foot of them, which makes the impact of the first sighting all the better.

The temple was beautiful, probably the most stunning of all. At the side of the temple was a very steep wooden walkway that had been constructed to allow access to the top of the temple. It was a tough and extremely steep climb to the top, the steps were almost as steep as ladders, so much so that some people were not prepared to climb them. We both slowly made our way to the top, which rewarded us with the most incredible views. Looking around the jungle canopy disappeared into the horizon and the tops of the temples of Tikal poked out above the trees. It was unbelievable, so we took a seat and absorbed the view for 10 mintues.

Throughout the day we made our way around the rest of the ruins, which in total has six main temples, three of which you can climb to the top of. There is a section called El Mundo Perdido (The Lost World) which has two smaller temples. The ruins, in their entirety spread over huge area, we were there for almost eight hours and we never really stopped walking. During that time we hardly seen anyone and the wildlife was incredible, we lost count of the amount of Spider Monkeys we saw (this was the type of monkey that I befriended in Ecuador), the highlight of which had to be a group in which a mother was carrying her baby her back and the baby didn't take its eyes off us for a second. It was incredible.

Tikal was by far the best ruins we have seen during our trip, together with the amazing wildlife, the stunning jungle setting and the lack of people, helped make it an unforgettable experience. People always talk so much about Machu Picchu, but we definitely preferred Tikal.

We arrived back at our hostel at 2.45pm, so after a refreshing shower made our way straight out to the border and to our first stop in Belize. Guatemala had been such an amazing country that Mel and I made a promise to return here and see some more of this beautiful country.