Mariana's Petit Hotel Guatemala City

... is thwarted by our complete inability to figure out how to leave the airport. We do figure out how to clear immigration and then customs (although we're not sure we did that quite right either). The airport is so confusing and the signage is so bad.....or we are so tired or something. In any case, we do get outside the airport finally but in some side street that is not at all where one would meet a car/driver that has been sent to find us. We ...

... off to clean/maintain the pipes and remain tourism friendly, which sometimes translates into no water at 8PM, but at least the water isn't getting us sick, yippee. This really would be no problemo if we knew ahead of time and didn't drink a bazillion gallons of water and then all have to share a non-flushing toilet. :) Or if we didn't go for a strenusou run (elevation 5,000 feet, ha, not pretty) before breakfast ...

... around and most restaurants and cafes are much more expensive than what we had been used to. This could be down to the numerous tourists, there are swamps of white people and large groups of Americans wandering through the streets as well as rich Guatemalans who come to Antigua for the weekend. It is only an hour or two from Guatemala city but is worlds apart, from the smelly polluted overcrowded and crime ridden streets to the calm clean picturesque town ...

... The only downside to the day was the intense rain that started as I was leaving the town so I had to endure the hour long bus ride back to Guate with wet shoes and pants (Doña Emma that morning had told me, completely out of the blue in an old person like fashion, that it was the "day of rain" and I should take a jacket....she could have looked at the weather I suppose but I prefer my version better).
Today, I walked around Avenida Reforma ...

... first. Now remember I´m scared of heights. This was a little scary.

Then people start jumping off the 30 footer. This is a lot scary. But everyone jumps. I´m the last one. I have no choice but to jump. AND I DID IT! (So far the bruise on my arm has been around for three days).

Evening highlights:

- were not told to be quiet at dinner
- reserved the jacuzzi (wood ...

... lot like flying.

Finally, we climbed the rest of the way to the top of the mountain (inside a cloud) where you could feel intense heat rising from between the stones. Our guide stuck his walking stick in a hole, and it caught on fire. In some of the cracks in the rock, we could see red magma glimmering beneath the surface.

There were also a few British kids on the top who had brought marshmallows to roast in ...

A short flight north to the Guatemalan jungle to find: Mayan archeological treasures at Tikal, a thatched-roof hut of my own on the shores of Lago de Peten Itza, a hammock overlooking the lake, a French restaurant 100 m. from my hut, horseback rides on jungle trails, kayaking on the lake. Well....all but the last two became reality. This was due to heat-stroke following my ...

... of the road, as we drove by there was a guy lying in the middle of the road in a pool of blood welcome to guatemala. to some this might have been a downer, not us and george our driver did not seem concerned so we kept going. We arrived in Antigua and a place to stay and went to bed. The next morning it was up at 645 and went for a walk, I was up 2 hours before Danielle that never happens she is slowing down in her advancing years ...

Well here we are on the road (or in the air) again. I can´t complain about the flight although I was a little nervous about the 40 minute connection time in Dallas. I thought for sure either we or our luguage was not going to make it to Guatemala City, but alas we all showed up. Marvin ( a friend from work) had one of his friends meet us at the airport and drive us to Atitlan (a city about 45 minutes away, safer, quieter, smaller than Guatemala City). He picked us up in ...

... d'une église, d'un palais et d'arcades commerçantes), visite de l'église, et visite guidée du Palacio. Pour finir le tout un canadien nous paie un coup à boire... En fin de soirée, départ en bus avec Delphy, destination Flores, au nord du pays. 22/01/09: Visite du site maya Tikal: impressionant! (puis le soir: the best pina colada ever... ) 23/01/09: On prend le bus de Flores à Rio Dulce. Arrivée dans un lodge dénommé El Tortugal. C ...