Comfort Hostel Guatemala City

... the runway...

And then I was suddenly in Guatemala. Definitely a change in scenery, and I was glad that I did not have to fly with some of the seemingly worn out planes that were placed near the runway. Immigration was swift although I had to wait a little bit longer for my luggage - long enough to worry a little bit (thinking of my unusual check-in in Miami).

Luggage in hand I got out and there I met a certain Mario from the ...

... out of this place.. finally we spot the light at the end of the cave.... amazing experience... would we do it again... no... we quite like our life...

Then an hour of "tubing"... which involved going down a river in a tyre... problem was everybody was moving ... i was stuck and not moving... i was trying to explain to Stephen that the current must have changed direction... then i fall out of my tyre and i am stuck in the middle of the river and cant get back in ...

... an active volcano (admittedly with loads of others and BFAs) hike three days through amazing vistas at every turn and chill by an amazing volcanic lake at Lago de Atitlan. The people are colourful, the traditional Mayan dress is a riot of colours, and on the whole friendly and helpful, but... I’m not feeling it. However, I’m not complaining... it totally beats working and living in London, so please don’t see this as a moan and next week I could ...

... Total: 3 (Dorada Draft)

After dinner we head over to Pana Rock Cafe, a very obvious knock-off (incuding logo) of Hard Rock Cafe. We order several buckets of beer @ about $15 per 8 beers. We´re happy with this deal but find out the next day this can be found for as little as $5 per 6. On our way out the Thriller video starts playing. We stay until the end and pay our respects.

Number of times Hotel ...

... Fortunately--since I had absolutely no idea where I was going and could not get ahold of my host family via phone--the minibus from Guatemala City happened to drop me off no more than two blocks from my new home. After wandering around a bit, I came upon several very nice young men standing on the streetcorner and I said: ¨Excuse me, I am from America and I cannot seem to find my way. I have this very large backpack which is full of very heavy ...

... s definitely a party place, therefore it's a ghost town during the day. Everything was closed. We ended up in a shopping mall nearby eating at BK. Since it was dark already, in order to return to our hostel we had to ask the same cellphone favor to a guard in the mall.

Our plane leaves tomorrow in the afternoon so we're planning to go to the zoo and the museums near the airport.

Guatemala city is a place of marked contrasts.

... us celebrate Brittany's 21st birthday. There are 16 of them staying in a famous writer's house less than 50 yards from ours. We went swimming, listened to music, and played card games under the tiki hut for the majority of the night. The highlight of the night was seeing one of the active volcanoes spew magma. The skyline was dark but we could see in the distance red magma coming out of one of the many active volcanoes in Guatemala. It was an awesome night!

... crazy time around here. Last week I borrowed Rob's Lonely Planet for Central America (on a shoestring) and started to do some really general thinking about how I'm going to conquer Southern Mexico to Nicaragua. Also figured out that money will be tight, or at least considerably tighter than I expected. Just to remind you, I'll be taveling through Southern Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and spending some more time here in ...

... down this mountain road. To put you all at ease it really wasn't a bad road and there wasn't 2 way traffic but it was Ivans worse nightmare and it will probably take him a week to get over it. We made it to the bottom without burning the breaks out and needing to use the emergency ramps to his huge relief. Antigua by night fall was stunning, with low rise houses all in neat and tidy roads over cobbled streets. I ...

... happen in the first place. Basicamente, most victims of the 80s violence were indigenous (around 83%, I think) and Mayan burial rights are, to the Western mind, inconceivably important, tying to ancestral communication and the like. So long story short, the forensic lab in the City was a really profound and strange experience, but certainly invaluable to further understanding this complex country. From Guatemala City, we drove some 6 hours to El Estor. Stay tuned for the next episode.