Crowne Plaza Hotel Guatemala Guatemala City

and caught a bus to Chichi. Sort-of.<br>First, was pointed towards a taxi who told me it'd cost $75 to get to Chichicastenango. I'd heard the most I'd have to pay was $30. But he warned me about the unsavory nature of the "publicos" and their "ladrones" (thieves). Then we came up with an alternate idea... he'd take me to Antigua (former capital) for $25, then I could catch a bus for $5 to Chichi from there.<br>...<br>

... pesos and we were good to go. There was an Argentinian lady on the same shuttle as us who helped with translations and what not. I think it would´ve been a different story completely if she hadn´t been there to help.<br><br>So off we went in our second minivan. Driving through Guatamala was absolutly breathtaking. Words cannot even come close to describing the scenery. We were surrounded by mountains, sheer drops on either side with deep valleys on the side ...

... little difficult to drive.<br><br>Lots of tourists here, and felt kind of safe.<br><br>Yesterday we climbed the volcano Pacaya, a 2 hours hike. It started in the jungle, and ended in black sand, all the way up to the lava. It was really scary, we could hear that there was nothing under the dried lava, and could see some lava flow underneath us.<br><br>Everybody was inches away from ...

... of curves in the road.<br><br>We arrive at this beautiful lakeside town. Lots of colour. Lots of stray dogs. Lots of tourist shops. We can´t get a great view of the lake, it has been raining and misting all afternoon so the lake isn´t fully visible.<br><br>We get to the hotel and check in. Lynn (Team Leader) and her friend Alexia greet us and our little group grows to eight. After a quick shower we meet back at ...

... the camera. But we never experienced or saw any dangerous situations. In the way we found some interesting places like a art school that is located in a big colonial building. There they teach from painting to sculpture and ballet. The environment was incredible! I'd love to have a school like that in San Jose. <br><br>For a moment we got lost, and we found a huge theater. We thought it was a tourist attraction because we saw the door ...

... the once enormous Convent of St. Catherine. Further up the Avenida is the fully intact Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Merced (Church of Our Lady of Mercy). In my opinion this church is the most beautiful structure in the city and probably the country. Again, there was a steady procession of wedding ceremonies. During the walk to La Merced, I was able to enjoy the various street performers taking advantage of the traffic restriction and ...

... one across rd from Monteverde - Too many American eco-tourists Panama : Budget (High) Panama City Bocas Del Toro **Additional costs: Scuba Diving: Honduras $400 Spanish lessons: $185-$300, live with Spanish family one week inc 3 meals/day $60 Cross from central to south America: $400 Refer to http://www.travelindependent.info for more info

... 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 ...

... wonder why these countries would agree to such a thing anyway? It seems like a lot of travelers start in Guatemala and that the countries to the south are getting gypped out of their fees. The landscape changed dramatically near Rio Hondo, Guatemala. All of a sudden there were lots of cacti! There was one type that looks like organ pipe cactus that intrigued me because the tops ...