Crowne Plaza Hotel Guatemala Guatemala City

... translates. So, we´ve been making a great team so far.
From our brief cab ride, Guatemala City didn´t look too beautiful. We
saw a lot of sketchballs and a lot of hookers. Near the end of our
ride, our cab driver told us that the neighborhood was ¨muy peligroso¨
and to be careful. When Susan curiousy asked him what ¨zona¨ it was (GC
is divided into zonas), he cheerfully replied Zona 1. AKA the zone
where our hotel was. Awes. All in all though, our hotel is pretty ...

... We had lunch in a cute little Italian restaurant, and headed back to the hotel where we met our driver. From there we went to Pacaya.

Volcan Pacaya is a volcano located about an hour from Antigua. It has been active for at least 20 years, and up until recently you could go see a river of flowing lava. We did not see any lava rivers, but we came close.

For starters, the group of people that came with us was ...

I will cut the suspense. The street fried chicken was only a poor decision on taste.

I wake up refreshed and hopefully caught up on sleep. A quick shower and I head down for breakfast. it´s a buffet. $5. I eat a lot.

After breakfast we head out into the city to find a hat. The story is that Ashik and Blair are hat people. We passed a few hat shops on the drive down and are obsessed with finding the hat ...

... of us here. Antigua is a mix of locals and tourists. There are lots of indigenous people throughout the city trying to sell various weavings, they are beautiful but we don´t have much room left in our bags. Maybe on the way home. OK, that´s it for now. Looking forward to our trip around the country and will have lots more to write then. Hope everyone is doing well! Lisa and Céline!!

... the road. After climbing and twisting in lush green vegetation and at one point the road literally becoming an unstoppable market, the road just stops and you wind down to what seems like the middle of nowhere to this quaint little river town called Lanquin. There is an infamous place to stay called El Retiro. All the gringos stay here and you end up meeting people further into your journey who have this place in common; drunken stories, bed bugs ...

... intel on what would be the best way. I felt instantly at home in his taxi as a mix of bachata and regatton was coming from the radio and blasting out of every car we passed. We didn't pass many as he was very concerned about speed and wouldn't do more that 40km :) I thought the Lonely Planet had said that people in the city drove like mad men. Ivan was very much a cautious driver. In the plane Luis (sevillian man) had ...

... dramatic. But frankly, I´ve seen more dramatic eruptions from a tomato ketchup bottle. The photo of the eruption looks good, but I´ve got a minute long video of it that only a chartered accountant could possibly find exciting. By the time we got down the mountain we were ready for a soothing dip in the hot springs. Unfortunately, when the bus arrived to pick us up, it was full of Americans. The only good thing about having to listen ...

... juxtaposed as the rest of Guatemala. Many Latin American cities have a phenomenon where the rich and poor, seemingly disorganized and organized exist in very close proximity of one another. In Canada, it's just far less pronounced; it appears more equal, at least superficially. Yesterday I saw an actual slum for the first time. As striking as that was in and of itself, it was just as shocking to see the context of the slums. Instead of the slums being ...

... out in the main square, which is a pretty cool place, so I booked up to go climb Volcano Pacaya in the afternoon :o) I was picked up fromt the hostel by a clapped out old mini-bus and we headed for the volcano which is around a 45minute drive from Antigua towards Guatemala City. About 20minutes into the journey heaps of smoke started billowing from the engine!! Everyone jumped out of the van and the driver had a quick look ...