Hotel Pan American Guatemala City

... terminal, and we got there before things there were open. The driver told us in Spanish that he would wait with us because the area at night is really dangerous. He didn't mind letting us sit in the taxi for fifteen minutes and it was awesome that he was looking out for a couple of foreigners' safety. Tips aren't expected down here but I made sure he got a few extra Quetzales for keeping us from getting robbed at that ungodly hour.<br><br ...

... rouse myself at 6am to climb nearby Volcan Pacaya in expectation of encountering lava flows into which I could throw things and poke sticks - Guatemalan safety standards being what they are. Alas, a landslide three days beforehand put paid to my hopes of getting up close and personal with the lava, leaving me instead to simply admire it from a distance. That's not to say it wasn't interesting - the rocks from where we were ...

... saw some friends, and went out that night. Met some good people. I stopped by the Zamora residence again and saw Marta and Nico. Because they don't speak English and they probably will never read this: it was terribly, terribly awkward. It was great to see them but man, that was awkward. <br><br>Early afternoon on that last Sa*************ed to Guatemala for my very last stop in Central America. The last glimpse of Antigua, the last chicken bus ride, the last ...

... the next day. We went to dinner at an upscale guatamalan restaurant and I had the cheese fondue and a fantasy tamale stew. Afterwards we headed to a bar next to our hotel that had some live music and a dorado ice promo. We ended up having one of each type of Guatamalan beer and all of the variations (Gallo, Dorado, etc. etc.). We ended the night on the roof of our hotel with more beers.

... just took it for granted and thought coffee beans were just similar to cocoa beans. I was very wrong. Our guide walked us through the entire process before we got to taste the amazing Guatemalan coffee. Good coffee and an amazing view... nothing is better than that. Day two proved to be exciting an intense. My friend Chandler and I signed up to hike the Acatenango Volcano and camping trip. We began our day at 8 am and drove past Antigua to begin the ascent. Our camp was ...

... there textiles in the US. I wished her the best in this endeavor. We arrived at the airport at 10, which gave me plenty of time to check in and grab a bite to eat. I lucked out when at the ticketing booth I was offered the exit row seat without any additional charge, how can I pass up the opportunity for the extra leg room. I think they wanted someone who can speak English ...

... south. We got there and kids immediately hassled us to buy walking sticks, all the old Danish tourists with us bought them for 5 Quetzals each but we knocked them down to 5 for two, which is about 20p a stick, a fair price I think. Also loads of guys with horses followed us all the way up the 4km steep trek up a dust track and the ash slopes knowing that the tourists would all crack at some point and they could charge them the earth for a short horse ride. Lucy acted as ...

... both simply ridiculously nail-biting, the road up to Plan de Sanchez was crazy, largely because we were driving a road wide enough for a pickup truck in a bus. Something like 15 minutes in, our bus, unsurprisingly, didn't have the muscle to climb the frickin' mountain. We all get out of the bus and start walking. The bus gets going again, but gets stuck again only a few ...

... squeezed" is particularly apt - the American man to my left was extremely large. Tom was sat next to a stunning Ecuadorean lady, which enabled him to get his second Hispanic e-mail and phone number of the trip. Rather bizarrely, she gave him a pack of cigars. Initially I thought that this was bizarre. But as we came through customs, past a pair of excitable sniffer dogs, I wondered if there really were cigars. I gave Tom a wide berth and ...

... house. I'd like to see them in the daylight. Paula had an ESL class to teach last night and left soon after I arrived. I was home with her husband, John, and son, Mathew. We had beef stew for supper and watched TV for a while. I showered and went to bed before Paula got home. We were planning on leaving at 4am. She and John were concerned that we might run into traffic on the way ...