Hotel Panchoy Antigua Guatemala

October 28 is the birthday of a Mayan bad-boy "saint" renamed San Simon by the Catholic Church and venerated by many people living around his birth place, San Antonio Itzapa near Antigua. We went out to the fiesta and to see the many brujas and brujos making blessings using ...

... knowing why, I left Caye Caulker after only one night, regretting that decision as the boat left the island. I went on a couple of streets in Belize City looking for a hotel but feeling intimidated as I walked there in broad daylight so I went to the bus station and took a bus to San Ignacio instead. Past by Belmopan, the capital of Belize, on the way. Belmopan is the world´s smallest capital with it´s 17000 inhabitants and pointless to stay in unless you are a politician, diplomat ...

... that bad, but the view was splendid. Especially, when the sun started shining down on the city.<br><br>Azotea<br>In Jocotenango - a suburb to Antigua - lies Azotea, which is an old coffee farm. We had an interesting afternoon there Tuesday last week, where we visited both the music and clothes museum in addition to getting the entire tour of how to make coffee. It was really interesting, not to mention that I was so proud of being able to ...

... spewing lava, but figured they must be kidding. We would probs be able to see the lava, but not actually get close to it, right? Wrong. Apparently, personal safety is not a big concern in Guatemala. Because, we were standing ON TOP OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO. We were slipping around on porous black volcanic rock and could actually see the red glow beneath us. It was incredibly hot (duh, we were standing on lava), and it was really hard not to fall. Thank ...

... br><br>The streets are all cobblestone - and a very uneven kind that is. I would not like to be a car owner in this city as it must be terribly tough on the suspension. There is really not much traffic and most streets are one-way, which is nice.<br><br>To the south of the city the perfectly cone-shaped volcano Agua is majestically dominating the view - it's magnificent! Antigua is placed in a small ...

... sure it was not the wind, because I felt like I was in a fun house and the building was seriously swaying and creaking. I calmly woke up Teen, "Teen, I think this is an earthquake." We proceeded to run around the apartment like chickens with our heads cut off, not knowing what to do. I cursed the fact that Theo, my volcanology professor, had warned me about being prepared for natural disasters like ...

... actually outside of town and is Volcan Pacaya, one of the most active in central america. It was an easy climb up the side of it (the crater is too dangerous to visit so we only went half way up) but we got to within 1m of a lava flow which was amazing to see. Unbelievably hot and you could see the rocks glowing red deep beneath ...

... those glass airport doors that night. Next time we need to meet someone at the airport we'll make sure we know our facts, e.g. arrival time, flight number, provider, etc. Lesson learned. (Feb. 27) Took Brenda all around Antigua: to a museum with the largest fountain in Latin America, to the market, and to the sweaty, loud 'comedores' (eating stalls). Decided to go to Chichicastenango instead of the lake tomorrow so we can catch the big market that takes place on Sundays.

... of the time being polite but staring at eachother. The fact that our acommodation had restaurants meant that much of the time we hung out with other foreigners. Very different form Mexico. Veronika and Francisco went back to Mexico for Christmas, Mohamed to Costa Rica and Katy and I spent it in Antigua. Christmas Eve is the big day in Guatemala but it's very familial so Katy and I had a hard time finding bars that were open ..... we ended up in 'Reilly's ...

... after the price is well established and the connections well greased and paved. The massive international slave trade expanded from a smaller long-established local one, remember. Many of these anomalies picked up speed during the long protracted civil war when, parallel to the obvious political war on the surface, another thinly veiled war of vengeance and retribution was occurring just beneath. God ...