Villa Real Plaza Quetzaltenango

... for quite a while looking for rides, climbing into the back of several pickups and doing quit a bit of clambering around on narrow/ no existent paths through the forest. There is a reason I carry a machete and that reason is that the places I go on the farms are often so isolated, that the path has to be cleared to get to them. I guess using my machete on crutches to climb around would take me to the hardcore traveler level. <br><br>I have a few options then I ...

... realising this i became fearful and bolted off the white hot, hollow, volcanic rock )with lava flowing underneath) to safety. Poor old Esther became aware that she has balance issues and fell down many times, bashing and cutting her arm. It was stunning though.<br><br>So here we are now in Xela, caught the chicken bus with 2 other Englsh guys and went out last night for hookas and spirits and had a lovely night with some locals.... hope all is well, lots of love x x

... in Xela has some kind of artistic talent or another, whenever you get up in the morning there is always someone around the house playing guitar, painting or hanging out in the cafe below our house. Having this constant flow of people has made it a lot easier to make guatemalan friends, we had an amazing day for Hannahs birthday - the teachers at our school got her a pinata, her teacher seranaded her with his guitar and our whole house made a big dinner ...

... br><br>They have great food and coffee here. The beef is not that great but there is so much that is I don&#8217;t mind. I am also learning to like some different foods I was not a big fan of corn tortes before I came here but they are different all home made and fresh and there great. <br><br>Guacamole is anther one there is this little old ladies that comes to our school on our 10:30 break that sell us food real cheap. she has something ...

... a country club to drink Pina Coladas, poolside, with peacocks. Several peacocks (or royal turkeys, as they call them here) Im still mulling that over in my head. <br><br>In other news, my bag got stolen out of my house this week. With my new bank card in it. It happened Wednesday night. The good thing is, we found out who it was and so I get all my stuff back and they have to pay for all the charges that were rung up on my card that night. It was really random ...

... energetic and has the loudest voice and laugh ever, which she chooses to exercise late at night or before 6am. She has also had stomach issues the whole time we´ve been there and since we´re sleeping next to the bathroom we´re well acquainted with her regular and loud bowel movements. Despite all this she is a lovely girl who takes the time to speak to us v e r y s l o w l y in Spanish, patiently correcting our speech or trying to understand us when ...

... with a moustache as well. Stupid tourists.......... <br><br>We got a great insight into village life and took lots of pics of locals going about their business and the bright yellow churches were amazing to see. We also found out that almost all of the houses in the village are apparently illegal fireworks factories. One house actually blew up not so long ago. I wonder if someone lit a dark purple candle for Saint Simon......

... definitely a bumpy but unforgettable experience. We booked a hostel for our first few nights here, but when we got here the hostel was actually fully booked, but luckily (or some good karma coming our way) we met an american lady on the street whose daughter had just renovated a large house in the hills close to the centre, so we went to check it out and its pretty awesome! its like a litte hideaway, but with a lovely living ...

... side of the Santa Maria, to a riverbed below. From here, it would be ´flat´ as we crossed over the riverbed to the base of the Santiaguito. The next step was to ascend the volcano. Now, the volcano has actually expanded over the last... 20 years or so. From our view, the crater has progressed to the left, leaving behind a trailing mountain of lava and volcanic ash. So, from the riverbed, the goal was to ascend this mountain on the non-crater side, and ...

... the door open, screaming the destination out the door, trying to recruit more passengers. The market itself is pretty large, and different than other markets I´ve seen (although I hear this type is typical). Most importantly, is the way that clothes and shoes are sold. See, everywhere else I´ve been, shoes are sold in pairs. A left shoe, and a corresponding right shoe. Here? Shoes are sold in piles. The pile of shoes might be 5 feet wide ...