Cacique Inn Panajachel

... in itself. I've read plenty of stories about driving in developing countries and none of it is a surprise, but it's one thing to read about it... it's another to actually drive in it. The chicken buses play a big role because they're so ubiquitious. Their drivers know every square inch of their route, I'm sure, and they waste no time whatsoever in covering that route. They drive like the logging trucks in the Pacific Northwest in the US, except they have a ...

... all male, weirdly), scurried around setting up speakers and testing music like frantic frat brothers preparing for a party during welcome week. We watched. And we drank. And drank some more (gotta get our money´s worth!). Eventually, around 9:30, people began to stream in. By people, we mean dudes. All the employees were male, and now all the patrons were male. And it may (just may) have been all the cerveza, but Teddy started to imagine that ...

... a painting class with Gaspar (a Kakchiqel Mayan man).

Guatemalan Independence Day Sept.15 --- parade

Leaping off a two-story high cliff in San Marcos into Lake Atitlan's blue waters

October 4 Panajachel Feria, San Francisco de Asis. Munching on thin, salted plantain chips, riding the ferris wheel of death, feeling sorry for the incredibly drunk men in the square, marveling at fireworks from the church square and also from the balcony in the Barrio Norte.

After we finished classes on Friday, John and I made our way down to the Mercado Minerva in Xela, where we hunted down a bus headed towards Panajachel. I say hunted because, unlike modern bus terminals, this one (and many others in Central America) consisted of a large parking lot with lots of old US school buses. Known locally as ´chicken buses´ these buses are typically painted in bright colors, then packed to the gills with people and, perhaps, the goods ...

... the marshmallows for roasting). We’ve paid 50Q of 90 to the tour company (£4ish) and I’m going to decide in the morning if I can go. It IS a 2 ½ hike at altitude but I REALLY wanna do it. It’s just a shame my body is trying to fall apart at the moment and that I’m currently taking an assortment of most of the drugs we brought with us (although not the HIV PEP thank god!)

... mother, Sara, agreed that this is a great remedy. I take 12-15 drops in water or juice and force it down; two doses yesterday and one this morning. But, ta-daa, I feel better today! Yesterday was quite boring, I cannot understand how one could spend more than 4 hours watching TV, but I couldn't do much except groan and stay in the fetal position. I watched "Scoop" (Woody Allen), "Dangerous Minds", ProjectRunway, National Geographic Special on ...

... of the wares sold in Antigua, some of which you will have to wait until we get home to see (!) We bought some dodge dried/sugared fruits (still not sure what exactly they were) fresh Pinapple, Mango, Lychees, and dragon fruit at the market for 10Q (around a pound) which made a messy and delicious lunch :D Not to mention the ceviche from the market Anwen:'the lime cooks the prawns’

Sarah: ‘Are you sure?’ Jury’s still out… ...

... or so we enjoyed a scenic ride back to town. On our last day we were contemplating crossing through El Salvador instead of Honduras when a crazy homeless man came running through the streets calling out the MS13 gang name in Spanish (El Salvadorian gang), we took that as our sign and decided on Honduras. Days later we were to be told that a guy was murdered at the door of our Hotel just days before we had stayed there!

I enjoyed the chance to sleep-in and got up around 10am to have a free breakfast. I didn't do a lot else other than visit the café Y tu pina on the corner next to our hostal to get sandwiches for the volcano climb. We left Antigua around 2pm and were detoured because of some big religious procession. At the Pacaya volcano visitors centre we were offered walking sticks (yes, actually sticks) by tens of kids. The climb ...