Hotel Posada San Pedro Antigua Guatemala

... in saunas--a dry earthy heat that at once soothes and also stuns your senses. The rocks under foot got larger and larger, and I could feel that they were hollow and seemed frail. They didn’t make the deep thunk that rocks normally make when you step on them. Instead, they had a hollow echo and were so fragile, the guide recommended poking them with a walking stick before stepping, so that our leg ...

Jim left yesterday taking his cute little Hackentosh computer with him so I'll not be able to upload photos here until I get home. I will be able to upload some to my Facebook page so some of you will see them there. This morning we joined the local historian Elizabeth Bell for a 3 hour walking tour of central Antigua. It was very interesting and I liked some of her terminology - like the ...

... Antigua honestly quickly seemed kind of uneventful and a little bit tiresome. After all, you can only spend so much time on the internet every day, and even though you are visiting different cafés, it just more of the same. But my favorite spots have been here at Fernando's Kaffee, Luna de Miel (where I had an excuse for speaking French and not Spanish) and Rainbow Café.

We also spent some afternoon going to the market, and yesterday I ended ...

... now it was almost dark, and we had to navigate our way down the lava rocks only with the help of our flashlights. I only think I stayed at the top for 3-4 minutes – others lingered around for much longer. But Eliane and I were determined to get down to where I got off the horse as soon as possible. We decided to take another way down than the one we took up. But that meant sliding down – as slowly as possible – while we created small avalanches ...

... On the other hand driving any faster would seriously damage the suspension of the cars due to the very uneven cobblestones.

The cars here come in all types, shapes and colours. There are newer fancy cars - actually saw a Hummer the other day - and near wreckages. However, the most impressive vehicles are the chicken buses, which are old American school buses turned into local public transport vehicles. Often the name of the school they used the serve is still ...

... very loud and very pushy but we eventually managed to get through them. There were seven of us altogether including the two of us so it was a nice number. Our guide lead us up the mountain which led to the volcano stopping along the way for water breaks and to show us some of the sights. Our Spanish lessons came in handy here as your man spoke no English. I felt very proud of myself, was able to understand the majority of what he was saying - yeay! The ...

Antigua is known for its active Volcano Pacaya, tourists flock here to roast marshmallows over the lava and melt the soles of their brand new running shoes off. Unfortunately this was not my purpose for visiting the town. I needed to get Wesley back up to 100% mechanical shape. For anyone who has been to Spain this town is very similar, cobble street roads, and buildings still standing since 1543.  This was the original capital of Guatemala until an earthquake took it to ruins ...

... the crowds on 5 Avenida. After I booked my tour with Adrenalina and congratulated the owner of having such a prime location for his business, I stopped into a local pub, Reilly's, for a few pints and some pub grub. Other than my initial disappointment that they did not have Guinness on tap, I enjoyed myself in this Irish Island in a sea of Spanish extravagance. The bartender recommended I come back Sunday for their trivia night...apparently it is the ...

... metres behind us taking pictures and later told us we affirmed his decision to be single. We also rented a dug out canoe to see what it was like. This mostly involved capsizing it whilst the locals laughed at us. It´s a lot tricker than it looks. The indigenous people float effortlessly above the water making no sound. We look retarded. Enough of that, we left for not sure where the next day.

... the dorm was on the street the traffic noise was terrible. Add to that the folks who forgot their key and were banging on the door at 2 am...I was not a happy camper. And, icing on the cake, no water or electricity in the morning, OK, the electricity was out everywhere due to extremely high winds that precipitated a cold front...but I decided to find another hotel ASAP. And ...