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Parasites and Volcanos
Entry 37 of 172 | show all | print this entry |
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Well I´ve been here now for three days, Antigua in the south of Guatemala, nested between two volcanos, one which is active.
We left Lago Atitlan a bit later than expected, it was that sort of place. After a short boat ride through a misty lake and a 2 hour bus journey to Antigua we decided to stay in the first place we found, which wasn´t that great. Hey I only paid 1 pound for the night. I did go out for a couple of drinks that night but nothing to big. The following day I was on a mission. First get some money, then find a new place to stay and then get Felicity to hospital, she was still sick from Mexico City. After finding a better place to stay called the travellers inn, I got her arse out of bed and got my first rikshaw (no sure how to spell it) to the hospital. Quite amusingly we found out that she had a parasite which she managed to get four drugs for, the hospital was an old reminder from home, a sanofi hypertension chart. Its been two days since then and she is miles beter. In fact she named the parasite ´Jack´ after a creepy bloke she meet in Mexico City.
After the hospital trip we meet up with friends from San Cristobel and booked a volcano trip, later that day we walked around the market and some of the churches. Antigua is the old colonial capital of Guatemala, but the most interesting thing about it is the ruined churches after a series of earthquakes. Later that night we went of a salsa bender. Lots of rum and coke and salsa dancing later we decided that it would be a better idea to stay up rather than go the sleep. Stupid idea!!!! The next morning we left at 6am in a group of 7 to go to the volcano. After no sleep the 3km trek up the side of the volcano was not plesant. We walked through thick forest to a clearing and a viewing point. The volcano had a major eruption only 3 months ago and had fresh lava fields which could be easily seen from the viewing point. The next 30 minutes were some of the craziest and probably most stupid in my life. We climbed down the side of the cliff, follwing the local guide and onto the lava field. The heat was immense and you I could feel my walking boats heating up. Check out the pictures and I can´t wait to show everyone the video when I get back. We walked over pretty hard rock, but in areas where this was cracked you could see the hot rock below. After a short walk we got to a lava river, very impressive and only a couple of metres away. Theres a picture of me next to it trying to cope with the sulphur and heat. Back on proper land I was glad of the fresh air, before I took off my stinky boats. Later that day in the jungle hostel everyone watched a chick flick (love actually) and that night after one beer I was nakered.
Today I have visited alot of the ruined churches after a long lie in. Tonight we are going to a bbq, all you can eat for 2 pound and think it will be a big night as we are leaving for Coban tomorrow and some of the group are going to Honduras. We are going to Semuc Champey, which all travelers have been raving about. It doesn´t get a big write up in lonely planet so I think we have found something not widely known. Only problem is we have to get a chicken bus to guatemala city in the morning, somewhere I don´t paticularly want to go. More thumbnails ...
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