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home to gang Gara 18 and live volcanos
Entry 37 of 52 | show all | print this entry |
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It took 12 fucking long hours to get from SC to Antigua, Guatemala. And i wasn't that impressed from the second we crossed the border, having come from the gem that was San Cristobal. But after a couple of days i started to like the place. A couple of pals from Canada that i was at school with in Mexico were there too, and we soon settled into the old routine of drinking copious amounts of tequila and smoking an inordinate amount of Mexican grass.
I enrolled in a new school which was about as slick as you can get with outdoor classrooms, tennis courts and a swimming pool and all for the bargain price of 40quid a week! I checked into a luxury hotel for 14quid a night (with cable TV and a bathroom) which trust me is a fucking luxury around these here parts and i started to enjoy Antigua.
They say Antigua is the prettiest city in Central America, and as I am now sitting in a hotel room in El Salvador writing this I'm starting to believe them. Cause trust me when i tell you that This place is a shithole. I cant even go out at night cause its too fucking dangerous apparently (and i don't really wanna the theory) So I'm writing this blog now wishing i was back in Antigua or anywhere else for that matter other than San Salvador!
My new best friend here a fella from Nicaragua, keeps saying to me, ``don't go outside`` cause of the pandilla`s which is the same as the Gara`s in Guatemala.. I.e. gangs and gangsters. ``Peligroso`` is another word that he keeps using alot too, which means dangerous! He keeps laughing while hes saying it too, almost like hes daring me to step outside of the barbed wire fence around the hotel and bus station.
One thing i cant work out in central America is, do they build bus stations in the worst fucking areas of a city possible, or do they build it in the middle of nowhere and then the worst gangs in the world build their homes next door? who knows!!! You gotta love central America!
Sorry I'm digressing (this is about Antigua!!!)
Antigua was great, if a little touristy. Its got a reputation of being the best and cheapest place in central America to learn Spanish and its a short flight for them US so there are loads of Americans, a burger king, McDonald's and even an Irish bar (which obviously was my local for a couple of weeks) And more armed guards than Mexico, which i didn't think was possible... It felt pretty safe to me, but the American i was sitting next to on the bus when i arrived was robbed by six guys at gun point just the week before. He told me not to be out after about 10.30pm and certainly not to have More than a few dollars in my pocket. He didn't even have a wallet anymore cause it kept getting stolen and he was on his third phone! He did however say that the robbers were kind enough to explain what was happening in English, so at least they were respectful of international relations!!
Like i said i saw nothing like that, so i don't have a bad word to say about the place, and id go back anytime!!!
The highlight had to be climbing a live volcano, that was just an hour or so outside of Antigua. I shit you not when i tell you this volcano had lava running down that side of it, you could get so close to that you could stick sticks in it and throw bottles!!! (don't ask)
Me and the Canadian boys decide to head up one weekend with a guide, cause surprise surprise your pretty likely to get robbed there too. The only problem was that out bus broke down on the way and we had to spend 2 hours on the side of the motorway waiting for a new one to arrive. This meant that the sun was starting to set as we began to climb it. Probably not the best thing to do, i.e. climb a live volcano in limited visibility. Shame we didn't think about the way down too!!!
I have to say it was Fucking awesome. It takes about an hour to get to the lava river that is streaming down the side. An hour of jumping over pools of molten lava and crumbling lava rocks and risking life and limb. When you get to the Lava river trust me its powerful and hot... we were right at the bottom of it, where the lava was turning into rocks and then running off down the side... This would never be allowed in the UK... under no circumstances would you ever be allowed anything near this.... only in central America would they value 5 dollars over the lives of a few tourists... This is definitely up there with one of the scariest and dangerous things Ive ever done...
A fact reinstated when the fucking thing erupted when we were on it... It was was time to fuck off, and fuck off sharpish. The only problem is now its pitch black. We had to walk an hour down a live erupting volcano with lava spurting out of the peak with such an amazing force that it was frightening. I cant even count the amount of times we literally had to save each others lives by grabbing onto and catching each other over lava pools and crumbling rock... I shit you not when i tell you i had to throw my trainers away cause it melted them!!!
Only in Central America!!!
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