January 1

I arrived in Guatemala after a reasonably uneventful flight, smooth customs process and a short wait for my luggage, My first impression driving from Guatemala City to Antigua was that Guatemala reminds me of Peru. Much of the architecture is the same, as is much of the poverty.

I am staying at a cute little hotel called Hotel Casa Rustica, which is very close to Parque Centrale. I recommend it to any traveller. I have a cute little room with a private bath and a hot shower, plus free wireless access! Like Peru, toilet paper goes in a waste basket and not in the toilet. But, unlike Peru, the water (at least at this hotel) is at least safe enough to use for brushing your teeth, and filtered water is also available for drinking. Also, you'll notice that the roof is tin and not sealed, which can make the room quite cool. However, nice thick warm blankets are available. The hotel can be noisy, but that's going to be true no matter what hotel you are in if you are in Antigua itself. Daryl (the owner) is fabulous - very knowledgeable and attentive. The hotel also has three dogs, two of which are from the same litter (named Laverne and Shirley! - it's Laverne in the picture) and one older one (named Stripey).

Donald met me there and we did a quick tour of the town, grabbing good Guatemalan coffee at a little place on the Parque. Guatemalan coffee is grown in the shade and so can not be farmed as other coffees are, so it is not very common. I also picked up a cell phone. For 150 Q (about $20 USD) I got a little Nokia with 100 minutes (from Tigo), and no contract - not even a record of my name! Long distance simply costs more minutes. Actually, 100 minutes gave me about 60 minutes to the US, and 100 minutes only costs 100 Q (about $13 USD). There were fire crackers and fireworks as part of New Year's Day celebrations, which we could see from the hotel. We then ended up at Las Palmas for dinner (four doors down from Casa Rustica).

January 2

Today was freezing! It was cloudy all day with a cold wind. (The picture of this was taken from a window near my room.) Everyone commented that this was really unusual. I also was woken up really early ih the morning - around 4:30am! It turns out that I can sleep through city sounds like cars and bars and church bells, but I am woken up by roosters!

We started the day with breakfast at Cafe Condessa. I recommend the oatmeal pancakes, which are served with fresh fruit and coffee (about $7 USD). Don also ordered a luicuado mixte (mixed fruit juice), which was wonderful. We then went back to "my office" - a hammock in the court yard of the hotel (yes, that's it in the picture). We broke for lunch and went to a little taco place (Tacos Orales) where I had 3 sausage tacos for 10 Q (about $1.30 USD). The twon was described in the Lonely Planet as "impossibly cute", and it really is! All the streets are made from cobblestone. (Though be careful crossing the street - cars, tuk tuks, bikes, etc., do not stop for pedestrians.) The buildings are brightly coloured. The people are friendly (at least by day and in the center of town). The afternoon was spent in my office, at least until a little after 5pm, when the power went out! Recommendations for Antigua in January: bring a warm fleece, warm socks and shoes, a wind breaker for over the fleece, and a torch or flashlight. I am sadly missing the windbreaker.

We met a girl named Giselle and she joined Don and I for supper. Even though the power was out, Las Palmas was still serving food as they use gas for cooking (although coffee and tea were not available) and use candles for light. Even better, they have a small inner room wth a fireplace, which we were lucky enough to sit beside.

January 3

Breakfast was found at Cafe Condessa again - this time Huevos Guatemalecos with fresh fruit, asesome whole wheat toast, and coffee. Back to "the office" for work, then a break for lunch and to browse the city taking pictures. The sun was out today, but the wind was still cold. There was even snow on the top of the volcanoes, which hasn't been seen in over 12 years (that's Vulcan de Agua in the picture above, though it's hard to see the snow on top in this photo). We went to Cafe Sky, which has a roof-top deck so you can eat in the sun (that's Don on the roof-top deck, an Cafe Sky is the blue building, both pictured above). We wandered through the back streets some more, then back to the "office". At least, up until about 5:30 when, again, the power went out! And, again, I recommend warm clothes and a torch.

Below are some of the photos I took of Antigua:

January 4

A relaxing day today. We went to Rainbow Cafe for breakfast (which is where this picture was taken). Worked in "the office" for a bit, followed by a leisurely lunch at La Pena. If you get to go here, make sure you get the Licuada del Sol - it's name is apt and it is delicious!

Don and I went to Monoloco (Crazy Monkey) for a huge plate of nachos. Get the Nachos Apolyptica, which have spicy ground beef, roasted sweet corn salsa, pico de galo, cheese and guacamole. It's very good! All guys are frisked for weapons when going into the bar (at least at night) - a reminder that even though Antigua is cute and reasonably safe, we are still in Guatemala and there is still a lot of gang violence. The interesting thing that happened while we were there is that there was an earthquake! It was strange, because I felt the ground move, and my first thought was that I wasn't drunk so it couldn't be my head! Followed by seeing if the bench I was on was wobbly. Followed by wondering if there was someone running and making the floor shake. An earthquake just never entered my mind! Talking to Daryl later he said that Antigua tends to get earthquakes if there is about to be a big change in the weather. Hopefully that means it will be warmer soon!

Another tip about traveling in Guatemala that I learned tonight - try to always book directly through the hotel, rather than through sites like hotels.com. First, you'll often get a cheaper rate - if the web site charges a $10 booking fee, that's significant when your room only costs $30. Also, many hotel owners in Antigua own multiple hotels so when you book, you might be placed in any of their hotels, not necessarily the one listed on their web site. (Antigua is so small that the locations are generally only within five minutes walk of each other.) There have even been cases with some local hotels where a tourist will spend $70 for a room at one hotel and be put in another hotel where the room is only $40 (but they won't be given the $30 back!). If you are travelling with other people who are booking their own rooms, and you want to be in the same hotel, make sure you put a note in your reservation that you want to be in the same hotel as your friends. (I got to exercise my limited French helping Daryl explain this to two couples who only spoke French and who had booked separately on venir.com, so were at two different locations, although within two blocks of each other.)

January 5

Up at 3am in order to catch a 4am shuttle to Copan Ruinas in Honduras. The shuttle takes about 6 hours, including a brief stop for food (and bathrooms!) about half way through, and a longer stop to get through customs. Customs was interesting. There is an agreement between Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador (and possible Nicaragua) with regards to traveller visas, where you do not need to get a new visa. However, you still need to stand in line for customs, pay a fee (10 Q), maybe or maybe not get a stamp (I got a stamp, but it was not a proper visa), get a small piece of paper with hand written notes that you have to return upon leaving the country, and pay another 25 Q. Customs is complete chaos, so be prepared and be patient! Also, there are some sketchy characters here offering to change your money. Believe it or not, they are supposed to give better rates than anyone else, so get your money changed while waiting in line!

In Copan we splurged on a nice hotel - a little B&B (Casa Del Cafe) on the edge of town (reached via tuk tuk - see the picture), for approximately 986 lempiras (about $50 USD) for a double room including a nice breakfast. The pictures here are of the view from the hotel courtyard. It's about a five minute walk from the town square, and is very quiet, with private hot showers, wireless network access, lots of hammocks, and free coffee all day.

We then went to the Copan ruins (about a 20 minute walk). These ruins are much smaller than Tikal, but are known for the amount of detail they have. The price was $15 USD for admission, and we paid a further $15 USD to go into the tunnels. The pictures below give you an idea of the ruins and some of the carvings. The first two pictures give you a sense of size and the overall ruins. The next two are closer shots of the ruins - note the different colours of stone in the wall. The next four show some of the detail for some of the carvings - amazing!! The next two show the tunnel and one of the tunnel carvings (not all were behind glass like this one). The last two are of the critters (peccaries and guacamayas, or large parrots) that can be seen at the entrance to the ruins.

We walked back to the town and went to Twisted Tanya's (see the picture to the right) for supper, meeting the Tanya of Twisted Tanya's while we were there. She is quite a character, and absolutely fabulous! If you get the chance, go to Twisted Tanya's. It's a funky little restaurant, with great food (though a bit pricey for the budget traveller - 736 lempiras for the two of us, but that was one three-course meal, two soups, water, beer, and two Irish coffees) and great music. If it's on the menu (the menu looks like it changes daily), get the broccoli and white bean soup - it was amazing!!

January 6

Up early for breakfast at the hotel, followed by lazing in a hammock chatting with another traveler (Olga). We then wandered through the town for a bit before catching the shuttle back to Antigua. The picture on the right is one of the main streets in Copan. Below are a couple of pictures from the square (Parque Centrale) in Copan (note that the guys all wear cowboy hats here, which is not seen in Antigua), and a typical scene walking up the street to the square.

Crossing the border back to Guatemala was uneventful, having to only turn in the piece of paper we were given yesterday. We arrived back to Antigua around 5:30pm and went out for pizza and red wine at Papa Zito's. We then called it an early night.

January 7

Mostly worked today. Had a late breakfast at Cafe Sky, and stopped by the jade factory on 4th Calle. I have to go back with my camera. There is a huge store there, as well as the actual factory in the back and a small museum. The first thing you notice walking in is the multiple guards with military shot guns. Jade is mined in Guatemala and comes in several shades, ranging from nearly white through different greens to nearly black - but also in lilac and blue! It is a very hard stone (7 on a scale of 1 to 10) and so difficult to work. It is also very expensive!! (Small carvings tend to start around $100 USD, with lilac and blue stones being much more expensive.) The jade factory has a good web site where you can learn more about Guatemalan jade. One interesting fact came from chatting with one of the sales representatives while browsing through some of the carvings of mayan and aztec artifacts. Apparently it was widely believed that the mayans had never invented the wheel. However, artifacts have been found toys that have wheels (something like a rocking horse on wheels), showing that they knew about the wheel but it was just never practical to use given the hilly nature of the area and the system of canals they used for moving materials.

Apart from that, Don and I grabbed ice cream from Cafe Opera (two scoops - mango and chocolate - yum!) for 30 Q each. I spent the afternoon working, then we grabbed a late supper (3 tacos, plus guacamole and rice and chili renello and cheese and refried beans plus a really neat drink - hibiscus (called jamaica), which tastes something like a smoother cranberry juice - all for 65 Q, or about $8 USD) and called it a night.

January 8

First of all, this picture is for J. "Punch buggy orange, no punch backs!" I'll collect when I get home. :)

I also ran back to the jade factory today and took a couple of pictures. The first is the entrance to Jades S.A. and the jade factory. The second is one of the factory workers polishing a stone. The factory has special tools for working with the jade, since jade is so hard. So, for example, the grinders are all dimonad. It takes about 15 days to carve a little statue (about 4 inches high). And all of the statues for sale in the store have been signed by the person who carved them.

January 9

So this is too cool! Someone I know mentioned in late November (before I knew I was coming to Guatemala) that she was doing a trip to Peru with a friend over Christmas holidays. So I emailed her a link to the photos J took while we were there. She happened to email me a couple of days ago to say that she had a great time, and mentioned that she was currently in Guatemala! One small flurry of email later, and we met up today when she and her friend (M and 'en) arrived in Antigua for a couple of days!! Too cool!! We ended up going out to Monoloco for supper and drinks, and spent the night there. Monoloco has two levels, with the upstairs level being a bit more quiet. When we went downstairs, we found the real party, with people dancing on the bar! We closed Monoloco and then found an afterhours bar for another drink before calling it a night. (Sorry - no pictures from that night!)

January 10

Quiet day today. Slept in. Had a headache. Slept some more. Had breakfast. Had a nap. Had MacDonalds! (And actually started feeling much better after that! Although I felt crappy walking back to the hotel with my Big Mac and walking by four different people asking for money. Poverty here is so different than in New York.) Don and I met up with M and 'en later in the day for supper (pasta at Las Personajes), followed by ice cream and calling it an early night!

January 11

Up early to catch a 4am bus - ugh! Don and I went to Rio Dulce for the day. The town is called Fronteres, and I really liked it, although Donald described it as a dirty little town. To me it seemed very... human. It reminded me of towns in Mexico - just a strip of shops along the street. Rio Dulce is a very nice river that has a lot of sailboats, and there are a lot of places to stay along the river, with lots of sailors. Don and I spent most of the day "just sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time." Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures I took, trying to capture the atmosphere of the place.

January 12

Monkeys! I saw monkeys today! Real, live, wild, in their natural habitat monkeys!

Okay, taking a step back. Don wasn't feeling well, so I left him behind in Rio Dulce and went on to Tikal, after a leisurely morning (with no shower, since there was no hot water). I took a second class bus to Flores, the most interesting point of which was when we had to stop at a checkpoint, where they were checking to see if you had any fruit! The other interesting thing that so far I've only observed from a bus (so no pics yet) is the cemetaries here. They are above ground (like Mexico), but instead of being white they are all painted in bright colours, like purple and yellow and blue. The cemetaries almost look happy!

Anyway, I was staying that the Jungle Lodge, which is right in Tikal (see the picture on the left). I arrived, and as I was going to check in, I happened across some people staring up at a tree. And there were monkeys! So cool!

For the traveller, Jungle Lodge is nice, but expensive. I had a private room with a shared bath and a boxed breakfast the next day for $43 USD. Plus 150Q to enter the park, plus $18 USD for the sunrise tour. The room was sparse, but spotless and comfortable, and the bathrooms and showers (always cold) were clean. Power is only on for limited amounts of time in the morning, about an hour in the afternoon, and four or five hours at night. You can also grab supper in the lodge or, if you are cheap, go to one of the comedors that are about a five minute walk away. I had a ham and cheese sandwich (toasted), 1.5l bottle of water and banana licuado for 55Q.

January 13

My wake-up call was at 4:15am to catch the sunrise tour (meeting at 4:30am). It is interesting having to put your contacts in with only the light from a torch! (Oh yeah - if you go to Tikal, bring a torch, Deet, Purel, and a fleece.) We hiked for a while back through the jungle to temple #5, then climbed that. About 50 people come out for the sunrise tour all told (in staggered groups). You sit in silence at the top of the temple, above the jungle canopy, and watch the sun rise. Well, at least, that's how it's supposed to work. Except it was foggy when I was there (see the picture on the left). Still amazingly cool though! You get to listen to the jungle wake up, the most amazing part (to me) being listening to the howler monkeys mark their territory.

The tour continues with a tour guide who tells you about the history of the place, archaeology, flora and fauna. It was actually quite interesting. (I was in a group with only 11 other people.) And the guides are good at picking out animals and birds and pointing them out to you. (I even got to see a toucan, like the Fruit Loops mascot!) The tour lasts until about 10am, and then you can continue to wander around the park. I have a bunch of pictures below of the ruins, to give you some idea of what the place is like. I wish I could have seen it in its prime - apparently it was plastered and painted in lots of colours, and the jungle would have been cleared away.

Oh, and I my way wandering through the jungle in between ruins (Tikal is huge!), I saw more monkeys, so took pictures of them. You can see in the last picture a mother monkey and her baby.

After touring Tikal, I returned to my room, showered (cold!), and checked out (check out isn't until 1:00pm, which is really nice). I relaxed for the afternoon reading a book, enjoying the sun, and watching the jungle (see the picture on the left). Then a crowded shuttle ride back to Flores, where I waited to take the overnight bus back to Guatemala City.

Flores I had heard was a cute little town. It is cute, but very small. There was a party and basketball game going on in the central square while I was there, and there were a LOT of police out. I went hunting for a place for just dessert and coffee (I had a craving for pie!), but had no luck finding one. So settled for a hotel/restaurant instead (which was more like a hostel). I ended up chatting with a basketball player from Belize who worked as a Customs agent, so that helped pass the time.

January 14

I'm back in Antigua now, and spending the day catching up on work. No real excitement I'm afraid. I did go to Cafe Condessa for lunch and had a fabulous soup - Xochitl - which consists of noodles (something like vermicelli), turkey, jalapeno sauce and avocado. It's amazing! I also wandered through one of the larger stores (something like a market, but open and airy), but didn't take any pictures (or buy anything). There were also some fireworks tonight, which I could watch from a hotel window near my room. So that was a nice way to end the evening.

January 15

Worked all day today. Such a boring life! However, there was a fair amount of activity around the hotel as Daryl prepared to go help with Children of the Americas, with which he volunteers every year. The actual event is next week, for one week. Unfortunately, I won't be here to help out. Also, tonight there was a huge fiesta, including an amazing amount of fireworks. Rumour has it that there is a new mayor, hence the celebration.

January 16

Worked all day today, but then went out to La Pena tonight for supper and to watch a band, which was pretty cool. La Pena is a great little bar, with fabulous drinks (like coconut lemonade). The band is pictured below. The white guy on the end playing the bongoes is named Bill, and he owns the restaurant.

January 17

I took today off as a vacation day and spent the morning shopping! (Well, ok, more like browsing, since I didn't actually buy anything yet!) Don and I took a tuk tuk to Pastores (25Q) to shop for leather. Pastores is known for making leather goods, especially cowboy boots, but also hats and belts. And I got to take a chicken bus (2.5Q) back to Antigua! My first chicken bus ride! I love the chicken buses! They are like the school buses you used to get to elementary school, except that they are crowded with all number of people, and you can smoke and swear and get off through the emergency exit in the back. The richer companies even paint the buses in funky colours and patterns. (Actually, try to get on a bus that has chrome like this, since the theory is that if the company can afford chrome, they can afford to keep the brakes fixed and the engine working! Otherwise the buses can be a bit sketchy.)

After Pastores I spent some time browsing through the market (without Don, who did not want to shop!). I went through the artisan's market (meant for tourists like me), which was ok, if a bit empty. Although the one neat thing was that, on January 17, they were just taking Christmas decorations down now! But then I went through the local market next door, and that was fabulous! It is the closest thing I've seen here to New York City! It is busy and crowded and absolutely amazing! The aisles are narrow and it's easy to get lost, and everything is sold here: I saw dried fish and shrimp and fresh fish and chicken (out in the open, no refridgeration) and lots of fresh fruit and clothes and shoes and watches and children's bikes and toys and everything. Parts of the market are indoors and dark with small aisles and parts are outdoors with wider aisles but also with trucks and cars and motorbikes. The women here are amazing, with bright clothing and children on their backs and wares on their heads. I even saw one woman with a basket on her head containing two live chickens. (And she was heading for the chicken buses! :) ) The chicken bus station is just behind the market (do not go here after dark), and between sections of chicken buses there is a section where guys are making wooden furniture. The place is absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend it for the Guatemalan experience. Oh, and the other neat thing - this is the first time I have ever been the tallest person - I could see over everyone in the market!!

In the afternoon Don and I took a trip to climb Pacaya. Pacaya is the volcano pictured to the left, and it is still an active volcano (you can see the smoke coming out at the top of the volcano in this photo). There are two trips per day to climb the lava fields, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. From Antigua the cost is 75 Q for the shuttle and another 40 Q for the tour. When you get off the shuttle you will be accosted by children selling torches and walking sticks. If you don't have a torch with you, you will want to buy one - you come back down in the dark. Also, the walking sticks are 5 Q and are well worth it. The lava fields consist of very sharp rock, so it's hard to use your hands when climbing over them. Instead you can use the stick for balance. The kids have a great racket going on, actually. You buy the stick for 5 Q, climb up, climb back, and then the kids accost you again to see if you want to give up your stick, so they can resell it to the next tour.

There were 13 of us in total on this tour group. Our guide led us on a very brisk tour up the side of the volcano. You can ride a horse ("taxi") instead, although the horses looked like they had seen better days. The climb is about an hour and a half straight up through very dusty paths, so make sure you are in reasonably good shape. At the top you come to the lava fields (left), which consist of sharp, black rock and another very brisk, very challenging hike heading into a right setting sun (so that it's ever more difficult to see) to get to the lava. There is actually lava flowing under the rock you are walking on, and at times you can see the red from it between the folds in the rock. At the end of the tour you come to where the lava is flowing out of the rock and down the side of the mountain (see the two pictures below). You are actually within about 15 feet of flowing lava!!! It's really pretty amazing!!!

Of course, it is also amazingly hot, as well. Including the rocks you are standing on. So you need to have thick soled shoes. I wore my hiking boots there, but made the mistake of standing for too long (about three seconds) on a rock that was too hot, and the glue holding my soles to my shoes melted. The boots you see to the left are what I then had to wear to scramble back down over the lava field and down the side of the mountain - not fun! Oh, and did I mention that by this point it was dark, too?

January 18

Don and I went out for breakfast today - to a macadamia nut farm just outside Antigua. We took a chicken bus there (I love the chicken buses!), and browsed through the farm. It is possible to get a tour, but those seem to be arranged through travel agencies, and not on the farm itself. The farm has a lovely space where you can sit outdoors and eat (see left), and breakfast consists of fresh fruit and pancakes (with blueberry sauce, macadamia nut butter, and fresh honey). It was very pleasant and the food was very good. The farm also sells products made from macadamia nuts, such as face creams, butter, chocolate-covered nuts, candles, soap and honey.

The pictures below are of the macademia nut trees, showing their flowers and the actual nuts, along with the nuts drying in the sun before being cracked. On many farms (although not this one), coffee is also grown under the macademia trees, and so the farm is actually able to produce two products. The first picture is actually a stand of bamboo that you walk through that separates the farm from the road.