San Jose to Guatemala City to Antigua (Guatemala)

June 18, 2010

Well, after all the drama at the airport this morning with  American Airlines, I was fortunate to have no problems with my flight on Taca Airlines to Guatemala City at 10 am. I will have to adapt to traveling alone quickly, but it will probably not take long as it is the norm. Not anything in Guatemala City that I wanted to see so I took a shuttle for $10 to Antigua about a 45 minute drive.

Antigua, Guatemala

June 18, 2010

Antigua's setting is gorgeous, nestled between 3 volcanoes (Volcan Agua, Volcan Acatenango, and Volcan Fuego). The streets are cobblestones and the buildings that line the streets are multicolored. The town of 45,000 has a beautiful Parque Central (Central Park) which is the gathering place for both locals and visitors. The plaza's famous fountain was built in 1738. Across the street from the park is the Catedral de Santiago which was founded in 1542, damaged by earthquakes many times and only partially rebuilt between 1780 and 1820.

" I sought to see the amazing as normal, and the daily as unique, and in that swirling paradox, I found the joy of travel."  Mary Poxon

If anyone has any travel questions about this trip or anywhere else please send them to me. After my grandchildren and traveling, talking about traveling is my favorite thing. 

Lake Atitlan in Guatemala

June 21, 2010

Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, if not the most beautiful. Lake Como in Italy has always been my favorite lake until now. While Lake Como has beautiful mountains, beautiful mansions, and beautiful villages, Lake Atitlan has volcanoes surrounding it. Apples and Oranges, I will consider it a tie. To see Lake Como see my Europe blog.

Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlan is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing.  Aldous Huxley

I just finished a 3 hr hike on a path that runs high on the mountains and follows the lake. An English girl and boy from the hostel went along with me. We picked up an unwanted guide along the way. The English girl spoke Spanish and told him we were not interested in a guide but that did not deter him. Luckily for us he came in real handy. The trail had been damaged by Storm Agatha and had washed out portions of the trail. There was one spot when the path was only large enough for one foot to fit on it and it was about a 30 foot fall if your foot slipped. Thinking back on it this was not a very smart move on our part to follow the trail when there was a serious chance of getting hurt. We made it to San Marcos about 3 hrs after our initial departure, quickly got lost looking for the boat to take us back, and finally made it back to the hostel after a 20 minute boat ride. I took over 260 pictures and will post them in about 4 days. The hostel will not allow us to download pictures on their computers.

La Iguana Perdida Hostel

 Tuesday, June 22, 2010 

I will post Lake Atitlan and hostel pictures as soon as I get to somewhere that has free wifi. We can not upload pictures here because it will crash the Internet system.

Great hiking yesterday from Santa Cruz to San Marcos and then straight up the mountain that afternoon to the village. Today it will be watching soccer with the rest of the world and relaxing in the hammock all afternoon watching the lake and volcanoes.

There are houses with beautiful views for $250 a month. A good option in the future for escaping those hot Louisiana summers. Nights here are actually cool and require a blanket while the days are mostly in the 70's.

I leave in the morning to go to Chichiastenago for the famous Thursday and Sunday markets in which the Mayan hill tribes come to town to sell their wares. Soon I will be heading to southern Mexico to see Mayan temples and then back to Tikal in Guatemala for  what is supposed to be the best of  the Mayan temples. I am sure some would argue that point.

Chichiastenago

Thursday

I finally was able to upload pictures of Lake Atitlan so if you have time please check out the 15 pictures that took 2 hrs to upload due to slow internet service. I have been in Chichi for the Mayan market which is on Thursdays and Sundays. All of the Mayan villagers come to town to sell their crafts, vegetables, poultry and food prepared in stalls side by side. I will add more info and pictures when I get to San Cristobal, Mexico tomorrow. I have decided to take a shuttle which will take me to the border and anothe shuttle picks me up on the other side. It is about twice as expensive as taking the chicken buses but this border crossing and the trip to it can be hazardous. Anyway all the backpackers at the last 2 hostels were all taking the shuttle so I might as well. Save me some time also not having to make lots of connections.

Chichi to San Cristabol, Mexico

Friday June 25, 2010

Got up at 5:30 am for the 7 am shuttle to San Cristobal, Mexico. Nightmare. 11 hours and a flat tire later we made it to the hostel at 7 pm. Should have take the chicken bus and risked being robbed. lol
Hopefully post pictures later.

San Cristobal, Mexico

Saturday  June 26, 2010

Beautiful city. Just watched the USA lose to Ghana in soccer and be eliminated from World Cup. Soccer never means as much until you travel out of the States and then it is everything.Wonderful group of Irish, English and Americans on the road where I am.