Antigua, Guatemala
Well I just couldn´t believe Miami airport security. They take eye scans, finger prints and I had to go through this special chamber thing which blows air at you and aparently checks for explosives.
Luckily all my flights were on time and I had no missing baggage to contend with this time.
Guatemala City was quite a shock. I have never seen so many army, security guards and police with every type of weapon imaginable. I was looking for a restaurant one night and asked a soldier for directions - he seemed quite bored so decided to walk and help me look. I looked behind and his entire 8 man squad were following us with sub machine guns and pump action shotguns. Far from feeling safe you actually just think you don´t want to be around if it ever kicks off.
Spent a day looking around but there wasn´t much really to see there. Spent a while looking for the bus stop to Antigua only to discover that the Lonely Planet was out of date and the buses did´t come right into the city centre anymore. The street numbering system also took some getting used to. One good place I did visit was the presidential palace which had a free guided tour around it.
Next day I took the local bus to Antigua which was one crazy experience. The buses are old converted US school buses and what I didn´t realise is that they literally stop on every corner. I was the first one on but by about 10 minutes into the journey the bus was jam packed and they kept stopping for more people. The bus driver was mental and because of the bumpy roads you bounce around all over the place - every bend must be taking at even faster speed than the straights. Needless to say I was quite glad when we reached Antigua. I found a cheap back packer hostel to spend a couple of days before I could book in to the hotel to start my Central America trip. On the first day I signed up for a trip to the Pacaya active volcano. The trip left bright and early and it was quite a walk to get up there. It was too dangerous to climb right on top but the lava actually came out of the side of the volcano and we could get right up to it. We also walked on an area where the lava was in the process of cooling every now and again you would look down a crack and see flames. There was smoke everywhere.
When I got back to town I decided to have a look around Antigua which is actually a really nice place and such a contrast to Guatemala City. There are lots of brightly painted buildings and cobbled streets. There are also lots of historically buildings which are partly ruined because the place has been hit by earthquakes. I found a couple of good bars including Sky bar which has excellent sunset views of the city and an Irish bar where I met a good bunch of people.
Well I have just met up with the new tour leader and a few people starting my trip and have changed hotels which seems quite an upgrade from the place I´ve been staying. We leave bright and early in the morning to go to Rio Dulce.
Luckily all my flights were on time and I had no missing baggage to contend with this time.
Guatemala City was quite a shock. I have never seen so many army, security guards and police with every type of weapon imaginable. I was looking for a restaurant one night and asked a soldier for directions - he seemed quite bored so decided to walk and help me look. I looked behind and his entire 8 man squad were following us with sub machine guns and pump action shotguns. Far from feeling safe you actually just think you don´t want to be around if it ever kicks off.
Spent a day looking around but there wasn´t much really to see there. Spent a while looking for the bus stop to Antigua only to discover that the Lonely Planet was out of date and the buses did´t come right into the city centre anymore. The street numbering system also took some getting used to. One good place I did visit was the presidential palace which had a free guided tour around it.
Next day I took the local bus to Antigua which was one crazy experience. The buses are old converted US school buses and what I didn´t realise is that they literally stop on every corner. I was the first one on but by about 10 minutes into the journey the bus was jam packed and they kept stopping for more people. The bus driver was mental and because of the bumpy roads you bounce around all over the place - every bend must be taking at even faster speed than the straights. Needless to say I was quite glad when we reached Antigua. I found a cheap back packer hostel to spend a couple of days before I could book in to the hotel to start my Central America trip. On the first day I signed up for a trip to the Pacaya active volcano. The trip left bright and early and it was quite a walk to get up there. It was too dangerous to climb right on top but the lava actually came out of the side of the volcano and we could get right up to it. We also walked on an area where the lava was in the process of cooling every now and again you would look down a crack and see flames. There was smoke everywhere.
When I got back to town I decided to have a look around Antigua which is actually a really nice place and such a contrast to Guatemala City. There are lots of brightly painted buildings and cobbled streets. There are also lots of historically buildings which are partly ruined because the place has been hit by earthquakes. I found a couple of good bars including Sky bar which has excellent sunset views of the city and an Irish bar where I met a good bunch of people.
Well I have just met up with the new tour leader and a few people starting my trip and have changed hotels which seems quite an upgrade from the place I´ve been staying. We leave bright and early in the morning to go to Rio Dulce.
posted by Phil at 2:27 AM
1 Comments:
Sounds cool!
Jen
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