Leaving escondido was hard but it was definitly time. In and out of sleep, on and off of buses for a period of almost 18hrs i stepped off the last bus in guatemala city after being rolled for about $50 by some very hectic and annoying guatemalans at the border i didn't want to have to deal with trying to get myself to antigua so i said hey to some other gringos on the bus who turned out to be heading that way, they said i could share a cab with them. Turns out they actually live in antigua and work for a not profit organisation helping disadvantaged kids and know the area really well so they helped me out with directions and places to stay champions!!!! Got to a hostel the black cat ate one of the better club sandwhiches ever (maybe it was that i had not eaten for over 24hrs) and just laid on my bed for the remainder of the night chating with my champion room mates who made me laugh for a good 3hrs straight which was awsome cause it was the first time i had ever been by myself travelling it gave me a good view of the many months ahead of traveling by myself.....
Walking one of the many coble stoned streets of beautiful gringofied Antigua listening to my iPod i was wondering when my old pal of about 2 wks nelson was gonna show up at the black cat hostel but knowing we were in Guatemala i knew that the intail arrival time of about 10am could mean I would be happy if he rocked up that day at all. upon returning to the hostel and having a quick look around i found Nello who was just booking himself in.
Afterwards he asked "so what do u wanna do?" to which i replied "i don´t know maybe climb a volcano and cook some marshmallows or something" the next thing u know we were getting off a bus part way up a volcano and a guide was telling us a couple of things such as how long it will take to get up and the name of our group, no safety instructions or anything "safe".
The first 50metres was the hardest and the Guatemalan guys riding horses yelling "taxi" seemed almost like a grand idea but we pushed on and the climb past some amazing views was not so bad for the next while until we arrived to what looked what i could only imagine the luna surface would be like only with more gravity.
The clouds were whirling past just above our heads but soon after some more trecherous climbing, they were whirling around and below us; wind chill factor much.
The last couple of hundred metres was climbing a step incline of volcanic rock which is actually quite sharp to grab hold of and twisted into all sorts of wikkid formations.
Almost to the top Nelson taps me on the shoulder, points and says "look" and not far off, flowing down the slope was a substance we all know and love, LAVA, freakin yew!!!! not everyday i see that.
When reaching the top not only were we greeted by one of the most spectacular sunsets ever but also an awesome amount of lava just kinda doing its thing and we were practically walking around on top of it.
Was slightly worrying that underneath the already cooled surface lava was flowing 2000 degree rock
we found a decent hole to poke our marshmellows in and started participating in possibly the most epic feast of marshmellows in my life...
after awhile our guide started yelling out our group name and it was time to head down the not so sturdy slope of volcanic rock, turns out in watching the sun go down whilst at the top it was now night time and there was a distintic lack of light which made things much more interesting on the way down, tranquilo was the aim of the game but was quite difficult cause the rocks were loose and sliding could not be helped, my shoes quickly filled with small rocks which i just kinda ignored cause there were greater concerns at hand such as not joining one of the many rocks hurtling down the slope.
After what seemed for ever our group amongst others joined each other in emptying our shoes at the end of the rock trekking and the start of the rest of the trek back through the forest to the bus. The guide calls us back together and counts to see if we were all there he counted 11 we had 12 but he just kinda said close enough and off we went the dark forest back past the not so visible vistas that we enjoyed so much on the way up and trying to take in the unbelievable experience we had just had. Arriving back at the hostel incredibly tired and hungry the kitchen was closed, i was slightly distraut but we were told of a taco place 2blocks that way and 3blocks that way. Biggest and most satisfying taco i've ever consumed it was called the supergringa, an excellent ending to an excellent day!!!!
The main square of Antigua is a little bit special.
More exploration of Antigua brought us to this big old building with a sign out front saying that a very large fountain was within. The lady convinced us that it was well worth the entrance fee. She did however neglect to tell us that the fountain was empty as it was having repair work done.
But this I will share, there was much fun, it all occurred whilst there was no sun.
We heard that we could donate gifts for the children so we went to the market and bought some random toys. i can't remember why exactly but we were drawing names out of my hood.
Crazy times in the dorm room.
The Black cat was a cool hostel with great food and people.
After sitting around the Christmas tree which was pretty epic and the girls opening their presents from each other it was time to go spread the love to the children in the surrounding villages. To give the toys we had bought the previous day out like we were santa.
After parading through the streets in the back of utes like we were special, lead by a police escort it felt weird almost uncomfortable rocking up to give these kids the presents. The day b4 I felt good buying them with all good intentions. It just felt wierd as a group of "rich" gringos rocking up to give out presents to the "needy".
Afterwards i just thought of all the smiling kids and focused on the good intentions and had another beer in the park with some of my new found family because we managed to loose the others as our hunger diverted a select few off path and into macdonlds. The rest of the day was spent chilling out with the crew at the black cat
No comments:
Post a Comment