Guatemala Trip - Antigua

14 33 14 N 90 43 48 W

A couple we met at the Marina had been on a trip to Guatemala and while they were away some thieves broke into their boat and stole much of their electronic equipment (many thousands of dollars worth as boat equipment is very expensive).  The thieves also threw a small party in the cockpit eating all the food in the refrigerator – they did leave a small piece of cheese.  Entry was gained by a simple screwdriver – they undid the screws holding the latch closed and even left the latch, screws and the screwdriver so the owners could repair the damage – very thoughtful !!!  We tried to make the boat as secure as possible including borrowing a motion detector from Jan.  The chimes sound more like a welcome than a warning but hopefully will give them a fright and they will think twice about entering the boat.  Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The Gods were smiling on us the day we left – the first bus that came along was a “directo” to San Salvador.  There are approximately 15 Zacate buses to 1 San Salvador – catching a Zacate bus takes you 1/3rd of the way then you have to change buses – which means a hot dusty walk, a wait and a guaranteed no seat for the next 1.5hr journey.  The city bus station is about 12kms out of the city so you either have to take another chicken bus or get a taxi to your destination.  We bargained with a taxi driver and got a ride to the International bus station, bought our tickets for the next day’s 5.5hr ride to Guatemala City and then went in search of a hotel we had read about.  The International bus station offers good accommodation on top of the bus depot – they really have a captive audience as most of the buses leave in the early hours of the morning – 4am, 5am and 6am (as ours did).  Our small hotel was 1 block away and lovely.  We had a new room (off the workshop and above in the roof) with air conditioning.  No hot water and the cold water was freezing – it was a good wake-up for Don at 4.45am!!  We were told to be at the bus station at 5.30am, once there our tickets were checked and we were allowed to pass the armed guard to go downstairs to where the buses leave.  The bus arrived, everyone waiting had their tickets checked again and then boarded the bus – our tickets had been checked and we were just about to set foot on the bus when a young attendant stopped us, yelled something in Spanish and told us no!!!  Our bus was going to Nicaragua !!!  It was in the Guatemala bus stall, our tickets had been checked and they were still going to send us to the wrong country.  We had checked the front of the bus but it did not have any destination sign.  A lesson learned.  King Quality Lines have very comfortable buses – the seats have a good amount of leg room with a sort of ironing board attached to the back of the seat in front – you pull the top of it down level with your seat and it allows you to rest your legs in a semi-prone position with a footrest placed at the end – very comfortable and if you lay your seat back – good for sleeping.  We watched The Day after Tomorrow (in Spanish) and another film with Jennifer Lopez that we could get the general gist of.

There are two stops for King Quality Lines in Guatemala and we went to the end of the line – mistake – the first stop would have been closer to the Antigua bus connection – oh well we are learning what not to do next time !!!  The chicken bus to Antigua was great fun – on one side of the bus there is a bench seat for 3 people, the other side a bench seat for 2.  The aisle down the middle is extremely narrow and you can only negotiate your way down by walking like a crab – sideways.  We took the double seat thinking no one would want to squeeze in next to us !!!  Wrong….  The bus hustler insists everyone must sit – my sneaking suspicion is because the erratic driving would cause people pile ups.  Everyone had to squeeze in tight, the remaining few inches of a seat was used for the first 3 inches of another persons bottom – similarly on the other side which meant these aisle seated people met in the middle so tightly that they just stayed put (i.e. 7 bottoms on 5 seats) – no personal space in these countries !!!  I had to laugh – although there wasn’t enough room left for my lungs to expand – the bus drove at a very fast speed and it was ALL corners – everyone in the bus leant one way – I watched as the heads and shoulders were propelled with G force strength to one side of the bus to negotiate a long sharp corner, then back the other side – no one fell off their seats as we were packed in too tightly.  Thank goodness these ex-American school buses were built so solidly and stable. 

Volcan Pacaya

As we left the bus a tourist representative introduced himself and asked if we had encountered any trouble getting to Antigua, he said Guatemala’s main income was coffee but they were trying to change that to include tourism – they have a long way to go when it comes to security and have employed numerous tourist police to help make Antigua safer.  He did give us some warnings and escorted us to our hotel.  He explained that our planned trip to the volcano had to be this afternoon (in 20 mins) or not for another week – the students at the Spanish schools have the choice of visiting the volcano on Saturday and the Chichi market on Sunday.   Armed escorts have to be organized for the volcano hike.  After 7.5hrs on two buses we really didn’t feel like getting on another for a 2.5hr ride to the base of the volcano but in true Aussie spirit we grabbed some food and water and off we went.  The students were like students everywhere – enough makeup to do a masquerade ball belle proud, enough metal piercing to send the airport security alarm off and enough noise and excitement to keep us fully awake.  There were only a few other oldies like us. 

Antigua is known for its Spanish Speaking Schools – they are called immersion schools – you pay approx $65 – 100 per week for tuition of 4 hours per day 5 days per week then another $65 for 1 week board with a Spanish speaking family (hence the immersion).  It is very popular with American students who need a second language for some University courses, and of course travelers like us.   The kids were all showing off their Spanish but soon swapped back to English so they could out do each other in noise and tall stories.

The hike up the volcano was difficult – we were told anyone can do it – they have had 80 year olds do it !!!  It is a switchback track with only the last 40 mins being a difficult climb over sharp and broken lava rocks.  The local villagers offer horses for the ride up and the local children rent out sturdy bamboo sticks to help.  Unfortunately we arrived in Antigua without any Quetzals (Guatemalan dollars) so we couldn’t use the horses or support sticks.  We began the hike up and I fell behind almost immediately – the kids and men took extra horses up with the pack hoping to get slow or tired hikers to relent and hire the horse for the rest of the trip – two targeted me, I had one horse nudging my shoulder all the way up – I had horse drool all over my t-shirt – and next to me was another villager with his horse, both kept asking if I wanted a horse yet – when I declined there answer was “maybe soon” !  I was hot and tired but no different to the younger members of the group.  

The horses were very well behaved – they walked amongst the hikers with the dogs weaving in and out of human and horse legs – it was a motley crowd.  Our armed guard disappeared with the front group leaving a couple of locals on horses to guide the slower ones.  The horses stopped where the lava began and everyone had to walk.  Negotiating the lava was very difficult – it was extremely sharp, uneven and broke off easily.  After a 40 minute hike uphill we were amazed to see flowing lava – a new flow that hadn’t been there just 20 minutes ago !!!  It was very hot under foot and we had to keep moving to find cooler areas so the soles of our shoes would not melt.  If this had been in Australia or USA the area would have been chain linked off to stop stupid people injuring themselves and we would have been charged a fee to look at the lava from a safe distance – probably through a telescope just in case the volcano threw out some rocks !!!  

To be able to jump across lava flows and cook marshmallows and sausages in the heat was amazing.  We peered down cracks to see red hot rock and lava underneath – I felt unsafe and didn’t want to stay very long – it was too hot.  As the sun set and the area became dark the glowing lava brightened – it was spectacular. Negotiating our way back down was both extremely dangerous and difficult – everyone arrived back without twisted ankles, pure luck I would think.  On the trip back to Antigua we were astounded to watch thousands of people lining the main road walking slowly towards Antigua – the line went on for kilometres – very dangerous on the narrow road and in the dark.  The shuttle bus dropped everyone back at the market – not so good for us as we had been picked up from the front of our accommodation. It was now 10pm at night with no idea how to find it again!

Antigua – the city of Churches

The next day was the tour around Antigua – the town is 1km square and boasts many churches.  Most were built in the early 16th century, then destroyed when a strong earthquake hit the area in the 1773.  We walked around six different cathedrals and church ruins – once again the type of area the public would not be allowed near in our part of the world.  After going to church more times in one day than the last 6 years I wondered if my brownie points in the religious area had increased ! 

One of the most outstanding Churches was the Church of San Francisco – this houses the resting place of Hermano Pedro de San Jose Betancourt, a Franciscan monk who founded a hospital for the poor and earned the gratitude of generations.  He died here in 1667,his intercession is still sought by the ill, who pray here fervently.  We were shown how to approach his tomb, reach through the bars and knock three times then slowly place an open palm on the tomb and feel the warmth radiating.  I knocked very gently and placed my palm on the tomb but it felt cold so deciding I hadn’t knocked hard enough I tried again with my other hand – knocking louder and placing that palm on the tomb I think I felt a slight warmth that lasted only seconds.  Hermano Betancourt was sainted by pope John Paul II in 2003.

We were fortunate to be in Antigua on the day of the Procession of the Primer Domingo de Cuaresma (the procession of the first Sunday in Lent).   So that is why all the people were making their way to Antigua.  The Parade was colorful and noisy and we were warned that with what seems like the entire population of Guatemala City descending on Antigua so does that city’s population of pick pockets!!

The next day we caught a shuttle bus to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan.