white hot

We arrived in Antigua after a bit of a nerve wracking drive through the mountains. I think it has been mentioned already that drivers love to pass the vehicle in front, no matter if it means driving into oncoming traffic, or in this case, on a narrow mountain road. I also loved the wide switchback turns. It was a gamble each time - would there be another car in the opposing lane of traffic? Luckily for us, there never was.

So we made it to Antigua, and again were instantly surrounded by locals who tried to direct us to a hostel they were associated with. We found a pretty decent hostel with free breakfast! Yes, that is a wonderful bonus - fresh fruit, pastries and coffee, all for free!

We spent some time wandering around town, looking at church ruins and markets, and ate a lot of meals at an obviously Western-owned bagel restaurant. The ruins were pretty beautiful, if you´re attracted to dilapitated buildings as I am. There was an earthquake years ago which devastated the town, and some time after that the captial moved to Guatemala City, and so did the funding to cover the maintenance/reconstruction of the churches. Fine with me.

For me, the highlight of the trip to Antigua was climbing Volcan Pacaya. Janelle may disagree, as she had a panic attack about a quarter way up, and had to ride a horse the rest of the way. And then she kind of got stranded near the top, alone, for over an hour. By the way, you aren´t supposed to climb without a guide because of the risks for robbery and rape. But she was alright, and I will continue my story..

I won´t lie, it was an arduous climb. When we got off of the bus local kids offered us walking sticks, and it turned out to be an excellent companion. Even with that, we climbed on very ashy terrain, which has the texture of sand, right? So it was tough. Plus, as Mark pointed out to me, my teeth turned a lovely shade of brown from breathing in so much of it.

The trek was well worth it. We made it to a clearing near the top in time for the sunset - beautiful, albeit a bit cloudy. Pacaya is an active volcano, so we could see and hear the flowing lava. We hiked across a lava field - each step was crucial! The lava rock was sharp, and the morbid side of me couldn´t help but think what would happen if the group fell down like dominoes. That´d be a bloody mess. But again, we all made it to the top and back. By the time we started to descend the volcano, it was dark. I brought my trusty head lamp, but with the group of us constantly kicking up ash in the air, visibility was low.

It was definitely the most incredible experience on this trip so far. I didn´t get as close to the laval as others did, but it was still amazing. Areas of the field were white hot, and could be ignited if you tried to stir it up. The temperature went from cold to ridiculously hot in a matter of 25 feet. It was insane.

We are now in Honduras. We decided to bypass El Salvador, at least for now, because of the logistics of it all. Tomorrow we are heading to the Copan ruins. I´m sure someone else up update this soon, with a story about our hot springs adventure today. Hope you´re all having fun at home.

-Julia