29/12/2010

Throughout the night locals were firing fireworks and fire crackers consistently and dangerously for their prayers, this went on all night and by the sounds of things more and more people were gathering… none of these people slept during the evening and we were consistently awoken by the sounds of firecrackers and smell of gunpowder that seemed right beside us and indeed they were right beside us because later in the morning all the debris from them were no more than 10 meters away from our heads. During the night I could have sworn I heard gun fire and I was right again as some of the locals we met in the morning were Guatemalan rebels and were possessing hand guns that they showed us… scary stuff.

Hopping out of the tent after a pretty restless night (not as ill rested as Edwin) just before sunset I looked around to see a hundred or so people surrounding us… people who arrived during the night to celebrate the end of year and prey for the new year. All eyes were on me because of my hair but the locals we met, including the rebels were all very nice despite me not speaking the language and I was even offered breakfast from this guy who spent some time in the USA. It was such an experience.

The hike down the volcano was much much easier than on the way back and instead of taking 2 days it only took us 2 hours, but that’s also walking in the right direction.

We were joined by some young locals on the way down that got annoying at times but they were ok.

At the base we got some beers and some burgers in celebration of completing the hike and made our way back to Xela via San Marcos. The journey from the base of Tacamulco to San Marcos Edwin and I hitched in the back of a pickup truck and passed a market where the locals around (as always) starred at us with those curious and dumbstruck eyes.

We grabbed dinner at the market again back in Xela and tried to book accommodation in Antigua but everything over new years was fully booked… we are just going to wing it tomorrow and see what happens.

 

   

Sunrise views and the hike down the highest point in central America.

28/12/2010

I actually slept really well last night because of the warm down sleeping bag I aquired when camping in India but I cant say the same for Edwin, his blanket was handmade and lacking any type of comfort what-so-ever.

After cleaning up camp and eating a small portion of our rationed food of crushed bread with jam we backtracked for a little while found a mountain ridge that seemed like it was heading in the right direction, I guess this is why people pay $40 for a guide.

Ill never admit we were lost but thankfully this ridge took us in the right direction and we found the path everyone else took to the top of Tajumulco.

The path up to the volcano only got steeper and it took us a very long time constantly gathering our breath every minute or so. Locals would pass by us strugglers without catching their breath like we were all too often… it seemed pretty pathetic.

Finally when we reached the top of the volcano beaten and bruised we found a nice spot to set up camp in a small gully surrounded with volcanic rock.

There were a surprising amount of people at the top but this is because it was an annual tradition to prey for the next year. Good thing we arrived early and were able to find one of the best places to camp.

Here on the volcano we were above the cloud layer, it was a breathtaking panoramic view and I took a lot of pictures especially during sunset.

Later we cooked up dinner – pot noodles, egg and tomato – set off the one firework we brought up with us that we thought was an original idea but later found out was not(as ill mention on tomorrows blog post). It was so cold when the sun went down and we went to bed early with only a dozen people with campfires surrounding us – on top of Tajumulco volcano – 4220m up.

Edwin above the cloud layer

 

View in the afternoon yesterday

     

The views!

The Hike up and inside the crater

   

Preparing camp – food, accommodation and keeping warm

 

   

The beautiful sunset

The firework we brought up

At the crater pano - Tajumulco

27/12/2010

Edwin and I got up at 7 to start the hike early, we didn’t know it was going to take 3 modes of transportation to get to the base of Tajumulco Volcano but it wasn’t expensive only setting us back Q20 each.

We didn’t get any breakfast before getting on the first 2 hour bus ride so when we got to the base of the volcano we were staved, the only thing the small shop at the base offered was pot noodles, we both downed two each and started the hike up a dirt path.

It was quite difficult carrying the water and food necessary for the trip but it was needed.

Along the way we passed a few family homes where we were attacked by small children trying to take our belongings and avoided the barking dogs.

We strain fully climbed one of the mountains beside Tajumulco taking directions from locals who were pushing donkeys and horses down the hill telling us to continue up in the direction they were coming down.

The views at this point were very nice with the landscape showing great panoramic views of the country side.

Taking a route we thought was going in the right direction in the hopes to reach the top of the volcano before sunset turned out to be very wrong. The route we took winded around a neighboring mountain to the volcano and in no way towards Tajumulco, this trip was only planned to be one overnight job but we decided to ration the food and water and make it two nights.

We set up camp right next to a path that we were hiking where cows looked at us confused as they passed by… of course where there are cows there was also shit, we moved as much of the cow dung away from the flat area where we wanted to pitch up the tent, then gathered some wood for a fire and took some pics during sunset.

Unfortunately the sunset set behind another nearby volcano but the views surrounding us were still incredible. I know it doesn’t sound like much but we set off on the hike at midday and pitched up our tent just after 3pm, hiking at this altitude with all of our belongings, food and water was exhausting, we took a lot of breaks and to be honest didn’t really cover much distance.

It got cold when the sun went down and when the fire smoldered we pissed it out (not the smartest thing to do as it stinks) and we crashed out… both Edwin and I squeezing in my tiny tent that should only be suited for one.

 

Panoramic view of the surrounding area of Day 1 of hike up Tajumulco

HDR of surrounding area of Tajumulco

 

26/12/2010

Edwin and I got up early this morning so we could make our way to Quetzaltenango which is the second largest city in Guatemala and also close to the base of Tajumulco volcano, the highest peak in the country; this is what Edwin and I are going to hike up in the next couple of days.

We checked out of the guesthouse and hopped on a ‘chicken bus’ that took us an hour and a half around the lake where we boarded another bus to get us to Quetzaltenago (also called Xela).

We arrived in the early afternoon where we found a cheap guesthouse and checked out the town… there were a lot of markets about but not most of the shops were closed because it was Boxing Day.

The hike up the volcano tomorrow will be cold so we found a market selling cheap secondhand clothes and I went all out and spent the equivalent of $1.25 for some warm socks, gloves and a pair of fleece tracksuit trousers.

Dinner was delicious that we bought at another market and we also gathered some food from the supermarket for the hike tomorrow.

 

Edwin and I on the bus

  The bus station in Xela beside the main market

25/12/2010

My god was I hung over… I didn’t get out of bed till 1pm.

Sebastian, Edwin and myself went out for food at the same place where we ate last night and I got BBQ chicken with rice and salad with a fruit shake all for only 30 Quetzals.

Included was a free Spanish lesson with the guy who ran the place.

For the rest of the day I watched some films on my laptop and later cooked up some noodles and veg that were left over from Mexico.

Thinking I was too tired to go out this evening I did it anyway after a few Cuba Libras.

I recognized a girl who I briefly met in Oaxaca and chatted to her for a while but fatigue got the better of me so I went home and crashed.

San Pedro in the mid arvo – just after i got out of bed

Some Guatemalan cowboys 

24/12/2010

Christmas eve… this is now the 5^th year since I was last home for Christmas.

The bus journey last night was pretty good and I slept very well.

It was 6am in Guatemala city that is apparently not a good place to hang out because of crime and theft, we had to get a taxi to another bus station to depart to Panajachel which is the biggest town surrounding the Atitlan Lake. The bus station here in Guatemala city hadn’t opened yet and we didn’t want to hang on the streets where the buildings were filthy and rough looking but we were let in the station before it opened and waited for the next bus.

Edwin and I were happy to do this journey because it was so cheap but the catch was that it was very cramped, it was chock of block with more than double people than the bus should carry and it lasted 4 hours in total, it’s a good thing when the bus is over crowded because any mountain road where you would normally slide along the bench seat was prevented by some passenger no matter where you sat.

We were very hungry this morning because of not grabbing breakfast we left GC but thankfully for us people board the bus to sell their goods; like in mexico but unlike Mexico the food here way better – baked mixed fruit pie for only Q5 ($0.75) – so tasty!

The Lake was huge with surrounding volcanoes in the distance, very beautiful.

Seeing all this from the boat ride from Pana to San Pedro (where we wanted to stay) was fantastic and when we arrived there we found some cheap accommodation for only Q25 ($3) a night each.

There were a lot of foreigners here to study Spanish and I think this is the perfect place to do it albeit a little cold in the evenings.

Edwin and I met a German girl (Nika) and a French Canadian guy (Sebastian) who had both been here for a while studying Spanish who also gave me some good advice on where to study. We then wondered around the small market and got some food at one of the traveler’s bars on the main street.

The food there was again fantastic with decent tasting Guacamole and the fajitas I ordered were delicious and to price that is equivalent to $3, I’m certainly not going to complain.

Nika and Sebastian showed me their school that was very tranquil and all the sessions are one on one. This is where I bumped into Andrew who at first I didn’t recognize, I first met him in Tignes, France 3 years ago!… a good friend of friends.

We briefly caught up before I needed to go back to the guesthouse to have a nap before celebrating Christmas later in the evening.

I bought a bottle of rum after napping for a good three hours or so and drank a fair bit of it with some German and Israeli language students whilst watching fireworks around the lake.

The bar was good and I met some cool people there…I don’t remember much of the evening because i got very drunk.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Back in the chicken buses like those in India

 

Like India, Guatemala city is pretty disgusting (is that toilet water he is mopping out of the toilet?)

The day before xmas – is that Santa?

When we reached Panajachel

 

The views surrounding the lake

 

When we reached San Pedro