Pausing Here and There

I can´t believe that this is only my third day. I have done so much already I feel kind of spin-y (is that even a word?)

So, yesterday I woke up early-ish with every intention of doing a morning hike up the active Volcan de Pacayan. I was feeling all full of energy and verve and clomped down the cobblestoned streets of Antigua in my hiking boots looking like I knew where I was going. Well, upon reaching the Cafe Sky (which, like many places is a cafe cum internet place cum travel agency cum spa cum…) I discovered that tours leave at 6:00 in the a.m. Well, boo to that I thought. So, having eaten breakfast at my hotel (yum! huevos y frijoles and cafe), I wandered to the central park where I had spent the previous day. I was a little down, I´m not going to lie. But, I soon met another traveller with the help of Carlos, a young shoeshine boy who I had bought icecream for the previous day and who was bugging me for the same. I told him no with the argument that 8:00 in the morning is not a good time to eat icecream. Anyhoo, the traveler told me that there are afternoon tours and that I should go see the big cross on top of the hill. Ok, I thought. A big cross. I saw one in Texas, why not one in Guatemala.

I wandered around that morning, climbed up the big hill, saw a nice view of a volcano and the big cross (it wasn´t as big as Texas´, which claims to be the biggest cross in the western hemisphere, so I guess Texas tells the truth about some things).

Lunch was an interesting affair at the VERY backpackery Black Cat cafe. They played Sublime and Primus loudly and it was too much a step away from Spring Break for me to ever go back. French fries with guacamole was good though!

That afternoon I went to Volcan Pacayan. Imagine climbing up a very steep hill and then getting to a stopping point where you see the smoke coming off of a lovely cone shaped volcano. You see red lava (yes lava) coming down and the guide makes jokes about how your shoes might get barbequed. Ah, funny you think. Well, it was a nice tour. Time to go down, eh? No. Not the case. You continue up said hill/volcano and now you are much closer to this hot lava. You start to notice that the ground has changed from fine black volcanic ash/sand, to volcanic rock. You start to smell gasses and see steam coming from beneath the land you are standing on. The next thing you know, you are a mere 10 feet from the lava and it´s moving at a remarkably rapid pace, churning and bumping along. It is bright orange and you cannot believe it is real. But it is, and it´s hot. The next thing you know the sun is down and it looks even redder than before. You marvel at it with your fellow tourists and soon, head back down the mountain overwhelmed by your experience.

Then there was today:
1) Try to find the bus station without my pack so that I can navigate more easily when I´m wearing it. Get totally lost in Antigua´s GIANT market full of so many fresh beautiful vegetables and fruit and anything else you might want to buy.

2) Got on the chicken bus to Chimiltenango that was playind such wonder hits as Ace of Base´s I saw the sign and other wonderful early 90´s disco. I want them to install colored lights and mirrorballs. Honestly, they would complement the plastic Jesus on a cross with a peacock feather behind him and the pegasus with neon orange wings that all decorated the dashboard.

3) Get off to change busses to Huehuetenango. “Para Huehue?” I ask and point. I´m directed on to a bus which is full and so I sit on a plastic tub in the aisle until the guy who hangs out the door and yells things comes to get my money and tells me that this bus doesn´t go to huehue. The same guy who nodded when I asked and pointed. He tells me many things in Spanish that I don´t understand and eventually ask passengers until I determine that I need to change busses again at some place called Cuatros Caminos (which I figure out by looking at the map is where four roads meet. Smart cookie).

4) Make the change with the assistance of another guy who grabs my bag and starts running across the street. I follow of course and then he rushes me on a New Jersey Transit bus that then proceeds to sit for 30 minutes before moving.

5) Arrive in Huehue. Use my awesome Spanish to find the local bus to el centro and actually make it to Huehue central! I´m set up now in a dank hotel and after writing this I´m going to eat a big big meal because I´m ravenous.

That´s it for now! Pictures soon I hope.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 28th, 2006 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.