Guatemala: 18th November - 1st December

I got a bus from Cayo to the Guatemalan border, changed money and crossed over. I was immediately surrounded by people offering to take me to Tikal, offers starting at around US$40. I laughed at them and said I'd find a bus, which I did, well a minibus, which for US$3 took me to a town called El Remate, about half way. From there I had to find another minibus which would take me the remaining 35km. A friendly local guy stopped a couple of passing vehicles for me but they weren't going to Tikal. He had to go about his business, but he asked this little kid, who had been watching, to help me find a bus. Several minibuses went past, but each time the kid said "no va a Tikal". He kept telling me there was a bus coming at 3.30pm (it was now about 1pm) and that I should go for lunch while I waited. I was hungry so after half an hour or so I agreed. He took me to his mum's restaurant where I had a lousy meal of half cooked rice and vegetables. As I was eating, several more minibuses went past. As soon as I had finished and paid, I went back to the road; five minutes later a half full minibus went past. I flagged it down and asked "Tikal?" "Si" said the driver. So I climbed in and off we went. Basically that little shit in the photo had lied to me to drum up some business for his mum. Still, you have to admire his business acumen, don't you?

Tikal is another Maya site, I think the most impressive one I have seen. The temples here are taller and steeper than anywhere else, and they are hidden deep, deep inside the jungle. From the top of the Gran Pyramid, looking across to Templo II, the jungle stretches as far as the eye can see. Howler and spider monkeys play in the canopy, parrots, vultures and toucans flit between the trees. It's an amazing place.

I hired a tent and slept at the campsite outside the entrance, so that I could visit the ruins again the following morning. I found this tarantula crawling around at night not far from my tent.

This is El Templo Del Gran Juguar, one of the most impressive temples at Tikal.

Coatimundis, a relative of the raccoon, are another example of the wildlife at Tikal. They rummage through the grounds in large packs looking for their favourite prey of nuts, roots, insects, and discarded sandwiches.

View from the top of Templo IV, with Templos I & II visible poking up through the jungle canopy.

After Tikal I spent two nights in the town of Flores. It is built on a tiny island in Lake Peten Itza, and is a very picturesque place with gorgeous sunsets and an air of peace about it that is only shattered by the...

... bloody Indian autorickshaws that cough and splutter their way up the steep cobbled streets, belching fumes and kicking up the dust. Still they are a cheap, fun way to get around.

Although there is little to do other than take boat trips on the lake, Flores is a charming place, full of little surprises and eccentricities. Like dogs that wear T-shirts...

...and joint-smoking coconut hombres.

In Guatemala, tourism is huge business, but because of the country's perceived lawlessness (a not entirely undeserved hangover from earlier, more dangerous times), most travellers make use of the many tourist shuttles to get from place to place. These are very convenient, are usually as cheap if not cheaper than local transport, and offer some peace of mind against roadside hold-ups (although one argument goes that tourist shuttles are more at risk of hold-up because of their high value cargoes). However the downside of the shuttles is that you end up with almost zero interaction with local people as you zip from town to town, hostel to hostel in your nice air conditioned Toyota Hiace shuttle. And somehow it's just not as much fun when you don't have to make the perilous journey from hotel to bus station (always located in the cruddiest, most dangerous part of town), nor use your very limited pigeon-Spanish to try to find out which bus you need and when it's leaving, nor indeed is it as much fun when you don't have to keep your concentration at 100%, your hands on your wallet at all times to foil pickpockets and your eyes glued to your stuff to make sure it isn't quietly spirited away while you're looking out at the beautiful Guatemalan scenery. So for that reason, I decided to make my way from Flores to Antigua by means of regular buses instead of the shuttle that most of the other backpackers chose to use. So as not to arrive in Guatemala City at night (where I had to change buses, and by all accounts not a place you want to be out in after dark), I broke my journey south at the half-way point, a place called Rio Dulce. I spent the night in a strange hostel underneath the giant bridge that spans the river. This shot is looking across the river as the sun went down.

So, early the following morning I got on a bus to Guatemala City, changed buses there for Antigua with no problems (I had heard a lot of scary stories about Guate, as it's known) and arrived late afternoon in Antigua, the former capital. It's a very attractive city of cobbled streets, brightly painted houses, and various ruined churches and monasteries, remnants from the various earthquakes that have struck the city periodically over the centuries. Antigua is ringed by three giant volcanoes, one of which, Volcan Fuego (not the one behind me, that's Volcan Agua), is still active and regularly sends puffs of smoke and ash up into the sky behind the city.

After a couple of days vegetating in a great hostel in Antigua, I was ready for the next challenge. That was to be a climb of the active Volcan Pacaya, an hour and a half from Antigua. We started climbing mid afternoon; the view of Antigua's volcanoes was breathtaking. Here you can see Volcan Agua, with the more distant peaks of Fuego and Acantenango to the left of it.

After about an hour's climb, the summit cone of Pacaya came into view, along with the vast lava fields that have poured from it. And there in the centre, an active lava flow. That's what we were heading for.

My group (there were lots of groups, at least sixty or so people were making the climb) reached the start of the lava field just as the sun went down. Climbing up the razor sharp, crumbly lava was hard work. We had to cross maybe four or five hundred metres on the solidified rock, til we reached the molten stuff. It was flowing slowly but steadily down the side of the volcano, a river of fire about five metres wide. You could get as close to it as you dared; there were no barriers and nobody telling you where was safe and where wasn't. I got to within about six feet - that was close enough for me. Other people were within touching distance, and some toasted marshmallows on sticks held out above the flow. As the night grew darker, the sight got more beautiful, as you can see in the photo. By the time we left it was pitch black, and what had been a difficult walk up the dried lava became positively hair raising on the way down. In the dark, we could see that the cooled lava we were walking on wasn't actually all that cool, as every few metres we were crossing small gullies that were still glowing red.

Next day I moved on, to Lake Atitlan. The lake fills an ancient volcanic caldera, and three more recent but now extinct volcanoes surround it and make for absolutely awesome scenery. I spent three nights in Santa Cruz de la Laguna, with great views across the deep blue waters to Volcan San Pedro.

Another view of the lake, this time from the village of San Pedro on the opposite side to Santa Cruz.

Another view of Volcan San Pedro from Santa Cruz, shortly after sunset.

Back in Antigua, I spent another day there doing some business (mostly writing this web page you're currently reading) before heading on to Honduras. Here is another gratuitous volcano shot, this time from the bus terminal. The buses are actually retired US school buses, fondly known as "chicken buses" in Central America, although I never saw chickens nor livestock of any kind on any of them. Maybe the term has more to do with the courage needed to ride the damned things. I sure didn't fancy riding one of these all the way to Honduras, however, so I cheated. I took the shuttle.

Next page: Honduras
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