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Her folger saa vores opdatering om Guatemala!
Vi har tilbragt smaa ti dage et dette dejlige land og dragger I morgen forhaabentlig mod Honduras! De er jo lidt tossede paa hinanden derovre, saa vi maa se hvordan det gaar!
Well…Vi startede i nord, i den Lille by Flores! Den er udgangspunkt for at se den meget beromte Maya-by Tikal! Det ligger langt ude i junglen, saa man skulle op klokken halv fem for at komme derud tidligt! Med udsigt til ingen nattesovn og flere myg, valgte Charlie at tage en dag paa langs, efter mange travle rejsedage.
Den tidligere Maya metropol Tikal ligger dybt begravet I tropisk regnskov, med vilde dyr og fugle overalt! Det er bestemt et af de mest imponerende Maya-ruiner vi har set. Pyramider straekker sig 70 meter op I luften med udsigt til intet andet end regnskov, og det er svaert ikke at blive imponeret over disse bygningsvaerker som er over 1000 aar gamle. Samtidig med det saa jeg ogsaa en masse fugle og dyr, mange flere end jeg kunne tage billeder af!
Efter en dags udforskning af Tikal tog vi en natbus til Guatemalas gamle hovedstad, Antigua! Denne fornemme koloniale by er omringet af vulkaner og er ved flere lejligheder blevet odelagt af jordskalv og udbrud. Da vi var der, tog det hele sig dog fint ud! Vi vandrede paa den active vulkan Pacaya og stod saa taet vi nu kunne holde ud paa 2000 grader varm lava, og ja, det er rigtig varmt! Men utroligt imponerende at se de kraefter. Antigua I sig selv er fabelagtig flot om minder meget om San Cristobal de las Casas I Mexico, med farvestraalende huse og indfodte folk I flotte klaeder!
Ikke langt fra Antigua, finder man et nyt vidunder! Lago Atitlan, en naermest magisk so beliggende I bjergende, igen omringet af vulkaner. Her fik vi tid til at paddle lidt I kayak og nyde det fantastiske landskab. Guatemala har I det hele taget vist sig som et fornemt sted, og det er svaert ikke at holde af landet, med dets overflinke befolkning, adspredende natur, spaendende historie, laekre mad og frem for alt, uhyre billige priser!
Vi maa se om Honduras kan folge trop!
Kh
Anders og Charlie
So we have just finished our exploration of Guatemala… and what a fine country it is too! We caught an early morning boat from Caye Caulker, and then a bus to the Belize-Guatemala border… which was an experience let me tell you! The border control was literally a flash of the passport and we were in! No check of the bags, just an exchange of a few American dollars and that seemed enough for them! The journey took us through the cool and fresh highlands of Guatemala, the scenery was just spectacular - rich with green colour due to it being the wet season, although we have yet to see any rain since being here!
Our first destination took us to Flores, situated on an island on Lake Petén Itzá and connected by a causeway to it's sister town of Santa Elena. Flores is a small slow-paced village with Caribbean sensibility, pastel-coloured buildings and extremely friendly people. Anders took a trip out to Tikal the following day to view the 1500 year old Mayan ruins, whilst I enjoyed spending my day relaxing by the lake, and exploring the cobble-stone streets flanked by handicraft stores and charming houses. Paradiso!
A day in Flores and we were ready to conquer yet another overnight bus to Antigua. The bus wasn´t too comfortable for the 2-metre Dane as the leg room wasn´t sufficient! Therefore another sleepless night followed. We arrived in Guatemala City the following morning, where we (and a few other tourists) were shunned into a shuttle bus pretty quickly! Our first impression of Guatemala City was that it is very dirty and over-populated, it is apparently pretty dangerous too from the stories we have heard, so I was glad we were leaving so fast! A few more hours of travelling and we arrived into the heart of Antigua. Again, what a beautiful place!!!
Antigua is built 1,500 m above sea-level, in an earthquake-prone region. It was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1773 but its principal monuments are still preserved as ruins. The city is rich in Spanish Schools, and after speaking to many western people who are taking classes, we are now very eager to study for a couple of weeks in Ecuador. We stayed in a fantastic hostel that (my cousin) Andy stayed in last year… abundant in v friendly travellers! Everything is put on the tab - where we pay at the end of our stay… Dangerous! We spent an evening with some friends we met, playing card games and taking advantage of the Happy Hour facility they have, before heading to the Café No Se for a few more drinks when the hostel bar closed. The drinks do affect you more with the altitude, and the English was most definitely defeated by the Dane this time!! We took a day trip to the currently active Volcano Pacaya whilst in Antigua, which was a 4 km walk to the lava flow. We tried cooking marshmallows on the lava using the sticks provided, although the heat was unbearable at 2000degrees C!! Anders almost got struck out by a huge lava boulder that hurtled towards him whilst he was taking photos! I have the video footage which may appear on the blog soon!
Our final stop in Guatemala was the town San Pedro La Laguna, on the Western shore of Lake Atitlan beneath the volcano. Although there isn´t an awful lot to do in the town itself, we were there solely for the fantastic views of lake Atitlan. We hired out a double kayak for a couple of quid for the day and spent a good few hours enjoying the sun, and tranquility of the lake, stopping off at a black sanded beach for a break inbetween!
So… now it is time for our next destination - which takes us to Honduras. Due to the political issues at the moment we are heading straight to the Bay of Islands instead of stopping on the mainland. Here, I hope to complete my Rescue course for my diving if the price is right and also go in search of a whale shark!
Hasta lluego!
Anders and Charlotte xx
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