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Hola! Just an update of the past few days in Guatemala...
We had a three hour journey from San Cristobal to the border crossing and all was very smooth. We didn't even have to fill out a form when entering Guatemala - pretty relaxed here it seems. I am always amazed when i cross a border that you literally step across a line and the whole feel and culture of a place can be so different. The buffer zone between Mexico and Guatemala was quite big - a taxi rides distance. We then got on a chicken bus for a further 5 hours which turned to 6 becuase we were held up in a traffic jam for an hour. The "chicken bus experience" really was an experience! At first it wasnt too crowded but after maybe an hour of screeching to a brief halt to let people on it was chocka. We then had to change buses and the second one was even fuller. I ended up sharing my seat with about 3 other people - bit of a squish and very hot but the experience of this crazy local transport was fun. The chicken buses are old American school buses which have been done up and painted lots of bright colours. The driver's don't seem to like stopping and constantly seem to be making up lost time.
Xela - We stayed here just one night as a stop off. In the evening we ate at an Italian restaurant. Everyone was pretty shattered i think. In the morning we had time to mooch about a bit as we didn't have to get the bus until 11am.
Panajachel - We spent the afternoon shopping in this very relaxed and quiet town on the lake. Unfortunately we couldn't see the three surrounding volcanos as it was a bit misty. There was one main street with so many gorgeous things. The guatemalan crafts are stunning - i get so sucked in by the colours! There was quite a big hippie influence and a definate slower pace to life. In the evening we had a BBQ at our hotel. The following day was a particularly early start as we took a lake trip. We went to a small village and had a walk to the town of Santiago. In Santiago there was a fair on and the whole town turned out to see the parade which lots of the children were in. It was amazing to see and they were really good on the drums etc. We walked up a very long and steep hill to the plaza (town square) where the parade ended. A charity has been set up for the town to provide good education for the childern and a better standard of living and you can see that it is really benoficial - we all chipped in to donate a water filter for them. We then got back on the boat and went to a town on the other side of the lake- not so spectacular and can't remember the name! After mooching about for a while we headed back to Pana for an afternoon of freetime.
Antigua - Arrived here today, had anmother 7am start this morning! This time we had a minibus for the journey and it was pretty luxury! On the way we stopped for a few hours at Chichicastanango which is a big market place. More shopping! It was good to be there early before it got too busy and hectic. Haggling is always fun but i guess im used to doing it now. Had an early lunch - guess it was brunch actually and then a three hour journey to Antigua. It is a beautiful colonial town with cobbled streets, again with a main square. It has a particularly traveller arty feel to it with lots of little boutiquey shops and bars and cafes. It is the last night of the first section of the tour tonight so we're heading to a Nachos bar/restaurant and then maybe for a few drinkies. Tomorrow we are joined by new people for the middle section of the tour but it will be sad to lose our current groupis. Cross the border into Honduras on Saturday - time is flying!
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