Untethered : May 15 to May 25, 2015 10 Days in Guatemala

Guatemala, what can we say but Thank You for your smiling, warm, friendly people. Everyone was so nice here, even if they could not communicate with us in English or us with our Spanish, your eyes smiled with friendly, inviting greetings from one of the oldest cultures in the Americas. The Mayan people are so amazing.

We arrived Guatemala crossing the bridge from El Salvador. There was a heavy set woman in black selling bread, carrying it on her head and gesturing to us to come off the bus and buy from her. She laughed and continued to work us but we did not get off. We arrived in Guatemala City at 11:00 we began walking to Zona 10 and stopped for Chinese lunch. We had to make our way to our Couchsurfing hosts apartment in Zona 10. We walked to Dunkin Donuts in Zona 10 about 3 blocks from the Oakland Mall then got a taxi to Esteban's home arriving at 16:45. Esteban hosted Dan and Kathy while Wayne and Keith stayed with Axel.

Good-bye El Salvador, Hello Guatemala

River Border

Walking the streets near the bus station

Graffiti on the wall by the zoo

Plaza Publicar

We met Axel then went to his apartment to drop off our things then head to Paseo Cayala for dinner. Beautiful European feel for a mall with cinemas, really does not feel like a mall with all the outdoor areas. It began to rain so we split up and Dan and Kathy left with Esteban. Axel took us on a tour of the City at night to give us an idea of where we would be headed the next day.

Paseo Cayalá, Guatemala City

Vendor below the steps provided us with dinner

Our seats await us on the steps for dinner, what a spectacular night!

The next morning Axel was ready to take us on a tour of his City, early Saturday May 16th we woke showered and prepared for our tour of the City. We started with a traditional Guatemalan breakfast at San Martin.

Drove to National Palace and walked the square where the National Cathedral shares the main square. We did some shopping at a shop along the pedestrian walkway. We walked by the Post Office Building arch in Zona 1and thought of Jack Talty. We ate traditional food in the Central Market located in the Lower Level Farmer's market all Guatemalan traditional, they know Axel personally. He is really easy to be around, pleasant conversation and very generous.

Palacio Nacional de la Cultura (National Palace of Culture)

Wayne, Axel and Keith at the fountain in the square in front of the Palacio Nacional de la Cultura (National Palace of Culture) and National Cathedral

Palacio Nacional de la Cultura (National Palace of Culture) and National Cathedral in a a couple of hours there would be a National protest here with over 50,000 people

Photo from Yahoo news, two hours after we were there

Latin phrase 'Deo optimo maximo', 'the greatest and best God' - Iglesia de San Francisco

square filling with protesters on the day we were at the National Palace

Correo arch, used to be a convenant connected by the arch.

Cannot beat a SALE....

Fruit stand in the market

On Saturday evening we attended Couchsurfing meeting at Torritos. We met many couchsurfers who were new and long lasting members. The music was really good but so loud you really could not hold a good conversation.

Sunday morning another beautiful day in Guatemala City began as we woke and showered early, spent time with Axel hanging out in his home.

Axel was exhausted from working all week and touring that he was going to take us to the bus station to get a bus to Antigua. As Axel drove, he reconsidered and then took us to Antigua. He spent the day with us and showed us around this amazingly beautiful UNESCO City. We found a hotel near Fonde de Calle Real but we promised we would watch the Billboard Award Show because Brittany Spears was going to perform her new song. We ordered lunch at the Hotel and Restaurant Ciudad Condal.

Entrance to the Hotel

Our view from our lunch table

Beautiful courtyard and fountain

Keith and Wayne toured the city with Axel. He showed us most of the important ruins in the City of churches and convents destroyed in the earthquakes or volcanic eruption. Tanque la Union where the locals do their laundry. Santo Domingo ruins.

Saint Joseph Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Antigua, Guatemala.

The magnificent interior of Saint Joseph Cathedral, Antigua, Guatemala.

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales facing the Plaza de Armas of Antigua

Plaza de Armas of Antigua

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales facing the Plaza de Armas of Antigua

Magnificent skeletal ruins behind St Joseph Cathedral, recalling its original grandeur and immensity as the largest in the Americas

The remains of the cathedral feature massive columns, tall arches, and underground crypts. If, like me, you're into texture and light and shadow

Keith and Axel within the ruins of St. Joseph Cathedral

Wayne and Axel in the ruins of St. Joseph Cathedral which are behind the modern day Cathedral in the photo above.

Typical cobble stone street to this beautiful city, the first capital of Central America

Iglesia de San Pedro y Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro

[San Pedro Church and Santo Hermano Pedro Social Works]

Interior of San Pedro Church

Tanque la Union where the locals do their laundry

Keith and Axel at Tanque la Union

The church and convent of Santo Domingo and Santo Tomás de Aquino (Saint Thomas Aquinas) College ruins in the 5 star Casa Santo Domingo and Museum

The church and convent of Santo Domingo and Santo Tomás de Aquino (Saint Thomas Aquinas) College ruins

Bells in the corner of the ruins

The ruins of the church and convent of Santo Domingo and Santo Tomás de Aquino (Saint Thomas Aquinas) College

Mayan villagers selling crafts in front of the ruin to El Carmen church

Keith and Wayne in front of the ruins to El Carmen Church

Keith and Wayne in front of the Santa Catalina Arch

Another wonderful day draws to an end

We went back to the room to watch the Billboard Awards for Britney Spears performance, Axel had been talking about this all day and singing the new song.

It is Monday, May 18 we woke at 8:00, sun shining, open the door to view of ruins and volcano, magic!

Step out onto the outside walk and here is the view

Open the door and look over the roof in the courtyard and here is Antigua and all her splendor

Washing area for cloths at the hotel

Breakfast at Tipico Antigueno, really nice place for breakfast. Dan and Kathy found a different place to stay for Q100 a night for the remainder of the stay in Antigua. Keith and Wayne decided to take the tour to Pacaya Volcano at 14:00.

Before leaving for Pacaya we booked our room at La Sin Ventura, then we walked to the local market for a local lunch. We found Comedor Blanqui where each of us had something different. Keith had Pescado (Talapia) and Wayne had "chips get wet".

Hotel La Sin Ventura just off the main square

The hall view from our room at this end

View from the hall window

The main square with local indigenous people walking in the park

The very active and busy local market

We took the tour to Pacaya Volcano. Ride took 1.5 hours in torrential rains and flooding to get there. Walked to view Guatemala City and other volcanos then to the bottom of Pacaya into the lava flow. Amazing to be above the heat of the lava that has been there since 2014. During our hike we met some really nice people from Portugal, UK and US. We walked with the three girls from Portugal, they are dentists doing exchange work in Guatemala. In between surgeries they get to tour the country. We had exchanged information of possible future contact in the US or Europe. It rain a little during the hike but it was comfortable. The vistas were incredible as we ascended the mountain and looked back at Guatemala City and the volcanos surrounding Pacaya which is near Lake Amitatlan.

The rains where coming down flooding all the street as we ascend to Pacaya Volcano.

Pacaya Volcano still has smoke coming out of the cone. last activity reported has been the eruption that peaked on March 2, 2014 causing ash to rain down in Guatemala City, Antigua and Escuintla.

Here we are just meters from Pacaya

Pacaya in all her splendor, you can see the lava flow patterns

From the top of the highest peak before we descend to the crater

The descent to the crater and lava

Yes, we are having melted marshmallows , hold a stick over the hot vapors coming from the lava and you have a amore sin chocolate

The rain clouds moved away and gave us the gift of a rainbow

With the experience of a hike, toasting marshmallow above the lava flow and a rainbow we make our way back to Antigua by 20:00 then got dinner at Monoloco. The largest plate of nachos I have ever seen and the most delicious too. We thought we could have nachos, they should be enough for the two of us...what do you think?

Nachos for two? Nachos Apocalyptos covered with Mayan ingredients, corn salsa , pico de gallo , guacamole, beans and cheese.

Another beautiful day upon us in Antigua. It is Tuesday, May 15th and we take a casual stroll to Cerro de la Cruz for a spectacular view of the volcano and Antigua. At the top we spoke to a guy from the UK (Suffolk, England). He gave us some information on places to visit like the village of Santa Maria de Jesus at the bottom of the volcano and Santo Domingo del Cerro to the left in the view from the cross, just get the free bus at Santo Domingo Hotel.

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales facing the Plaza de Armas of Antigua

Munipalidad building off the main square

Sleepy streets of Antigua, parents dropping children off at school and the beauty of

Cerro de la Cruz overlooking the City of Antigua and Fuego Volcano

Cerro del Santo Domingo to the left , Pacaya and Fuego volcanoes

On our way back into town we were so lucky to find workers in Nuestra Señora del Carmen Church. They let us enter the ruins and wander around. Even though it survived relatively well the Santa Marta earthquakes, it was almost destroyed by the earthquakes of 1917-1918 and 1976. However, its façade survived in very good condition, and has been admired ever since as an example of the Guatemalan seismic Baroque.

Nuestra Señora del Carmen Church

We ended up at our favorite place for breakfast the Restaurante Tipico Antigua priced at Q30, $3.92 for eggs, beans, plantains and fruit, mixed fruit plate and bottomless coffee. This is for two people. Great quality and the best breakfast in Antigua.

While walking to catch the shuttle to Cerro del Santo Domingo we saw a demonstration in front of the municipal building for "arrogance and outside the municipal market administrator and deputy administrator", "we have the worst mayor in history" and lack of healthcare, schools, and medical facilities. They are asking for the administration to resign. The expressions on the faces of these indigenous woman is all it takes to get their points across to the administration.

Indigenous woman of Antigua protesting the administration

The mayor is addressing the people from above them on the stairs

Mayor addressing the concerns of the citizens. Guatemala is 90% indigenous people of Mayan decent

Took shuttle to Cerro del Santo Domingo then we walked to La Fondita (1 Ave Sur #3, La Antigua) for lunch on the way to San Francisco ruins.

From Cerro del Santo Domingo

Spent most of the afternoon touring the ruins of San Francisco. Great day just exploring the ruins and relaxing. The 1717 earthquake damaged the structure severely. So did the earthquake of 1751. The site was partly destroyed during the 1773 earthquake and has been reconstructed in parts but areas of ruin still remain.

Ruins of San Francisco El Grande

What remains of San Francisco El Grande after the earthquakes

San Francisco church, the part that still stands and the ruins behind her. Salomonic columns at the entrance.

Typical view any where you walk in this UNESCO City.

We join a couchsurfing event and went the pub crawl. We met Kathy and Dan at Burro sin Mecate and joined part of the pub crawl until Axel arrived. Then we walked from Tropicana to Burro sin Mecate for dinner and played Jenga. Axel joined us for the evening in Antigua.

Parque Central

Catedral and Parque Central

On Wednesday, May 20th we say goodbye to Antigua. we got up early showered and off to breakfast at Tipico Antigueno.

Plans are made to leave to Chichicastenango by chicken bus, approximate trip is 5 hours. Took the first bus to Chimantelago. Got a direct bus to Chichicastenango at 11:30. Arrived in Chichicastenango at 13:10. Keith was feeling better from being sick earlier in the trip then Kathy and Wayne got sick. Kathy was running a high fever and sat on the steps of one of the churches while looking for hotel room. While walking around one of the locals, Tomas helped Dan find a place to stay.

We ended up staying at Hotel Pop Wuj on a slight incline above the church and main market. Keith and Wayne had lunch at a street vendor, tortillas with pork or beef and onion. Then we found a woman who made pineapple turnovers and cakes. We bought this wonderful treat, after the tortillas and French fries. We wondered the market and bumped into Dan and Kathy then we all walked over to the woman with the pineapple turnovers.

More wondering and exploring then sat on the side of the church and had an old man begging 2 Quetzales ($0.26) for a drink and two kids looking to sell wares, neither would take no for an answer. Alcoholism is prevalent in this area, the Mayans are hard workers and very gentle people. We saw "snake oil salesman" on the street selling remedied from coyote or skunk to fix ailments, speaking in the native Chi languages.

murals decorate the outside walls of the town hall depicting the victims of the Guatemalan civil war and drawing on the symbolism of the K'iche' Maya bible known as the Popol Vuh.

Flower vendors line up on the stairs of Santo Tomas, Catholic Mayan Church

The colors of Chichicastenango and the Mayan Market

Traditional clothing

Vendors selling goods at the market

We then headed back to the hotel at 6:00, we did not want to do the night market. Then thought we could carry some money and leave everything else behind.

On Thursday, May 21st we got up early toured some of the market, had breakfast then came back to the hotel. Keith, Dan and Kathy walked to tour the Mayan Temple.

We met Esou from Solal and Tina and Andrea his German Couchsurfers. We got a ride to Solal and had pizza and coffee. We then caught a bus to Panajachel on Lake Antitlan. We met Daria on the bus, American doing volunteer work who brought us to her favorite place to stay in town, Hospedaje Montufur which was clean and cheap. She recommended a Pupuseria and breakfast place near the bus stop.

Walked around the City after checking in, saw Daria at the Pupuseria with Rebecca from Milton, MA. Chatted with them and walked the streets.

05/22, Friday Breakfast at Roots Cafe owned by Amy, from Chicago. Got information from her on prices and places to see and her entire life story. Keith mentioned his ears were bleeding.

Public boat to Santa Cruz La Laguna. Major hike uphill, felt like walking uphill in Denver but with trash burning smoke. Keith helped carry two large concrete blocks behind 4 woman we saw with 3 and 4 blocks on their backs.

The view from Santa Cruz de Laguna

Walked from Santa Cruz to Jaibalito. We saw two little boys playing in the water below us, when we walked on a wooden platform along the lake. Keith through them a couple of coins to get. We caught a boat from Jaibalito which stopped in Tzununa, then continued to San Marcos. Went to Moonfish Cafe with high recommendations from two people leaving the restaurant. We received recommendations on the Falafel burrito as we were walking in. Very good food, all organic and fresh. Coffee was organic and very good. While we were sitting there a small parade started to pass. They played up the hill then back down in the pouring rain. Everyone dressed in their native clothing.

Walking from Santa Cruz to Jibalito

View along our walk from Santa Cruz to Jibalito

Walking to Jibalito

Short stop along the walk.

Parade in San Marcos outside of Moonfish

Last boat from San Pedro leaves at 17:00. Tuk tuk from San Pedro through San Pablo and San Juan on one very bumpy pothole filled drives. Stopped for some shots along the way of some nice sights. Arrived in San Marcos with a thunderstorm dropping rain, no time to tour the area with the rain. At times we thought we would be thrown out of the tuk-tuk since the roads were so rough and bumpy then the rain came down so heavy we had to close the side flaps. We got on the boat to Panajachel.

Photo opportunity, tuk-tuk stopped here for us to take photo before entering San Pablo

Between San Juan and San Pedro

Arrived back at Panajachel at 16:45 and walked back to the hostel. Walked to the lake then stopped at Cafe Loco on the way back for hot chocolate after we stopped for banana and frijoles. Had a great chat with the co-owner and baristas from South Korea. We found out while chatting with the crew that the coffee shop is owned by a South Korean and employees were all Koreans.

We walked down to the lake to take a sunset photo of the lake and two of the three volcanos

Stopped for Pupusas at Chero's Pupuseria for something different but we found out the owner was from El Salvador and his wife was Guatemalan. Keith had cheese and spinach and Wayne had ham and cheese. We started to walk after dinner but the rain started and we went back for the hotel.

On Saturday, May 23rd we got up with no internet or water, so we got dressed and looked for someplace to eat, we happened upon carts along the sidewalks and people sitting eating. We decided we would join one of the carts serving tamales and sweet coffee for Q14 around $2.09.

Walked along the Lake and shops along the lake. Then back to the hotel to sleep, neither of us are feeling great. Slept 2 hours then walked to lunch at Partillada Santander.

Walked to Amy's Roots Cafe for Horchata, met Reid (originally from Northampton, MA) lives in Siberia with wife and children.

We were invited to stay at Ramona's going away party, Reid's daughter that is returning to Sunderland, MA. We meet his wife, Miele and their adopted children, Amy's 3 little girls, Angelica from Seattle and Ben from Canada. Gave Katie contact information to share with Reid for future Couchsurfing possibility in Russia near Siberia.

On Sunday, May 23rd we walked to Ulsan for breakfast and bumped into the two dentists from Portugal, that we meet at Pacaya Volcano, having breakfast at the German Bakery/Cafe.

Caught the chicken bus to Guatemala City leaves Panajachel at 12:46. Arrived in Guatemala City at 15:30 in Zone 8. We let Axel know we have arrived, he has so graciously invited to stay and was going to pick us up at the bus stop. Axel found us then took us to Dominos for pizza. Told us about a book, Against The North Wind, that was written in Spanish and turned into a play. He saw the night before.

Sadly on Monday, May 25th we said goodbye to Axel as he left for work, our last day in Guatemala. We will leave today for San Salvador on the 14:00 bus. Grabbed a cab from Axel's at 11:45 got to the Tica Bus station and checked in for our departure from Guatemala.

At the border entering El Salvador at 16:51. Arrived San Salvador 7:00 then took taxi to Hotel Villa Florencia in Centro.