WANDERING THE STREETS OF ANTIGUA

We never planned to spend a month here but as we drove into town and took a look around we said to each other, "Let's stay for awhile."  We've both loved all of the colonial areas we have been in and to combine it with comfortable temperatures has made this a perfect place to rejuvenate.

We are definitely in a tourist town.  We hear as much English as we do Spanish.  There are bizillions of hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies.  At every corner someone is either trying to shine your shoes or sell you the local textiles.  The difference here though is that everyone is low key - no one is pushy, not very much, anyway.  There are horse-drawn carriages, musicians playing in the street and a massive center square.  There is even a McDonalds here which all others pale in comparison to.  Of all the McDonalds we have been to around the world none beat the setting of this one.  Yes, I think we eat there too much!

eating our egg mcmuffins with a killer view (pardon the pun)

We've been practising our Spanish with the locals.  Something seems to of clicked lately and we are understanding so much more.  It still takes loads of brain power and super human concentration but we seem to be getting it.  They do speak slower here and our conversations are very simple but still it feels good. Whenever we make a mistake they correct us, its like having Spanish teachers wherever we go.

We originally had a lot planned for this area but to be honest we've been really lazy.  Everyday we sleep in, walk into town for coffee, people watch inside the square and find new areas of the city to wander around. I'm sure we've covered every inch of this place.  We have felt so comfortable and relaxed here all the stresses of driving have melted away.  The most difficult part of the day is crossing the streets - its like being in the old video game frogger.

market day

traditional textiles

Antigua is full of crumbling churches, monasteries and convents.  We've spent hours wandering through the rubble.  This is a major seismic zone and Antigua has had its fair share of devastation.  We've been told that they're not going to restore the structures but they are just trying to ensure they aren't damaged further.

in the spooky crypt

the convent

the monastery 

We've really been enjoying our time up in the mountains.  Its so different here than what we have become accustomed to.  The bugs are smaller, the temperatures are cooler, theres storms almost every night.  Its peaceful and quiet.  We are soaking it all up because we know that when we leave here we are going to learn what the rainy season is all about.  We still have some time left here and we're planning on seeing more of the area outside of Antigua.

walking in the rain

OUR DRIVE ACROSS GUATEMALA

So we asked around to get an idea of what to expect on the road ahead.  We were told that it would take us about eight hours to get to Guatemala City.  It took us four days - thats how slow we go.  The drive through the foothills of the Maya mountains was beautiful.  It was hilly, twisty, green and so lush.  It was a really nice drive but it didn't stay that way.

After a couple of days we arrived in Rio Dulce with high hopes.  Our guide book and other travellers had really talked it up.  It wasn't to be for us.  Our hotel was expensive and gross.  The power and water kept going out all day, which normally isn't a huge deal but we were already hot and cranky so everything was bothering us.  The night was from hell.  A pack of drug dealers moved in next door and proceeded to be unbelievably loud all night.  After getting drunk on our shared patio, they left for awhile, came back and turned on the t.v. and flipped channels all night long.  Sometimes they would find music and start singing along to the likes of Katy Perry and old spanish love songs.  I know what you're thinking, what drug dealer sings along to Katy Perry.  These guys were one of a kind.  When we first saw them they immediately tried to sell us drugs, as well there was knocks on their door all night long - ours too.  At about three in the morning Justin decided to go out to the truck to get some water and was immediately questioned by the security guard as to what he was doing.  Justin replied, "What are you doing?" while pointing to the building, as the sing along gang serenaded each other.  The security guard shrugged his shoulders and walked away. Finally morning came and the last straw was when a man arrived and in english gave them their instructions of where to deliver their drugs in Livingston and on what streets they could sell on.  Our plan was to spend the first day at the hotel and start seeing the sights the next day.  We left.

worst hotel experience of the trip - the hovel

the balcony we shared with the singing drug dealers

Rio Dulce

The drive going west from Rio Dulce was like no other and not in a good way.  It is the major trucking route from the port to Guatemala City.  I thought we were going to die - for real.  Narrow, twisty roads loaded with semis, all proceeding to pass each other.  They would pull out, even if they could see us and expect us to get out of the way, often we had two tires off the road.  I know this isn't explaining it but imagine three semi trucks in your lane coming at you head on and only the first one sees you and theres no room to move over.  We pulled over numerous times so Justin could stop shaking.  Somehow, miraculously we lived.  It felt like we stole some of Annas nine lives.  This stretch of highway is the scariest drive so far, we can't imagine anything worse than this.  At the end of the day it was time for a drink.

this is the only time we saw them on their side of the road

thats a blind corner ahead

After our crazy drive, we arrived in Rio Hondo - we think, we're not quite sure where we were.  Yet again, another hotel room full of surprises.  At night when we were about to go to bed, we heard scurrying and saw flexing ceiling tiles above our heads.  "What the hell was that," we said to each other.  We kept hearing it moving and tried to figure out what it was.  We went outside with a flashlight to investigate but couldn't see anything.  We ended up sleeping with the light on afraid that our unwanted neighbour was going to fall through the ceiling.  Our best guess is that it was a big lizard.  So we were about to go to sleep again when the bed started rocking - and not in that way.  "What the hell was that," we said to each other for the second time that night.  We had just felt our first tremor of the trip.

The last leg of our drive would take us through Guatemala City to Antigua.  This is the part we were dreading the most - one wrong turn and we'd never find our way out.  So we armed ourselves with a map of the city and ended up driving straight through.  No wrong turns, no nothing - how did that happen?  To leave the city we had to drive up a radiator boiling hill and down a brake fluid boiling hill.  But we made it - Nadine with a fever and Justin happy to turn the ignition key off.

Guatemala City

As we finished our long drive across Guatemala and arrived into Antigua we were worn out but we were happy.  The town was gorgeous and the weather was cooler.  At first we planned to stay for a week but then opted to stay for a month.

volcan Agua in Antigua

AND WE'RE BACK

We are now currently staying in the mountains of Antigua, Guatemala.  We have rented a cute, little apartment for the next month.  We need some time to catch up on everything, relax and do some serious sightseeing.  This area has so much to see and experience and we want the time to take it all in.  It will also be nice to have a break from the road and the heat for awhile.  Really nice.

finally not a budget breaker - just $19 a day

Going without a computer has sucked but as of yesterday we are up and running again - thanks to our taxi driver, Armando.

There was no way that we were going to negotiate the sprawling, crime ridden streets of Guatemala city on our own so we arranged for a taxi to take us in and out of the city.  Our lives flashed before our eyes as chicken buses, mopeds and tuk tuks jockeyed for position.  There was an ongoing battle for the lead that our taxi always won at our extreme discomfort.

We found the service center and explained our problem (actually our cab driver did).  All the technician would say was no, no, no and three or four days (meaning weeks).  Once he actually saw what was wrong, his face dropped and we felt he was not the guy to fix our computer.  So defeated, we decided to break out the credit card and buy a new laptop.  Luckily, our taxi driver/translator was looking out for us and he called in el jefe.  The boss knew what was wrong immediately and said he could fix it - IN HOURS!  The problem turned out to be a crapped out hard drive that needed to be replaced.

So in the end, they were able to extract five of sixty-four g bytes of information.  Lucky again for us, in that five gigs we got back was the most important info we needed (and as well we have letters A to C titled albums back in our itunes library - ha.)

It turned out to be a good day.  Our awesome cabdriver saved us over a thousand dollars by being persistent and knowing how to make things happen with a smile on his face.  We like him a lot.

inner courtyard of the apartment

we don't understand why she insists on eating this way

So now that we have our laptop back we will go back in time and catch up on all our misadventures back in Belize.