Thursday (Thanksgiving in case you forgot):
So as you were all tucked in your beds waiting for the food to start cooking, I was getting up at the crack of dawn to make our 6am bus out of Copan. Well we made it, and the first hour or 2 were pretty crowded, but then people got out so we had more space. The ride was about 6 hours to Antigua where we had to get another shuttle to the lake. The bus ride was gorgeous! The scenery was spectacular and it helps that it was a beautiful day!
So the building got in the way, but I left it cause I thought it looked pretty cool...and then the other is just of the mountains. So we got into Antigua at like 12, and our shuttle out to the lake (the town was called San Pedro) was at 2, so we had some time to kill. We just sat in the sun and hung out in the main park until 2. O, first we ate Burger King! It was delicious! Then we just sat around....it's a cute town though, old, reminds me of Guanajato, Mexico.
P.S. that mountain is a volcano! My first real life volcano!
So we got on the shuttle to the lake, they told us about 2 hours, welllll it was closer to 4. So in total we traveled for about 10 hours Thursday. But when we got to the lake it was literally something out of a scary movie. People bombarded us right when the door opened and I kept saying no, no we can find our own hostel. But this man was very persistant and worked "for the town" and said he could show us a hostel. I was very uncomfortable but everyone else said to just go check it out. Well I went along because I wasn't about to stay somewhere alone. So it was getting kinda dark and he took us down this street then up a creepy set of stairs. Then there was doors. I was throughouly uncomfortable, especially because there were about 3 other Honduran men watching us look at the room. However, my vote was outnumbered and we stayed. It turned out ok, otherwise I wouldn't be writing right now haha. We only had to sleep in it for like 6 hours anyways. Because we signed up to go up to see the sunrise over volcanoes! So this "tour guide" also did tours up to the volcano and told us to meet him at 4am in town and we had to pay 50 quetzales up front. Well, he saw us coming because we found out another group only paid 75 quetezales total and we paid 125 which is like 16 bucks and 75 is only about 11. But whatever, it was gorgeous! Ok, so first Thursday ended pretty normal, we ate at a little shack, not the Thanksgiving we were used too, no pies or over eating, but I wasn't in boots and jeans, so that makes up a little for it. So we went to bed around 9 I think so we had plenty of sleep.
Now Friday:
So we wake up at 3:30, and go outside to meet the guide at 4. Again, I thought I was walking into a horror story. It was pitch black, and no guide around at 4. He finally shows up at 4:20ish and says we have to walk to get the bus. It was dark and cold and theres 6 of us american girls, and 2 Australians. Luckily it was a couple so at least we added a male to the group, but it was still pretty scary. We got in the van and it was maybe a 20 minute drive. So when we get there the guide asks who has a flashlight.....wellllll we didnt bring a flashlight on vacation because who would do that? But some of the girls had phones with lights, so thank god for that; otherwise we'd be walking up a moutain in pitch black. Did I mention the first part was through a corn field? Yes, this is the part where I was literally saying a prayer haha. But we made it! It was legit! The view was SPECTACULAR! Here's some pictures:
This is what the mountain looks like in the day.....and yes we went through that corn field, now can you imagine my worry?
apparently in Guatemala they have a thing with loose cows? Never seen a cow tied to a tree
So we accomplished all that before 9 haha. Then we took a bus back to town, where we got ripped off paying. However, it was worth it because we had the most amazing breakfast! It was so American. Pancakes, fruit, eggs, it was awesome! We decided it was Thanksgiving breakfast since we didn't eat much on Thanksgiving. So after breakfast we did a little shopping before the boat across the lake to Panajachel. It was a cute town, San Pedro, but not much to do so we took the boat over at like 11:30 and got there about 12. But our shuttle wasn't til 4 so we had alot of down time. We decided to first find where the shuttle would pick us up and then explore & shop. However, we found the hotel where we would get picked up and went in to ask if we could leave our bags and I found this gorgeous pool! So of course we lucked out again, Ashley Mandy and I always find the coolest pools. So the 3 of us paid about 6ish dollars to use this pool for 4 hours. It was worth it! We put on our suits while the other 3 went out in town. We needed it because we had been traveling so much I just wanted to hang out and get tan. Because we're gonna look silly when we get back not being tan and having been in Central America haha.
So we swam, got sun, napped and got back on the shuttle to Antigua. The ride from the lake was much shorter, only like 2 1/2 hours. However, there was traffic in one of the towns and that was super annoying. But we made it. In Antigua, we had reservations at a hostel that was supposed to be the best. Little did we know, the fun was about to start haha. So we finally found the hostel, note it's dark because its about 7pm and we had been awake since 3:30 with only a little nap in the day. So the hostel tells Ashley (who made the reservation) that they didnt have the reservation. We were supposed to have our own 6 person room because otherwise it would be a 20 person room; which turned out to be an unfinished attic with 20 beds laid out. So they supposidly didnt have the reservation and said we could stay in one of the 20 beds; this is when we found out it was in an attic. I was not down for this, neither were the others. So Ashley pulled up the conformation email and showed them. Turns out the front desk guy was in Decemeber so he missed our reservation. So we got the manager and she was rude and wasn't going to give us a free night, which was the only way we woulda slept in the attack. So as this is going on, Marin & I decide to go out and find another hotel. So we stop in at a store and ask where a reasonable priced place was. We get the name and go. Well we get there and it's a hotel. Usually that means pricey. But we check it out anyways. IT was a cute little place, but as soon as we start talking to the lady, we knew it would be too much. We ask how much a night was and she says $65 for 3. Wellllll that's wayyyy outta budget. However the good thing about Guatemala, that's different than Honduras is the bargaining. So we said that was too much and she brought it down to 100 quetzales which is like 12 bucks a night, but that's still too much. So she asks our price, I say $10 and she says too low, so Marin goes into the poor volunteer teacher story, so the lady finally agrees! So we paid the same price for our own rooms, 3 per room, than what we woulda paid at the hostel. So Marin and I are so proud of ourselves because we were the least 2 aggressive people on the trip. When we went looking we were like uhhhhh neither of us like confrontation, how are we gonig to do this? But we went back with the news and we left that hostel and the rude lady and dumb guy who messed up our reservation. So by this time its almost 9pm. We still hadn't ate. So we change and go eat at this "Italian" place. It wasn't that great, well I had a salad that was good, but everyone else had pasta or calzones and they said it wasn't great. So that was kinda a bust of a day. We were wiped out. We were up since 3:30, had to travel and laid in the sun all day, so we called it a night. And the whole not having anywhere to stay at first kinda took alot out of us.
Saturday (our only non-traveling day!):
Mandy had seen online this cross over Antigua, where the tourism police take you up cause it's shady to walk, and the tour left at 10. So we go sign up and have an hour to kill. So I need a cup of coffee but no one was picking where to go so I led them to McDonalds hahaha. It was only Mandy Marin and Kristen with me. Well were we in luck! This was a fancy McDonalds, with a court yard! We order from the McCafe side, and they brought us our food! And I got my milk in a heart shape in my giant cup of coffee! I did all I could not to take the cups because they were so cute!
So a nice breakfast to start our day, then we were off to another mountain. However, this time we didn't have to walk, we got driven! It was a short ride, but nice. Then we were looking over Antigua, with the volcanoes behind the city. It was another breathtaking sight. I had been on more hikes before noon this weekend than in my life. However, after we were done we had the whole day.
So the rest of the day we walked around, bought some stuff, bargained at the market, so the prices were right. Then we decided it was our only non traveling day, so we found a nice Mexican Restaurant and watched a soccer game and had some food & drinks. It was a nice relaxing day. Then for dinner me and Mandy wanted something more authentic, not like Burger King or Subway, we found a hole in the wall. They made pupusas. Those are like stuffed flour tortillas with cheese. (or anything you want, I got beans in mine). They were awesome! We ordered one just to be sure they were good, and they were so we got another! It was amazing, made right when we ordered, so fresh, we actually saw the lady pounding out the tortilla. It was really cool. Then we went to an Irish Bar in Gutemala, which was a nice change because it wasn't just the same 10 people we always see in Copan. Ended the night early because our bus was at 4am. So it was a short, packed, awesome, vacation! I am so glad and grateful I had the opportunity to do all this. This was the best Thanksgiving Break I think I've ever had. And now it's only 2 and a half weeks until I'm home! I am getting super excited to come home and see everyone. As much fun as this was and how much I love teaching down here, I am started to miss home and everyone, so I am getting pumped for a 3 week break!
Anyways Antigua/Lake Atitlan was one of the best vacations ever! (Mexican towns are still number 1 on my list) but this is up there. It was action packed, many great stories, that will be better when I obsess over talking about it when I'm home. I had many firsts this weekend, first view of volcanoes, first 4am hike, one of the first times being up at 4am haha, traveling probably about the same amount of hours as being in one place, first time staying in a "real hostel", trusting a stranger with our lives, hiking more in one weekend than in my life. It was all worth it! Here are more pictures I stole from the others (and there's more on facebook):
Ok, have a great week! There's a bunch of Christmas stuff coming up I'll write about, but probably nothing too exciting. And Go Caleb & the Bears! woo woooooooo! See you all in 2 1/2 weeks! :)
