Antigua - free day

We had a leisurely breakfast then headed down the street to go to the bank, book ourselves an afternoon tour to go to the Pacaya volcano and get a coffee.

As things turned out, two of those things were achieved without a hitch. The 3rd - going to the bank - proved much more problematic.

We purchased a volcano tour at an agency we had visited yesterday. The girls there are very efficient; it was all done in 5 minutes. $US15 p.p. - a far cry from the $US95 p.p. that Carmen quoted us yesterday (even if that meant going in a car; anyway she would have been quite boring company and the group we went with on the bus were all pleasant to be with). Q50 p.p. entry extra for the national park (with a guide).

The Bank Adventure I think has taken on a more momentous significance in the list of Trying Travelling Events than even my Post Office Adventures.

We tried 5 banks in all. The queues were immense at all bar one and that one turned out to accept ONLY $US50 or $US100 notes. The others - bar one (the BAM) - had a minimum level of $US100 which we did not want as we don't want to be stuck with Guatemalan Quetzals when we leave and we are finding we can get a good exchange on using $US instead of local cash at a lot of places anyway; however, we still need quetzals at times, like for entry into the National Park later today.

So once we found the BAM, we stood in a queue for half an hour and chatted with a woman from California who goes to Antigua each year for Spanish lessons. She said we were lucky (?!) - that the queue often extends out the door and down the street; at least we were INSIDE the bank! She also told us that you can't go to the same back again in under 8 days ... She also confirmed what another guy we had met in the street had said - to beware the ATMs because of fraud ...

And of course we chatted about Trump who she finds appalling. She says she has never, ever seen so many protests.

With money once more in our pockets, we went off to get a coffee and lucked on finding a wonderful place that made excellent coffee. Guatemala has some of the best coffee in the world but you still need someone who can make it well. We were happy to pay full price but the guy pointed to a sign on the wall - on Mondays 10 to 11 a.m. is 'Happy Hour' (2 for 1) with a yummy alfajor (biscuit). We'll be back tomorrow.

We have returned to our hotel for a break before going to the volcano at 2 p.m. Pacaya volcano is 30 kms from here. Pacaya rises to an elevation of 2,552 m. After being dormant for a century, it erupted violently in 1965 and has been erupting continuously since then.

We were collected about 2:20 p.m. after the bus has done the rounds picking other passengers up from their hotels. About half-way we reach Ramirez after a winding ascent out of Antigua and then an incredibly steep descent. You could smell the brakes!! We pass a poblado (town) on the outskirts where people are living in tin shacks in very run-down conditions. By now the traffic is at a standstill.

We finally move on down the winding road. This 30 km trip is going to take a while!

It is very smoggy/dusty. It is pretty industrial at this point so I suspect smog. Petrol prices are about Q21 ($US3)/ litre. We pass through the town of Palín which is located in the foothills of the Sierra Madre volcanic chain before we finally turn off the stinky main road and we head for the hills going steeply UP a serious gradient, the road winding all the way. Jesus on the Cross signs everywhere; the Evangelical churches have made big in-roads into Guatemala.

We pass a funeral procession coming down the mountains, mourners walking behind the vehicle, the coffin in the back of an open station wagon.

All this accompanied by the most mind-numbing music...

So starts our climb of 460 m in 2.8 kms towards the top of the Pacaya volcano and we had a great view to one of its subsidiary calderas: Crater Cerro Chino (2265 m). It was a steep climb with loose dirt so your feet kept slipping out from under you. We shifted forward making a good effort against our younger counterparts. Great views over Lake Amatitlán below.

It was by now late afternoon and it was wonderful. The crater was blowing orange lava out of the top - something I've never seen!

We walked down into the volcanic valley where the molten lava from the last eruption had turned the landscape into a rocky dark brown. Some of the rocks here were hot to the touch and in one particular spot, our guide gave us long sticks and marshmallows to toast inside a hot volcanic vent in the old lava flow. What fun!!

A couple of dogs that had wandered up the mountain with the group had marshmallow whiskers from helping themselves to whatever fell off the sticks - very cute.

The sun was fast setting so we walked up out of this valley and as we did so, the clouds lifted to reveal 3 volcanoes: Volcán de Agua (3766 m), Volcán Acatenango (3976 m) and Volcán de Fuego (3763 m).

We didn't wait for the entire sunset as I was keen to get back down before we lost the light. As it was, we walked the last part using the torches from our mobile phones. It was a gorgeous walk: peaceful, the trees silhouetted against the orange sky. But we had to 'watch our step' as the track was very loose dirt, uneven and - towards the bottom - very rocky. Certainly it vindicated My Friend's bringing his walking sticks which have travelled all this time in his suitcase unused. We used one each and they were extremely useful!

By the time we got back to Antigua it was after 8:00 p.m. Kathryn had sent a Skype message so we chatted with her while she fed Niah.

Another night in.