Guatemala (again)

27 August 2010

Antigua, Guatemala

We managed to get a bus straight through to Antigua, Guatemala although we got there very late and in the rain.  We hadn't booked anything and the hostel we were dropped at only had one bed so Lou and I had to split up and sleep in separate places.  It was quite a palaver dashing about in the rain, but after a cheeky wee beer everything was just fine.

Antigua, Guatemala

We started the day searching round town for a place that could take the both of us which turned out to be really easy (not quite sure why it was so hard the previous night) and then, after a hearty breakfast of nutella crepes, had a wander round the nice wee colonial town in the drizzle.  It's a really sweet little colonial town, all cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings and ruined churches (lots of earthquakes).

Did anyone else know about
Dad's secret former life
as a monk?!

In our few days there we discovered the delights of a cafe called the Bagel Barn, with their fab bagels, great coffee and movie nights, ate a whole loaf (a big one) of banana bread between us, walked around a lot in the pissing rain and I had my hair cut and dyed (to get rid of the tricolour of roots, red dye from carnaval and blonde stripes from the sun).

For our last night together, after a full 6 weeks of travelling, we went out to the poshest place in town for our tea.  It is a fantastic hotel in the grounds of a ruined monastery.  But, this being Guatemala, I think it only cost us about $70 or something, even with our bottle of fizzy prosecco.

The next morning I flew out from Guatemala City via San Salvador and Lima to Rio de Janeiro.  Amusingly, although Guatemala City airport is international and large, the power was off and they didn't seem to have backup generators.  The staff didn't seem too flustered so I can only guess it happens a lot.  We were checked in by phone and given handwritten boarding cards and baggage tags which was all a bit strange.  Despite all that, Taca seem to be quite a good airline: decent amounts of alcohol served with food, loads of legroom etc. and they're certainly better than the terrible Iberia who I crossed the Atlantic with.