As I said last time, I arrived in Antigua de Guatemala on Tuesday night and chilled. I took the opportunity to have a bit of a sleep in the next day and strolled around town for the afternoon. Antigua is similar to Merida in that it is an old Colonial town, which rwemains almost completely as it used to be, hundreds of years ago. When Guatemala was founded it was the capital city for about 250 years. But sometime in the 1700's there was a huge earthquake that essentially flattened the city. So instead of worrying about rebuilding Antigua, they built a new capital, Guatemala City. That moved the urban mases about 50km away and Antigua really hasn't grown in size since. I really like strolling through the colonial towns because they have so much character. The buildings tend to be built up against each other with a simple wall and door as a facade but they generally open up into a courtyard inside with the living quarters around it. Antigua is a cute place with the cobbled streets and small plazas dotting the landscape. As with most of the colonial towns, architecturally the highlights are the churches. These things took hundreds of years to build and nothing was spared in their size and ornamentation. Though I tired of going inside them a long time ago, I still like looking at the exteriors with their inlaid statues and carvings. What makes the churches in Antigua so special is that only half of them were rebuilt after the earthquake, leaving monstrous edifices with no roof and often missing walls with the remnants of the intricately carved faces hinting at their former glory. Another cool thing about the colonial town is that most are UNESCO heritage listed so there are strict laws about signage and buildings allowed. As a result many of them haven't allowed in the fast food chains and those that have, require them to keep a low profile. It was 2 days before I even realised there was fast food in town (not that I ate it). The only indication of the subway was two tiny subway signs ziptied to the open barred doors, and the burger king is only obvious after you walk inside. Apart from strolling, I also took the opportunity to update the wardrobe a little. Many of my clothes have been kicking about since well before I left and were starting to feel the strain so I retired them.

That night was great. I found out through word of mouth that one of the original Band Members of the Buena Vista Social Club was in town with his band and were playing that night at a small restaurant. I couldn't pass up the opportunity and jived the night away listening to Cuban salsa. A great show by a great performer, in a cool atmosphere to boot.

Yesterday was another relaxing day. Kicking back in the morning, I'd signed up for a volcano tour for the afternoon. The tour started late and we ventured up to the Pucaya Volcano, one of only 3 active in Guatemala. The hike wasn't to the top of the mountain, thankfully, so it was a relatively casual stroll half way up (but still 800m vertically). We arrived to the side of the volcano as the sun was setting. Here, the side of the mountain had split open allowing the lava to flow from the side rather than the top. This meant that you could get really close. And I mean really close. Going at twilight was amazing because it meant all of the molten rock glowed a bright red. It was crazy walking over the rock sheell only to see the rock glowing bright red beneath you every time you step over a crack. But after a few attempts in South America, it was great to finally see an active lava flow. All those geology lectures came rushing back into my head and it was stunning to watch the red toffe-like goo move slowly over the surface. The heat was tremendous. We could get as close as a metre from the lava and at that distance you can only hang around for a few seconds, enough for the token photo, then you have to retreat.

So that was my Guatemalan adventure. I crossed into Honduras today but more on that next time. Ciao.