The premier bus service in Honduras is called Hedman Alas, named after it's 2 founders back in the 50's. It is strange that in such a poor country, you can travel in a business class bus seat for only a few dollars more than a normal seat. The cool thing about these seats is that they are designed for tall people, loads of leg-room and they recline back 150 degrees. PlusBus take note!
Never have I appreciated a decent bus seat more than on the 16 hour trip from La Ceiba in Honduras to Antigua in Guatemala. On paper the trip looks relatively straight forward, in reality it is a tough journey due to terrain and traffic! The insane part, a single driver does the ENTIRE journey, no shifts, no relief driver. Think about that next time you are stuck on the M25.....
So after the bus dude does his magic for 16 hours, it's good-bye to Honduras and Hola Guatemala! Antigua is Guatemala's tourism showpiece. A UNESCO site, it is clean, safe, very pretty and full of tourists either staying to learn Spanish at one of the multitude of local Spanish schools, chilling out and drinking excellent Guatemalan coffee or passing through like me hoping to climb a volcano. The town nestles below 3 big volcanos and on a clear day the views are great. One of the volcanos is active and up until the day I arrived small lava flows could be seen running down the mountain. Now the occasional plume of smoke and ash tells us that the mountain is still busy doing it's thing.
The streets are cobbled and almost all of the original colonial buildings where possible have been preserved in their original forms. There are amazing hidden courtyards everywhere along with rooftop gardens giving cool places to chill out and even admire the view. Hell, even Macdonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts and Subway are all hidden away fairly obtrusively , although frankly they don't belong here, the local food is great and cheaper!
The thing about a country with a large number of volcanos is that along with them you tend to get a great dollop of that other seismic event, earthquakes. Man, has Antigua had a tough time of it. Most of the old churches and monasteries are in ruins, smashed down by repeated earthquakes(Henry VIII would have been proud) to the point where the locals stopped rebuilding for fear of the next earthquake or volcanic eruption. What you are left with is a great town littered with ruins mixed in
with great colonial buildings, well worth a visit.
I'm in Antigua primarily to climb a small volcano called Pacaya. Now there are 2 main situations when climbing a volcano is probably not a good idea, depending on what you hope to get out of the experience. A full scale eruption is an indication to stay away. Hurricane Earl is probably another indicator, especially if you hope to see something from the top. So heading off from Antigua en route to the volcano it becomes apparent that views may be a challenge. Arriving at the starting point, 1800m above sea level we are surrounded by kids selling walking sticks. Apparently being a grey haired gringo means that you are half crippled and unable to walk unaided, ha, little do they know. Next come the horse dudes, calls of "Taxi!" follow us as we start walking. They continue to follow us for the first hour, hoping that someone will crash and burn so they can grab an over priced fare.
To be honest, the walk up to the base at 2300m is a piece of cake and in true Forrest fashion I left the group behind, they just walk too damn slow!! Once you get a walking rhythm you need to keep it. The view from the top, well no guesses there, thanks Earl.....
If all goes well, on Sunday I'll climb the 3rd highest mountain in Guatemala. Now Earl, please bugger off into Mexico and leave Guatemala alone....
Adios
Andrew
Never have I appreciated a decent bus seat more than on the 16 hour trip from La Ceiba in Honduras to Antigua in Guatemala. On paper the trip looks relatively straight forward, in reality it is a tough journey due to terrain and traffic! The insane part, a single driver does the ENTIRE journey, no shifts, no relief driver. Think about that next time you are stuck on the M25.....
Forrest loves the bus
Waiting at the border in Guatemala
So after the bus dude does his magic for 16 hours, it's good-bye to Honduras and Hola Guatemala! Antigua is Guatemala's tourism showpiece. A UNESCO site, it is clean, safe, very pretty and full of tourists either staying to learn Spanish at one of the multitude of local Spanish schools, chilling out and drinking excellent Guatemalan coffee or passing through like me hoping to climb a volcano. The town nestles below 3 big volcanos and on a clear day the views are great. One of the volcanos is active and up until the day I arrived small lava flows could be seen running down the mountain. Now the occasional plume of smoke and ash tells us that the mountain is still busy doing it's thing.
View down the main drag
The thing about a country with a large number of volcanos is that along with them you tend to get a great dollop of that other seismic event, earthquakes. Man, has Antigua had a tough time of it. Most of the old churches and monasteries are in ruins, smashed down by repeated earthquakes(Henry VIII would have been proud) to the point where the locals stopped rebuilding for fear of the next earthquake or volcanic eruption. What you are left with is a great town littered with ruins mixed in
with great colonial buildings, well worth a visit.
One of the church ruins
I'm in Antigua primarily to climb a small volcano called Pacaya. Now there are 2 main situations when climbing a volcano is probably not a good idea, depending on what you hope to get out of the experience. A full scale eruption is an indication to stay away. Hurricane Earl is probably another indicator, especially if you hope to see something from the top. So heading off from Antigua en route to the volcano it becomes apparent that views may be a challenge. Arriving at the starting point, 1800m above sea level we are surrounded by kids selling walking sticks. Apparently being a grey haired gringo means that you are half crippled and unable to walk unaided, ha, little do they know. Next come the horse dudes, calls of "Taxi!" follow us as we start walking. They continue to follow us for the first hour, hoping that someone will crash and burn so they can grab an over priced fare.
To be honest, the walk up to the base at 2300m is a piece of cake and in true Forrest fashion I left the group behind, they just walk too damn slow!! Once you get a walking rhythm you need to keep it. The view from the top, well no guesses there, thanks Earl.....
Great view....
The Lava shop
I suppose we have to take the rough with the smooth so I'll chalk this one up to experience and a calorie burning exercise. Interestingly enough there is a community initiative up at the crater selling really cool jewelry using polished lava from the latest 2014 eruption. Being convinced that we were going to be robbed, I took no money, bummer for once I would have bought an over-priced souvenir to support their cause. Damn, I must be getting soft in my old age!If all goes well, on Sunday I'll climb the 3rd highest mountain in Guatemala. Now Earl, please bugger off into Mexico and leave Guatemala alone....
Adios
Andrew
No comments:
Post a Comment