Admirals Log:
GUATEMALA 4
The Mayans don't like their photo being taken so this was shot while photographing the church. I have blown up this section so it's a bit blurry but it does give you an idea of their size and her top would have been beautifully embroidered.
We went to a weaving museum to learn about how they make their clothes and I felt really bad about only paying the equivalent of $110 NZ for my bag! I didn't go back and give them more money though - I didn't feel that bad!!!
The restaurants were fantastic and on the whole very cheap - we ate Italian, French crepes and Mexican as well as local street food and all of it was really good. Meals averaging around $6 NZ a main!
There were lots of modern buildings built within the ruins of the old Antigua, giving you a real sense of timelessness. The San Domingo Hotel is either 5 or 6 stars (a little above our budget - we stayed in a backpackers hostel with a shared bathroom for about $30 for the 3 of us. Liam even had his own room apart from the first night included in this price, plus a cooked breakfast!!!!) Anyway back to the San Domingo - it is built completely around a huge old ruin and you are allowed to go in and wander around for free - just our sort of price range - and it was an absolutely stunning example of melding of the old and the new.
Modern brickwork blended into the old stone ruins
San Domingo
Liam and David in the hotel.
The grounds of the hotel were stunning as well.
The highlight of the trip would have to have been our hike up Mount Akatanango. I have never experienced such highs or such lows in one trip before. We read that the hike - from 2,400 up to 3,900 metres was more a mental challenge than a physical!!! Well let me assure you, for a 57 yr old relatively fit woman it was very physically challenging. I wouldn't have missed it for the world but the way down was sheer torture for the last half. My quad muscles had completely given out by this stage and if I didn't lock my knees when I put my weight forward, I just fell straight back onto my bottom, (which I did many many times) as my quad muscles could not hold my weight any more! It was just non stop steep downhill, alternating soft dirt with hard packed rocky eroded paths. Just as well the sights on the way up and the time at the top made up for it!! I knew there was absolutely no other way to get down so I just had to zone out and just put one foot in front of the other, not looking at how much further I had to go. I knew I had to get to the bottom some time if I just kept going.
The lower levels were all farmed
This is well above 2,400 meters where we started out so it's a hard life eking out a living farming here.