Xela, Guatemala

July  8: San Pedro la Laguna to Xela (aka Quetzaltenango), Guatemala

This morning we woke up bright and early (which was rather fortunate since Phil had set the alarm to pm instead of am), packed our bags and headed for our mini bus. Along the way we grabbed some freshly made carrot-orange-ginger juice and some still steaming banana bread. After about an hour or so, Phil and I got off the bus (we were going a different direction from everyone else), expecting to get into a second bus, but since there were only two of us, a taxi ended up taking us the rest of the way to Xela. Once in Xela, we scoped out a couple of hostels and ended up at Hostal Don Diego, a very cute little hostel near the center of Zona 1. After getting settled, we decided to check out the town. Fortunately, it was Sunday afternoon, so there was a plethora of food cars surrounding the main square, and we gorged ourselves. We started with some tacos de rez, then had a few tostadas (one pollo, one rez). We also decided, to our detriment, to try a beverage that we had seen many people consuming. It turned out to be some type of corn-custard beverage. We had a few sips and decided it wasn´t for us. Next, we moved onto the ceviche stand, where we had some absolutely amazing shrimp ceviche and a few cracked-open-in-front-of-us mollusks of some sort (conchillos?), which were sprinkled with hot sauce, lime juice and something that resembled Worcestershire before consumption. We finished off with some ´´nachos,´´ or tortillas chips covered with chopped onion, tomato and cilantro and some tomato sauce. That was probably our least favorite thing besides the corn beverage. After exploring the city a bit, we interneted for several hours, and headed to the tour office to book some hikes in the area. Our main goal was to see the volcano Santiaguito, aka the ’old faithful ‘ of the volcano world, since it erupts every 30-40 minutes. The Danish couple before us booked a similar trip, not sure if they were going to go all the way to the top of the neighboring volcano (Santa Maria, apparently the hardest volcano to climb in central America, or so our guides told us) or just go around the side of Santa Maria for a much more relaxing hike and a nice view of Santiaguito (El Mirador). They had 2 kids, 10 and 12, so the booking lady assured us that they would almost certainly not going to climb to the top of the volcano, so we went ahead and joined their group. Excited for the next day, we went back to our hostel  for some rest.

July 9: Hiking Santa Maria
If you haven´t guessed by the title of the day, we ended up hiking Santa Maria. Our first sign that the day was not going to go according to plan (a nice easy hike around the side of Santa Maria) was when we got on the bus at 5 am, and the nice couple asked us ‘’Oh, which hike are you going on?’’ and I responded with ´´Same as you: maybe El Mirador, maybe to the top of Santa Maria, but probably  not to the top,’’ and they just laughed and said ‘’oh, well we are probably going to the top.’’ Phil and I glanced at each other, a bit apprehensive since both of us are in terrible shape, and we knew that we would start around 8,000ft and end up at 12,000ft. Anyway, we silently hoped that the two children would change their parents´ mind when we got to the turn-off. Little did we know the kids were quite experienced climbers, and were actually even hopping around basically the whole hike (his mother accurately referred to him as a mountain goat). Anyway, we got to the turnoff, and there was no question, we were headed to the top. Since there was only one guide for the group, Phil and I just gritted our teeth and went with it. At first the climb wasn´t too bad, not that steep and we stopped every half hour or so for a break. But as we went further along (and eventually lost sight of the dad and the two kids) it got really really steep and we literally had to stop every 10 steps to catch our breath. Ridiculous. Anyway, we made it to the top to find some cows chilling and enjoying the view as well as several local Maya, who had made the hike (in flip flops) to do some ceremonies.

We walked over to the other side of the crater to find that – lo and behold – our view of Santiaguito was blocked by clouds. We were able to catch an occasional glimpse of the ash coming from the top, and hear the rumbling, but that was it. We also caught a couple of glimpses of the Pacific ocean, which I guess was pretty cool. So we sat for 30 minutes or so, enjoyed a sandwich and the most delicious box of orange juice we´d ever had, and fed a few scraps to the brave dog that followed us all the way up (apparently it always follows the groups  up the mountain). Then we headed back down. We got back to the hostel around 1pm, and needless to say, we were exhausted. We heard that there were some hot springs nearby, so we booked at 2:30 shuttle there, and headed to grab a quick bite beforehand. Then we changed into our swimsuits and hopped on the bus. The hot springs were not quite as nice as the ones in Copan- there were only 3 large pools, and they weren´t hidden in the forest, but we enjoyed it anyway. The first pool was ridiculously hot, and we could barely stay in for more than a few minutes (apparently there was a huge storm/landslide and when they rebuilt the pools, they got it wrong), so we spent most of our time relaxing in the second pool. Then, back home, some dinner at a local restaurant, Utz’ something, and had some delicious chicken soup (we asked for seconds), and a plate of creamy chicken, and a plate of mole chicken, all while watching a very entertaining episode of Caso Cerrado (the Spanish version of Judge Judy). Then, BED.

July 10- Laguna Chicabal
We decided that the day after our hellish hike up Santa Maria would be the perfect day for another hike, so we decided to go up the volcano Chicabal to see the lagoon now residing in its crater. We got to sleep in, since we only got picked up at 6am. We rode for about 45 minutes in the van to a small town near the volcano. This hike, it turns out, was much easier than Santa Maria, with the hardest part right in the beginning with a steep climb up a road. Once at the top of the road, we had a nice casual walk down to some cabins and the entrance to the park. From there, it was about a 40 minute hike up the mountain (again, much easier than Maria) to a mirador overlooking the lagoon.  It was very pretty, and we took a moment to take a few pictures before we heard a reasonably quiet rumbling in the background. It was Santiaguito!! We quickly ran to another mirador platform, and even though the view was mostly covered by
 trees, we managed to catch a glimpse of Santiagito erupting by standing on a bench and sticking our heads out of a part of the roof that was missing.

Victory at last! After that excitement, we walked down 583 steps (our guide had previously counted) down into the crater and to the shore of the lagoon. 

Here we sat down for about 15 minutes, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the lagoon (as opposed to Santa Maria, where we could hear bus horns honking almost to the very top). The Maya consider this lagoon a sacred place, and its not hard to see why; they still conduct ceremonies here all the time. The lake itself is extremely still, with no waves or wind to speak of. The Maya believe this is a miracle, since nearly all water they encounter moves (like the ocean, or Lake Atitlan, which both have waves and whatnot). In 2012, this lagoon is sacred probably because it is just about the only place in Guatemala you can get away from the honking and loud music heard every where else in the country. The lagoon is also always full, since it goes about 1000 feet deep down into the volcano itself (and is apparently fed by streams there). It was a really cool spot. After our 15 minutes were up, we walked around the lagoon, looking at the many altars locals use for prayer. Once we completed the circuit, we walked up the hill (using a different way, the stairs were crazy steep) and back to our van for a ride home to Xela. The rest of the afternoon was spent mostly napping and relaxing, before wandering over to a local coffee shop for a short internet session. Right after we paid for our internet session, the power went out, and we eventually found a nice little café to eat dinner by candlelight before settling down for bed.