Guatemala: Antigua

Our last stop in Guatemala was Antigua, the previous capital until 1773 when an earthquake destroyed much of the town.  The center still has the Spanish colonial buildings and cobblestone streets, making it a pretty place to stroll.  

While walking around town, one can see many of the old, massive churches with their roofs and walls caved in.

One of the activities we did while there was climbing the Pacaya Volcano.  Due to traffic, we didn't start hiking until four.  The weather was already drizzly, and the fog rolling in through the trees created a mysterious, other-worldly landscape.  The three kilometers to the top was at a decent incline, and the aroma of the damp forest made me feel alive.  

All the views from the lookouts were like this: pure clouds.

At the summit, large, black lava rocks made the terrain look like Mars.  

It amazes me how these plants thrive in such harsh soil.

The walk down was in the dark.  Luckily, our guide had an extra flashlight for Elizabeth and I to share, which was handy considering the amount of fresh horse doo covering the trail.  

It was as if we were passing through Grimm's Forest.

The next day, we took a five-hour tour to the surrounding pueblos.  We stopped at five different locations and were able to see just normal people going about their everyday routine sans tourists.  There was a homemade wine shop where the fruity wine was in used bottles with little shot glasses for tasting.  It wasn't the best I've ever tried, but we still bought a bottle. We also stopped to tour how jade is refined from the stone to the jewel and then shown a bunch of pretty objects that were way over my budget.  

This is the first town we stopped in that had a busy outdoor market.  Notice how the lady is carrying the baby on her back: hands free!  This pueblo was the most traditional in terms of dress that we saw.  The men still wore slacks and shirts, but the women were decked out in skirts and belt wraps.

In a few of the towns, we came across women (of course) washing their clothes and catching up on news in a community area with a large pool of water and several scrubbing boards.  Their work never ends.

The tastiest stop was at the macadamia nut farm.  Not only did we have eat some delicious pancakes coated with macadamia nut butter and blueberries, but the outdoor bathroom was amazing.  Instead of walls, there were just plants.  You could actually peep through the leaves and see people standing right outside and join in their conversations if you were so inclined.  

Our last stop was at a women's cooperative where we tried on the traditional outfits and pretty much had to buy something.  Many of the items were things I would never use, but the woven artwork was rather impressive. 

One of the mornings in Antigua, I woke up early and hiked the short way up a nearby hill to the cross overlooking the town. 

A little further up was this awesome tree and a statue of some dude.  There were no people around, and the solitude was a nice change.

The most sinful part of the trip was our tour at the chocolate factory.  For two hours, we learned the history of chocolate and made our very own, adding whatever ingredients we wanted.  I chose dark chocolate, of course, for the antioxidants. The bag of morsels was consumed in two days.  No self control here.