Thursday 2nd August
This morning started fairly early, as we had to be on the bus at 6am. I managed to skype mum (minus the audio - shame it doesn't work with her for some reason) before leaving, which was nice. We took a bus to Chichicastenango, a market town in Guatemala. The market takes place on Sundays and Thursdays and is the largest in Central America. When we arrived we went straight for breakfast, which involved some hilarious conversations led by Ernesto!
Ernesto led us around the market, and pointed out a church that we might have visited, had it not been closed for renovations. People were selling flowers on its steps instead. The market was quite busy and Natasha, Rose and I decided to stick together, for fear of getting lost. Ernesto had also made us nervous with the advice he had given us about avoiding having our things stolen or our bags slashed. We wandered around the market and at first we were wondering how on earth we were going to pass the next few hours there, as everything started to look the same pretty quickly. Textiles, clothing, jewellery, bags - all things I love to buy, but since I've bought so much of it on other trips I don't feel inclined to bring back a heap of stuff in the same way as I have on other trips. I did manage to find one or two nice things though. Natasha spent a good half an hour choosing between different colours in order to select two cushion things stuff with cinammon cloves. Apparently you put a warm container on there and it releases the smell, or something. I'm not entirely sure, but they were pretty and cinammon is one of my absolute favourite smells. I also got a few Christmas decoration, and yes, I succumbed to the jewellery and bought two bracelets. Haha. You had to bargain for everything, which I don't really like doing, but I think I got good prices for everything.
We were back on the bus by 2pm and the drive back to Antigua took about two and a half hours. We arranged to go for an early tea, since we're on a 4am bus tomorrow morning. We went back to the place we went to on our first night, since everyone was craving the fillet mignon steaks they had had. I had my nicest meal so far - grilled vegetable wrap with cheese, and chips. The wrap was gorgeous. I also tried a drink called Roja de Jamaica, which is a juice made from the hibiscus flower. It was quite nice.
We got some snacks for the bus on the way home, and then went straight back to the hotel. Our groups is shrinking tomorrow. Una is going home, as her tour has ended, and Ernesto is only going with us as far as the border because we get a new guide for the rest of the trip, so we will be saying goodbye to him and his girlfriend tomorrow as well. From now on it will be just Natasha, Rose, Jeremy and I until we reach Costa Rica. A teeny tiny group.
Wednesday 1st August
We met for breakfast at 8am this morning and then all went down to the lake to take a boat from Panajachel at one side to Santiago at the other - an 18km journey. I think Ernesto said the lake was something like 125 square miles. The views were beautiful. There are three volcanoes around the edge of Lake Atitlan, the highest reaching about 3500m.
When we arrived there we met our three guides. Two were 14, and one was 11, all boys. Apparently they've been doing it for seven years! A lovely old lady demonstrated how the locals wear their hats, and I also placed an order for a couple of special pens, to collect on our way back. My group has already figured out I'm a stationery fiend. I couldn't resist getting my own teacher pen for less than a pound though!
The boys took us through the streets of Santiago. There were market stalls, and first we went to a house where a ritual was taking place. Maya and Catholic religion is all mixed together here. In the ritual, there was an icon called Maximon - a wooden doll dressed with dozens of ties, and two hats, one of which is loaned to any sick people who come to visit it. The doll is given alcohol and cigarettes, and people offer money and add ties around its neck. They then ask for all sorts of things - health, good business, better exam results, love, you name it. I think this can explain it better than I can, plus pictures, if you're interested, as I didn't take any (there was a charge): http://www.mayadiscovery.com/mayan-culture/dailylife/cult-maximon.asp
We also visited a large church next to a fairground, and the boys explained some of the history and meaning behind some of the iconography there. Behind the church was the place where a missionary who did a lot of important work in Santiago was assassinated. Afterwards we wandered through the streets again and everyone got gorgeous ice creams - topped with melted chocolate and nuts. YUM.
We walked back to the boat, got back on the boat and most of us dozed on the ride back to Panajachel. After that I felt really tired, so I decided to skip lunch and have a sleep instead. Best laid plans... I ended up on skype for an hour and a half, and then just as I was finished Natasha came back to the room and we had a mammoth three hour chat before tea.
Tea was delicious tonight. Ernesto took us to a Chinese place so I had an actual Chinese dumpling for starters (those of you who know me well will know that Chinese dumplings are my absolute favourite) followed by vegetables and noodles, and dragon fruit for dessert. Beautiful. We walked back in the rain (rain! Didn't think I would need my cardigan or my raincoat at all but have been wearing both this evening) and l had an early night.
This morning started fairly early, as we had to be on the bus at 6am. I managed to skype mum (minus the audio - shame it doesn't work with her for some reason) before leaving, which was nice. We took a bus to Chichicastenango, a market town in Guatemala. The market takes place on Sundays and Thursdays and is the largest in Central America. When we arrived we went straight for breakfast, which involved some hilarious conversations led by Ernesto! 
Ernesto led us around the market, and pointed out a church that we might have visited, had it not been closed for renovations. People were selling flowers on its steps instead. The market was quite busy and Natasha, Rose and I decided to stick together, for fear of getting lost. Ernesto had also made us nervous with the advice he had given us about avoiding having our things stolen or our bags slashed. We wandered around the market and at first we were wondering how on earth we were going to pass the next few hours there, as everything started to look the same pretty quickly. Textiles, clothing, jewellery, bags - all things I love to buy, but since I've bought so much of it on other trips I don't feel inclined to bring back a heap of stuff in the same way as I have on other trips. I did manage to find one or two nice things though. Natasha spent a good half an hour choosing between different colours in order to select two cushion things stuff with cinammon cloves. Apparently you put a warm container on there and it releases the smell, or something. I'm not entirely sure, but they were pretty and cinammon is one of my absolute favourite smells. I also got a few Christmas decoration, and yes, I succumbed to the jewellery and bought two bracelets. Haha. You had to bargain for everything, which I don't really like doing, but I think I got good prices for everything. 
We were back on the bus by 2pm and the drive back to Antigua took about two and a half hours. We arranged to go for an early tea, since we're on a 4am bus tomorrow morning. We went back to the place we went to on our first night, since everyone was craving the fillet mignon steaks they had had. I had my nicest meal so far - grilled vegetable wrap with cheese, and chips. The wrap was gorgeous. I also tried a drink called Roja de Jamaica, which is a juice made from the hibiscus flower. It was quite nice. 
We got some snacks for the bus on the way home, and then went straight back to the hotel. Our groups is shrinking tomorrow. Una is going home, as her tour has ended, and Ernesto is only going with us as far as the border because we get a new guide for the rest of the trip, so we will be saying goodbye to him and his girlfriend tomorrow as well. From now on it will be just Natasha, Rose, Jeremy and I until we reach Costa Rica. A teeny tiny group.
