Day 76-79 Antigua

Antigua was a pleasant surprise. We were not sure what to expect from a fairly large town, close to Guatemala City and all, but we had heard good things and it did not disappoint. The second you drive off the main highway and enter Antigua your surrounded by a beautiful Spanish Colonial town with narrow cobble stone streets, painted tiles on the side of building walls for street signs, stone buildings painted different colours and just a good relaxed feel. The local buses, which may have been old school buses in their time, are all painted with brilliant colours and patterns and have shiny metallic bonnets. The markets are crazy and fun, for girls but not really boys as Brendan soon learnt, and there are cafes and little restaurants with garden courtyards everywhere. There was a lot to do and we knew we could easily spend a few days here.

We had heard from other travellers that there was a small town close by called Pastores that was known for selling great leather boots. We set out one morning determined to return with a pair of boots each. We took one of the colourful local buses for 25 cents and 15minutes later found ourselves being instructed by an old man sitting next to us that this was our stop, Pastores, Boot town. We hopped off the bus and were surrounded by'BOOT' signs everywhere. The town consisted of one street about 200 metres long that was full of boot makers and about 2 general stores that were strategically situated for drink breaks between shopping. You could get any type of boot you wanted, from simple leather to snake and crocodile skin and intricate patterns. You could get boots custom made in a few days, with your initials embroidered into the leather if you wanted. This place was amazing and we spent 3 hours walking the main street. We entered EVERY store, EVERY single boot store (2 librans in a boot town with too many boots to choose from, not a good combo), until it was time for them to close for their afternoon siesta. We finally returned to the store that had our boots of choice, handed over the $70 for two great pairs and caught the bus back to Antigua.

Another day we decided to take a hike up Volcan Pacaya. It's the closest active volcano to Antigua which stands 2552m high and most recently erupted approximately one month ago. There is still some active lava which you can see on and off depending on the day and the side of the volcano you climb. We caught a bus for an hour or so and then started the hike up the black gravel path. Everything around was completely blackened, with all the trees just skeletons and only a few green plants poking through the ground, just starting to grow again. We kept climbing until we reached an area as close to the top as we could go. There was steam coming out from under rocks and you could see the top of the volcano simmering away. At the top you can look across to the other volcanoes, Volcan Agua and Volcan Fuego which sit close to Antigua and provide beautiful scenery for the area. It was a fun hike that allowed us to see the beautiful surroundings of the valley.

The rest of our time in Antigua we spent wandering the streets, checking out some of the old buildings and churches, trying our luck at the markets as well as eating some great food and drinking some very nice rum. Brendan had been given a tip by a few other travellers and locals that the best rum in Guatemala and possible the best rum ever was called Zacappa and could be purchased for around $40. So we found a little liquor store, bought a bottle of Zacappa, some super juicy limes and a bottle of coke and headed back to the hostel. After a cheap yet tasty hostel cooked meal, the bottle was cracked and Brendan was hooked. I was even impressed with its smooth taste and could possibly be persuaded to drink a few without flash backs from a night out in Sydney drinking rum with the boys a few years ago.

While Brendan got excited about his Guatemalan Rum and new leather boots, I had heard about a small bakery that made their own banana bread, which they were famous for, and came out hot and fresh at approximately 2pm each day. We just happen to find our way over there one afternoon and for all of $1.50 we bought half a loaf, we thought a whole loaf was alittle too much. We continued to wander the streets of Antigua eating warm and very moist banana bread that was one of the best food purchases of Guatemala. It was up there with crazy Banana Bread Man, Ronnie, from the Bolivian Jungle.

Antigua was a beautiful town with lots to do and a great laid back feeling. We had really loved our time in Guatemala and we knew we could easily spend another week or more there. There were still so many places to go and so much to do but our next stop was calling us and we had a long way ahead to get through all of Central America. It was time to say goodbye to Guatemala.