Antigua is a really pretty city. We spent two nights here first off, so had a day to explore and do a bit of shopping. Then we packed asmall bag, left our big packs at the hotel and set out for Lake Atitlan. We travelled by chicken bus, cheap local buses where they cram as many people as possible in, not comfortable. It took about three buses to get to our first stop, a big market at Chichicastenango. After exploring the market and making a few purchases we took vans the rest of the way to the lake, then crossed by boat to the village of San Juan where we were to stay the night with local families. It was a different experience from Lake Titicaca, this village was not as remote and it was much easier to communicate with the family, one of my group spoke Spanish and the dad spoke a bit of English. We had a little tour of the town then went back to the house where we 'helped' make tortillas for dinner. The family ate with us and we talked until bed time. Next morning we left early, it would have been nice to spend a bit longer, and took the boat over a very choppy lake (though nothing compared to Torres del Paine) to a lake side resort for a yummy breakfast. Back in Panajachel, where we first took the boat from, we had the rest of the day free and spent a night there before chicken bussing it back to Antigua.

This morning I went on an adventure up an active volcano. Volcan Pacaya last erupted May 2010, before the eruption it was possible to get up close to lava rivers, something I've seen photos of and was hoping to do. Unfortunately there is no visible lava now but it was still very cool to visit. We climbed about an hour to a view point over the city then another half hour to get closer to the volcanic activity. Our guide pointed out hot spots on they way which to me smelled similar to cutting wood on a circular saw, that kind of hot wood smell. At our highest point our guide took some hay and put it above a crevasse in the rock where it felt particularly hot. The hay quickly caught fire and burned up. He then took us into a cave where he said the temperature was about 60 degrees. It was hot and very dry, I could feel my skin drying out in the five minutes I was down there. We had a bit of a break before going down and I spent the time with another girl toasting marshmallows over the crevasse that burnt the hay. They turned out perfect! I also managed to drop my sunglasses down the hole. They quickly melted. The hike back down was a bit challenging, sliding on scree but we made it without incident and now I'm back for a last afternoon in Antigua before moving on to Honduras tomorrow.