It's been a whirlwind week full of bus trips, relaxation, frantic markets, rainstorms and some more relaxation.After San Pedro we embarked across to the other side of Lago de Atitlan to an even smaller village called San Marcos de Laguna.This is a village known for it's meditation and spirituality.So we thought, what better way to meditate and get in touch with our spirituality than to treat ourselves to 90 minute massages at the village Hollistic Centre.At $32 US how could we resist?We stayed at a German owned and hippie run little hotel called the Aacaluux with great lake views.This place uses recycled materials to create artwork that is integral to the hotel walls, windows, showers, furniture and just about anything else you could imagine.It was in this village that we met a US expatriate named Carlos who was a former Lehigh alumni and informed us of all the perks of living in Guatemala - no building permits needed, no property taxes collected - I think we'll pass though.

After a short boat trip to Panajachel on the east side of the lake, we hopped a shuttle north to Chichicastenango (not sure on the spelling here).The sole purpose of heading to this city set up high in the mountains is to partake in the markets held twice weekly.We arrived late in the afternoon and spent the night.Apparently it gets cold up in the mountains because our room came complete with a fireplace which we took advantage of and also cooked our scrumptious dinner over the fire (hot dogs…yumm).Six a.m. came around fast and off to the markets we went.60 and 70 year old men and women carrying their weight in goods on their heads also headed towards the plaza to set up for the days sales.Everyone was pretty much selling the same stuff - wooden masks (RJ - you'd be in heaven), blankets, traditional Mayan clothing - perfect for an aspiring photographer (check out our photos there).After purchasing three masks and taking about 400 photos we were all marketed out.We needed to head to a place where we could relax - how bout to the Pacific slope?

So we headed to the volcanic black sand beaches of Monterrico.Monterrico village is definitely not the cleanest place, there are as many pigs wandering the street as dogs, which in Guatemala, is a lot!The beaches, however, stretched for miles in either direction.We sat for hours watching with awe as the powerful 10ft waves crashed with immense force, knocking grown men off their feet - quite humorous to watch actually.After our first night we woke at 5am to take a tour of the mangrove swamps.Glad to be out of our mosquito/flee/animal infested room, which feasted on us all night (even though we were tucked away under the mosquito net), we were soon in an unstable canoe in 2 ft of water with crocodiles lurking below us.Greg was naturally singing; rock the boat, don't rock the boat baby…As morning broke we were pushed along by our guide through the narrow mangrove canals, it was so peaceful.

This stretch of pacific coast is home to the endangered leatherback sea turtles. Later that day we participated in a weekly ritual of releasing the newly hatched turtles.We paid a small donation to adopt them, and at sunset we released them in a large group to give them a better chance of survival.As they scurry across the sand toward the waters edge, they gain knowledge that they are to come back to this exact point to lay their eggs.After 2 days of staying in the two dingiest hotels, while paying triple the price of anyway else in Guatemala, we treated ourselves to an upgrade.And an upgrade it was, we had the entire hotel to ourselves, where we relaxed to the max by our glamorous pool.When we got hungry, they opened the restaurant, when we got thirsty, they opened the bar, talk about service!

Then it was back to Antigua for two nights before we fly out.Somehow Antigua gets more beautiful each time we come back.This time the sun was shining and we had visual evidence of the surrounding volcanoes.All in all, Central America has been amazing.I strongly urge you to come and explore what it has to offer.