Panacachel, Fuertes Georginas, Quetzaltenango (Xela)

We left bright and early on a shuttle bus headed for lake Aititlan in the highlands. The shuttle was no chicken bus but got us to the lake bright and early. You come down through the mountains to a lake surrounded by volcanoes and little towns and the view is incredible. By this point me and lauren were suffering massively from volcano-clogged airways (I had the barry White voice for a record week...) and the long hot walk through the town to find a bed was not exactly enjoyable. We lucked out finding rooms with free coffee so left 30minutes later considerably perked up and decided to hit the lake with some kayaks. This was generally a hilarious experience. Lauren hadn't kayaked before and was blundering about soaking herself while me and chris got overambitious and raced up the shoreline. Unfortunately, I realised (too late) that my kayak was not in tiptop seaworthy condition, or, if it was, it was designed for a 25 stone man. Every wave dumped a ton of water on me and pretty soon I was a mile down the shore sitting in half a foot of water. Chris was off daydreaming while I was busy sinking so I thought I had better make a beeline for shore. The assorted picnicing guatemalans definitely thought I hadno clue how to row a boat and spent a long time laughing at me while I tried to empty my boat out and then spectacularly beached myself until I lost patience and demanded (in Spanish - funny how it comes to you when you need it) that the men help get me out of there. They got me out - along with another boatful of water, and then burnt my biceps off trying to make it back to the kayak centre. Home in sight I finally sank in the shallows, yelled to chris, 'i'm sinking', he spun round to save me and immediately capsized.

Once we had finally retrieved all the shoes from the lake we went to dry off in the sun with some horrendously cheap beers and spent the afternoon browsing panajachel's brilliant local markets, then spent the night mainly dancing.

Next morning we set off at 5am on a chicken bus for the highland city Xela. Unfortunately the roads in this part of the country are not exactly designed for direct travel, so we practiced the fail-proof technique of repeating the name of where we wanted to go until we got there. The best thing about chicken buses aside from the fantastic local music (a beeping Spanish affair with alot of whistles) is that you never have any idea where you are going; every now and again you and your bag get deposited on the highway in the middle of nowhere, then you simply repeat where you are going and somebody pops you on another bus and you are on your way. 4 buses, 6 hours and a good dance later we arrived as planned in xela, spent an hour trying to find some breakfast on a Sunday (ha) then caught a collectivo up to Fuertes Georginas, beautiful natural hotsprings in the mountains. Lauren and I were suffering so much from volcano sinuses by this point we spent all afternoon in our stone bungalow sleeping while the boys soaked themselves. As we were staying at the site we had access to the spring all night so decided to have a BBQ while it was still light. A guatemalan lady helped us make a fire after watching our attempts for a while with wide eyes. She left, and with classic timing the heavens opened and a tropical rainstorm set in fir the evening. Obviously being British we were determined a bit of rain would not put a stop to our BBQ and whipped up a canopy (Disney poncho) and set about the longest mission of keeping a fire alight in the history of man. We did get a feast of sausages and burgers even if we sounded as if we had all inhaled 3 tons of gravel. Success!

We couldn't really complain when we could strip down to our bikinis and swim in a pool of 40degree water in the middle of a tropical rainstorm under the stars. I put a winter's knowledge of fire lighting into practice and made a fire in the grate in the bungalow (it was impressive) and we managed to get a well needed good night's sleep!

The next morning we returned to Xela and fell in love with it after our disappointing morning the day before. It is a really studenty place but unlike Antigua has an authentic guatemalan air. Lauren Chris and I went out that night for a few drinks in guatemala's 'oldest bar'; no one really wanted to leave on the first shuttle in the morning.