1/3/10 - day 82.

up at 8, waited outside the hostel for the bus to the beach. monterrico is only about 3 hours south of antigua and i had decided it was where i wanted to spend my final week. there was an american family on the bus who had been travelling around guatemala the last couple weeks on a package tour with FORTY(!) other people and a tour guide for every place they visited. i over heard them saying they'd stayed somewhere for just 80 bucks a night. the fact they put the word "only" in that sentence told me they were living on a different planet to me!

got there about 11ish and i went to find a place called "brisas del mar" that jory had recommended me. really really nice place. decent sized own room, ensuite bathroom, swimming pool, rooftop hammock area, restaurant. top stuff. after dumping my stuff, i went and had pancakes and fruit. spent the rest of the day relaxing in or by the pool.

monterrico is known to be hot year round and sunny like 350 days a year. this being the case, its a popular weekend getaway for the people of the nearby capital. also, this is one of the very few nice beaches in the country.

i got talking to an english couple that afternoon, we'd been talking for a while then he suddenly asked me where they knew me from. i was sure they had the wrong person cos didnt recognise either of them at all. then she remembered. when i was back in honduras, like a month ago, i had shared a taxi with them for all of about 5 minutes to the botanical gardens near Tela. i only spoke to the briefly, exchanged pleasantries and that was about it. dunno how they remembered me from that! very random i thought.

i went to check out the beach, which was one of black volcanic sand, just as the sun was going down so i wasnt too hot to walk on then went out for dinner where i bumped into the english couple again - john and angie. long story short, john asked if i fancied a beer and we ended up staying the whole night in a bar drinking incredibly cheap rum by the bottle. dinner got forgotten about somehow! there were a lot of locals there, all pretty drunk i think, and we chatted to them all night - my spanish getting better and better with every drink(!) it was a really fun night. dont know what time i got back.