Leaving Atitlan

I left the lake on 30 December, to goto Antigua. The localbus was pretty full and I had to change bus half-way, but that wasn't a problem. As soon as the bus arrived in Antigua, I went to look for a place to stay. The first hostel was full, the second had a bed for 1 day, the third had 1 bed left for the three days I was going to stay in Antigua. The hostel was called The Black Cat, pretty good place, if your are ever to go to Antigua, make sure you stay there. The tortilla's are cheap and taste awesome.

On 31 December my alarmclock went off at 5:30, time to get to the volcano Pacaya. It is one of the most active volcano's in Guatemala, you aperantly can see the lava. Pacaya was much, much easier to climb up, I didn't had my hikingshoes anymore, I left those in Solala (what a dumbass buy was that), so sneakers all the way. It wasn't any problem. I ran uphill to be there as soon as possible and enjoy the view and lava the most. I expected we would go to the top of the volcane, instead you just walk around at the buttom. Since I had a busgroup I needed to pay attention to, I could just walk up. Otherwise I certainly would have done that. I could see little streams of lava coming from the ground, and most people tried to trow stuff at it, just to see it burn/melt/dissolve. So no "pool" of lava for me, just small streams. I expected more, was still interesting enough to recommend it.

Then I went to Guatemala City. Not very beautifull. Busy streets and busy buses. From Gua I took the bus to Puerto Barrios. It cost me 55 Q to have a second class bus for 8 hours. While I was waiting in Gua I met a american couple, who were traveling for 11 years now. After he retired they sold everything and bought a boat. The could have gone around the world, three times, the decided they wanted to stay in the caribbean. Yup, I was going to the caribbean!

After 4 hours the bus stopped for a small break. I left my Guatemala book and sweater on my seat, got out, and here I meet the American couple again. So we talk and talk. I eat, go outside and my bus was gone. It left. My backpack/sweater/book gone. In the middle of Guatemala my bus just drove off...

To be continued...

oh nee olaf! je waardevolle spullen had je toch wel gewoon bij je neem ik aan he (paspoort, ticket naar brazilie...)
laat me nog ff iets weten over wat je doet in sao paulo goed?
vrijdag mn inentingen gehad.. malariatabletten gehaald, nog wat middeltjes; 300 euro totaal!!! en ik moet nog voor een vervolgprik voor hepetites a over 4 weken.. dat wordt dus in brazilie..
maar goed goedkomen! hoop dat ik gauw wat hoor. groetjes!

Nu heeft de regering eindelijk het risiko van toerist-overval een beetje onder kontrole gekregen in de omgeving van Volcano Pacaya (ja, hier wordt intenst het oog gehouden met diverse gov. sites!!),maar vergeet Mr. Tourist himself z'n bagage. We zijn benieuwd! Trouwens in Puerto Barrios kun je goed bananen eten (eindpunt van UFCO)!

maar ik kan niet teveel zeggen: Lennart weet waar ik mijn tas vergat met kr. 4.500,00!!

Aw! What a pity. Hopefully you got/will get it back!
Keep us posted.

is dit de nieuwe manier van toeristen "beroven"?

Aijaijai, Olaf never leave your luggage in those countries. Maybe everyone is really kind, but you can't trust anybody!!!!! Succes I hope it will end happy everlasting. Roel

oeioei, dat is niet zo handig... Ik hoop dat je de spullen nog terug krijgt!!

OMG.....familietrekje