Guatamala!

¡hola amigos!

I just got back from Guatamal and it was great!!!

i went to guatamala with two friends, Donnie and Bart. We took the bus at 2 am from managua and arrived at 5 pm in Guatamala city. Because of all the bad stories we heard about guatamala, we decided to take a taxie directly to Antigua.
Antigua is a gorgeous colonial city with ruines but many tourists. We stayed in el Hospedaje Jungle Party for two nights and we had for the first time since i arrived in Latin America warm water showers!!!
After antigua we went to Lago Atitlan, a beautifull lake surounded by volcanos. We stayed there in a small town called San Pedro. We hiked there the cutest little volcano ever. We hitchhiked to the bottom of the volcano and asked the locals for a path to the top. They showed us a really steep and small path that they use to collect there coffee and wood. Whole families walk up there everyday and tosh kilos of wood and coffee on there back. From little kids to old women and all on bare feet! We had a nice and hard walk on our flipflpos through the coffee plants to the top. After the volcano, we where all so filthy and hot so we asked in the village for a nice place to swim. They all looked at us like they had never seen ¨"extranjeros" in there whole life and laughed at us because we where so filthy. But everybody was really friendly and showed us the way to the lake. On our way, we past a huge fancy house with a huge green garden. The owner of that house saw us and invited us to come and have a swim in his garden!
After lake atitlan we took a shuttle to Chichicastenango to visit the largest market in the country. It was huge and also overwelimng. There was sooo much to buy and so many colors everywhere! That afternoon we took the bus back to Antigua to go from there to Languin. Languin is a small town close to Coban and Semuc Champee. it is completely different from the high lands with rain forrests. We sleeped there in hammocks and i was suprised how good i slept! We visited semuc champee, a big park with natural pools, waterfalls and onderwater caves.

Guatamal got so much culture, they speak 23 different idiomas and the people still wear there traditional colorfull clothes. Every little village got his one typical food. The people were also really warm and friendly. A lot of people offered us rides and gave us advise about where to stay and where not to go. i really enjoyed it and I will go back when i got some more time.

muchos besos! Nienke

p.s I dont have digital foto´s from my trip because my camera was already stolen and Donnies and Barts were stolen at the first day in Antigua. i bought an old fashion camera with film to take some pictures.