Now Thats CHEAP!!

OOoOhhhh Guatemala, how good it feels to be in your arms again!!! Guatemala is really growing on us and we are lingering, maybe for too long. After Rio Dulce we took a bus to Guatemala City, then straight to Antigua, a beautiful colonial town surronded by volcanoes, one that towers over the town and you could imagine just walking straight up it.
We stayed in a room there for 37 quetzales (like five bucks) and it even had a shared kitchen!! We met up with a bunch of couchsurfers.. an italian guy, one mexicano, some french italians, and an aussie. An eclectic group, we spent alot of time chillin in cafes and goin to ladies night where there is a constantly loud salsa band. Antigua is full of tourists, and catholic indegenous people and has a feel very similar to San Cristobal, not far. Altogether it is very Mexican in general, with the colonial feel, with colorful houses, and most importantly, the plaza and cathedrals. There is one giant yellow opne that has beautiful white details that have been mosaice-ed with egg shells!!! It is a beautiful church with gorgeous purple trees surronding that are all around the city. On top of the functioning churches, there are a ton of places in ruins from the earthquake that toppled Antigua, one of which we went to see. These are a beatuiful remmeberance of the architecture and add alot of appeal to the town already decked out in colonial digs.
Around the town there are two of guatemala's four active volcanoes. After a couple of nights, I went up to Pacaya, an active, lava spewing peak that you can watch an incredible sunset from. Sonya didnt come because she wasnt feeling well, and its a good thing because we both had food poisoning, and luckily mine didnt come until I made it back to our hotel. But two days before my birthday and we are both puking our guts out.. YUK!!! But when my birthday came around, we went to the only Irish pub in Guatemala and spent time with our CS friends. The next morning,we went out for all you can eat pancakes. I had blueberry, my fave.
Since we needed to stay in Antigua longer to get sonya's cavity filled, our local CouchSurfer hosted us for 3 more nights, spending a total of about 8 days in Antigua.. PHEW!!! Like i said we, kind of linger alot. After finally getting out of Antigua, we were excited for Lago Atitlan, even higher in the mountains, a lake with many mountains coming out of every corner. It is phenominally gorgeous, and each town around the lake has its own vibe, right now we are in the cheapest town, San Pedro. Our room costs $3US. Cheap!!! On our way oput of antigua, Sonya twisted her ankle prety bad, something we are working on figuring out right now, although i dont expect it to bother her for more than a week. On top of a bum ankle, our shuttle to the lake had a burro of a driver, who didnt know how to drive a stick, screaching the clutch almost every shift. At one point we had to push the car to get up a steep hill, and these old tourists abandoned the shuttle for a taxi!! But we eventually made it to Panajachel, then took a boat to the lovelky San Pedro where most of the foot travel is down a foot path, barely big enough for the motorbikes that you have to dive out of the way to not get hit by.
!!Viva Guatemala!!