Volcanoes and lightening bolts

It was early in the morning and the truck bumped and bounced up the crooked ridge of ¨Volcan Agua.¨ The four of us stood upright in the back of the truck bed, gripping onto the bikes to make sure they wouldn´t slip out the back. Once we got close to the top we unloaded our gear and made sure all of us were ready. The five of us: Victor (our Ex-pat tour guide), Seth (a 20 yr-old med student from Chicago), Becky (an 18-yr old volunteer from Maryland), and two grungy-looking bastards (oh wait...that was us). Once we finally got our bearings, we ripped down the volcano at extremely high speeds, butts hanging off the back of our seats to balance out the rocky road and steep decline. The trip started off as a nervous expedition, but by the end we were taking jumps and scoring air off the region´s highest volcano. After the trip we rewarded ourselves with a swim in the local pool (which was freezing) and then went to the store for drinks. Back at our hostel ¨O.X.,¨ a place we HIGHLY recommend to anyone heading through Antigua, we met a kindred soul named Wendy (another of us possessed by wander-lust) and we played cards and drinked until late at night.

Today, Rudy picked us up and we started our long drive to Lake Atitlan. On our way we stopped at a gravity hill. A gravity hill is a spot that looks like it goes upward where it is actually going downard. This particular one was called ¨Paso Misterioso.¨ We put the car in neutral and let it slide backwards up the hill, it was a blast, we must have done it 6 or 7 times.

Once we arrived in Panajachel (sp?) we grabbed a quick bite and then found a cheap hostel. Right as we checked in a wicked lightening storm hit. So, we are hoping it will pass by quick, but it looks like we are grounded for a day...easy on the wallets at least.

We will keep you posted as we trek back through Guatemala and into Honduras,
Jordan and Will

First Day

We have successfully arrived in Guatemala after an extremely tiring day of traveling. We got off the plane and drove straight to Antigua with the help of our friend/guide, Rudy. In Antigua we were quickly stereotyped as wealthy Americans because we were automatically taken to the nicest hotel I have ever seen in my entire life (and I worked at the Ritz...on the beach). This hotel was rebuilt from a monastary. The walls were all covered in ivy, there were waterfalls and fountains in each part of the hotel, in the back lay the untouched ruins of the old monastary, and the rooms were of a Colonial style....but $388 a night is outside of two poor backpackers budget. Fortunately, we found a nice small hotel that was affordable and...wait for it...wait for it...has running hot water. So, we chucked the bags in the room, locked the door behind us, and went on a decent hike up to the top of the hill to Mirador de La Cruz. Now we are taking a little break at 1pm to recooperate before heading back out for the evening.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We are being driven up to the top of Volcano Agua, the tallest volcano in this region and are going to be mountain biking down a single-track course. Ya, that's right, we are riding our bikes down the destructive back of a lava-toting behemoth, and we will reign supreme.

Alright, we will keep you posted,
Jordan and Will