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Antigua and its monastries

Written by Nadine Zangerle on . Posted in Guatemala

Our transport to Antigua left at 6 o’clock and we were the only one. We dozed a bit on the two hours ride to the city and had a good breakfast at the Café Condesa.

Prepared for a long walk we headed over the cobblestone streets with the colonial buildings. Back in the colonial times the city had 38 churches and is surrounded by 3 volcanoes - Volcano Agua, Volcano Fuego and Volcano Acatenango.

Due to eruptions and earthquakes the city had to move 3 times. The old ruins of the convents weren’t restored and were really interesting. With only one day to go we picked the Monasterio y Convento de Santa Clara.

From Cerro de la Cruz we had a brilliant view upon Antigua with the impressive Volcano Agua towering over it. On the way back to the center we stopped by the market and the bus station.

The big, colourful chicken buses are as good as a photo motive as the Cuban Oldtimers, so I had to stop Michael a bit. On the way back to the Parque Central we strolled over the Artisan Market and headed back to our pick up spot.

At 4 o’clock we drove back to Panajachel to relax after a long day and before school starts (Spanish School). Since my cold got worse and the massive altitude change on the bus ride gave me some troubles with equalizing, I have some ear pains.

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Panajachel, Lago de Atitlan

Written by Nadine Zangerle on . Posted in Guatemala

At 6:30 o’clock in the morning the minivan picked us up and we were off towards the border. Just before the Guatemalescan border was a long line of cars waiting. To cut a long line short our driver just passed the other cars and paid the control some money (not surprised that the people don’t like gringos, haha).

At the border we had to wait two hours until our pick up arrived. It was strange our drastically the landscape changed. Guatemala seemed to be hillier and dryer and the houses look different as well.

In Panajachel at Lake Atitlan we found a nice spot to stay and we started exploring the very touristy city. It felt a bit like a mix of Khao San Rd, Bangkok and Thamel, Kathmandu.

It was a bit too touristy for our taste but we still checked out some Spanish Schools. But the ones which looked professional are booked out for the next days so we decided to take a boat (lancha) and check out San Pedro.

And we got lucky. We found a Spanish School – Orbita - with homestay at the lake. Fingers crossed it is good. So we moved to San Pedro and started our Spanish course on Monday.

So before we get serious we will check out Antigua for a day trip first and afterwards we head over to San Pedro.

Accommodation: El Chaparral, Calle Santander, Solola, www.hotelchaparral.com

Price: GTQ 180 per night

Comment: nice, clean rooms in the center, close to the waterfront with reasonable price and wifi

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Our Trip through Central America

Written by Michael Zangerle on . Posted in Central America

This map shows you our stops in Central America. We started in Central America in February 2014 and left for South America in May 2014. We had to cut our time short because we got tickets for the FIFA Worldcup 2014 in Brazil. We saw the world champion live! Check out the pictures!

Click on the pins for more information on the places or choose a country on your right.