After waking up in the morning I used the internet to check email and checked out of the hostel. The bus to Antigua was in Zone 1 so I walked to the main street from the hostel and caught a bus to La Reforma, another main street. From there I took a bus to Zone 1. I'm getting quite good at this bus thing and it gives me hope that I'll actually have saved money by the end of my trip in April. Taxi's are too damn expensive.

I took a chicken bus thinking it was bound for Antigua but soon learned that I had to transfer buses yet again. There were dozens of buses lined up along this street and it took me quite a while to find one that had ‘Antigua' on the top. I decided to take my bag on board only to realize a few minutes later how many people were going to get on. I ended up having to set my huge bag on my lap throughout the whole trip; quite uncomfortable I must say.

It was only an hour long trip and I got off only when everybody else did because I wasn't too sure which stop to get off at. Upon unloading from the bus I was greeted by many guys wanting to ‘help' me find a hotel. They were just hustling the foreigners. I ended up getting hustled somehow. One of the guys asked me where my hotel was. I told him I was staying at the Los Amigos hostel. I shouldn't have answered. He told me he owned the hostel and would show me the way. I decided to follow him. Shouldn't have, don't know why I did.

He asked for 35Q for the hostel and I gave it to him once we arrived. I saw him give 25 to the real owner and keep ten for himself. I could have saved 10Q, which is only about a buck twenty-five, but still. While writing this I just saw the same guy escorting an Aussie to another hostel. He must be a good hustler.

The hostel is nice but very run down. The beds and pillows are quite plump so I really can't complain. And for less than five bucks for a hostel per night I should be ashamed to complain.

After getting settled I went for a walk in the Market. SSDD. After the market I went to find somewhere to eat. In the guidebook the place that I had planned on going was no longer there. The guidebook is a few years old but still very reliable. The second place that I went was still there and actually quite nice. It had a porch setting in the middle of the restaurant and tons of plants all around but still with a clear view of the sky. Very peaceful. The meal was excellent. I just got fajitas and it had an interesting flavor to it that I couldn't place, not at all bad and only for five bucks.

After the meal I took a walk to the Parque Central and withdrew some money out of the ATM with some difficulty. I was in line with everybody else for one ATM but I found one around the corner where only one person was in line. Not too sure what the other huge line was for, but there must have been about sixty persons.

I went to the fountain that's situated in the center of the park. It's quite a funny fountain with girls holding their breasts and water pouring out of their nipples. I'm not at all too sure what to think of it. I sat down on a bench facing the nude fountain and read part of my guidebook. The person sitting next to me said something in English to me. We struck up a conversation and come to find he's a Dutch. Very nice and interesting kid, older than me actually, mid twenties I'd say. He's a language student studying here for two weeks and he also has two weeks after that for travel. He'll be going to other parts of Guatemala and Mexico. We're meeting up at eight thirty to go out drinking.

Later a Welsh guy came in and asked how the hostel was. I too just arrived so I said I think it was excellent for the price and the beds seemed comfy enough. Then he asked if I was strong. He led me outside to where a huge motorcycle sat. We pushed it inside up a few stairs and an Aussie came to help as well.

I told him I was headed out in a few minutes to meet up with the Dutch dude I met earlier in the day. But by this time he had just poured himself some tea and said he would meet us by the fountain in a few minutes. The Aussie bloke didn't come. He said he was exhausted, and he sure looked it.

I headed out and met up with the Dutch who was waiting by the fountain. The square was all lit up with some cool Christmas lights and the fountain had multi-colored flood lights around it as well. It was quite the setup. While waiting for the Welsh we just talked about traveling and Guatemala in general and other things. We waited for a solid twenty minutes but we didn't mind his lateness.

We explored a few bars, including the Monoloco which is supposed to be a pretty good one. It wasn't, at least not at nine at night. We walked around the town in search of a lively place and found one about a half hour later. I don't remember what it was called but it was a hostel as well as a bar. We sat around a small table and just chatted about life and what we're all attempting to accomplish in the near future.

The Welsh had the best story. He bought his bike in LA a couple months ago and he traveled from there clear to where we sat. He spent lots of time in Mexico. He's making his way clear down to Chili and other places in South America. I don't know how he's going to transport his bike from Panama to South America. Border crossing is not practiced because of the drug wars. He has like ten or something more months ahead of him. I think he's insane but he seems sure of himself. I think he said he's twenty seven. The Dutch I can't remember his story. He's just studying in Antigua and he's thirty.

The bar closed early to our annoyance so we seeked out another place. We found a billiard close to our hostel. It was quite dingy but cheap and still fun. I won the first game against the Welsh. I think he's actually better at pool than I am, I just got lucky. The second game I lost to the Dutch by knocking in the black ball. The Dutch and Welsh went to war and I believe the Welsh won. After that I told them I had to leave because I had to get up at six for the Volcan Pacaya trip. They were tired too so we all said goodnight. The Dutch invited me to meet up with him again at eight thirty the next night.

The next day I was too tired to get up for the trip so I slept in. The lady who owned the hostel came and got me up when the van arrived but I said I wanted to sleep. I felt bad about missing it but sleep just seemed more important. So I hung out with the Welsh all day but not before booking another trip to Volcan Pacaya that left at two in the afternoon.

We woke up around eight thirty and pretty much just walked around town all day long. We ate the market food, God forbid, but it was quite tasty. He said he will eat the market food as long as he sees it cooked in front of him. The people who come onto the bus that sell food he won't buy from because he doesn't know how long since it's been cooked. I see his point.

He got a few brochures on the schools in Antigua to see the average pricing. He wanted to learn Spanish but not in Antigua. He said there were too many tourists who speak English. Honestly I think that's how it will be everywhere there's a Spanish school. At the information place we were at we also picked up a list of sights to see in the city. Old ruins from the 1770's earthquake, a cathedral, and a few other things. When that was finished I headed back to the hostel just in time to see the van for my trip pulling around the corner going away but I didn't know it at the time.

The lady who owns the hostel asked if I was ready to leave. Yes, I said, I'm ready to rock. I said goodbye to Welsh and got his email as she telephoned the van and told them to wait in the Central Park for a few minutes. She took me on her scooter, which was quite fun but oddly nice of her. People were still clamoring aboard when we arrived so I didn't feel too bad about showing up late.

On the bus I met these two old French Canadian ladies. They were quite nice. I think it was over an hour to Pacaya. When we arrived we bought our entry tickets and waked in. Apparently I was supposed to bring a flashlight, sweater and food. I was a bit unprepared but I figured I'd get along just fine without the luxuries. I had just eaten before I got on board.

Our guide was very good and only one person had trouble keeping up. Some very strange, and probably touched in the head, Asian dude. But they had ‘Taxis', horses to be exact, that brought people up the volcano. Luckily he rented one. It wasn't a hard walk at all, but when you're over fifty or sixty I can see it being a problem. People kept up fine; we just walked slower than I would have wanted.

We finally got our first view of the volcano and where the lava rock started. Sulfuric gas was floating everywhere from out of the top and on the right side. The guide told us to watch our step on the lava rock. You wouldn't want to land in lava or get scraped up on the gnarly rocks.

It was quite scary. Some of the rocks were actually hallow and felt that they would cave in at any pressure. I got my first view of lava about a kilometer into the lava rock. It was pretty neat. The guide stopped us once we got close and told people that proper shoes should be warn when getting close because they will likely melt.

I just messed around with my camera taking pictures of the amazing view and chatting with the Canadian ladies. I took some pretty awesome shots. Almost better than the Cliffs of Moher was how great the view was. The mountains in the distance seemed to grow straight from the clouds themselves; a complete and total post card picture with the sun going down and the light changing constantly. So many colors came to life as the sun got closer to being set.

But once it was set it got dark fast. The guide knew this too so we started back shortly after. Hiking back was rougher on my feet than hiking up. Rocks kept getting in my sandals. Half way through the hike back it was pitch dark. I saw fireflies for the first time in my life and many of them. I only tripped a few times. I slept on the way back to the hostel.

I showed up at the fountain at forty past eight and must have just missed Dutch because he and his group weren't there. Oh well. I went to Café 2000 and watched Lucky Number Selven while drinking Moza and smoking a hookah; relaxing.

When the movie ended I walked out and so did the Aussie guy from my hostel. I hadn't seen him in the café. After being lost for a few minutes in search of the hostel we found it and said goodnight.