EC-Rider Travels

I can’t tell you, how lovely this hotel is – I am feeling very spoilt indeed. I opened the shutters this morning to the most wonderful view of Agua volcano. Apparently there are three volcanos surrounding the city, one of which is still active. There is a lovely balcony outside our room and my newest friend, Alexander, insisted on bringing up some tables and chairs so that Lottie and I can sit out there. Unfortunately just as he did this, the heavens opened and is it been pretty wet for most of the day. So I’ve got quite a lot of admin done, rather foolishly asking the nice laundry lady to add some of my ‘whites’ to her washing pile, and it is all come back bright pink!

The rain lessened in the afternoon and I went for a wander around the city centre of this enchanting city. Antigua or Antigua Guatemala as it is officially known (Old Guatemala) is a small city in southern Guatemala. For 200 years, it was Guatemala’s colonial capital until 1773 when it was largely destroyed by an earthquake. Many of the colonial Spanish buildings have been restored and its principal monuments are still preserved as ruins.

Nearly all the houses in the historic centre are single story painted in lovely soft tropical colours – ochre, rusty reds, orange and pale blue. Many have the most beautiful wooden doors, adorned with lovely ironwork. I think I might have been rather generous when I described the streets as cobbled, they are just a mass of hickety pickety jagged stones, laid incredibly unevenly – certainly not for the titty-totty heels or indeed for the disabled.

The main square was very busy, with locals doing their utmost to take advantage of the tourists, not that there were many of us. The women wear, amazingly colourful tops with rather stunning embroidered skirts, again in the most wonderful colours. As in South America, they carry everything on their back, or on their heads and wander around trying to sell their wares, which, needless to say, are exactly the same as the next person.

Guatemalans are small, but very smiley and not aggressive in their selling. They seem to really want to please and despite the reputation of it being such a dangerous country, it certainly doesn’t feel it here. Even on a grey day, it is absolutely lovely. There is music everywhere….. and massage parlours!

Lottie arrived at about 9.30pm after a long, long journey from London, so time to turn the light off!