This post will be heavy on the pictures and light on the prose!
I made another quick trip down to centroamerica... there were a few places in Guatemala that I did not get to go last time I was there, so it seemed like an excellent time to visit some new spots.
My trip actually started in El Salvador, a place I have avoided in the past, but my short time there was excellent. Great food and nice people. After a hearty $1.50 lunch I roamed around San Salvador for the afternoon and evening.
It honestly was much like the other big cities in Latin America (chaotic, great people watching, cheap beer. massive churches, poverty and everyone selling anything you could ever imagine).I took an early bus from Salvador (simple boarder crossing) and woke up in
th
e crazy Guate City. A massive traffic nightmare reminded me why I was spending no time there, except for in transit. I hopped on the first shuttle to Antigua and was gone. One of the most interesting part of my transit in Guatemala were the political signs - their election is on 9/11 - so campaigns were in full-swing!
The main part of my trip was spent in Antigua (3 nights) and Panajachel/Lago de Atitlan (2 nights). I'm not going to even pretend like these places are not massive tourist traps, because they are, but they are for a reason. Unreal scenery and architecture, delicious food (yes, I can eat guac for every meal), low-key/kind/hard-working people and plenty to do.
Most of my time was spent hiking, wandering, eating, sleeping, in transit etc. etc.
I got the opportunity one morning to trek with group up an active volcano - that was fun. Also visited a very cool nature reserve and some amazing buildings/markets.
Additionally, I visited a couple surro
unding towns. Chichicastenago was
an impressive stop. I spent a day there visiting their famous Mayan market on Sunday. That was quite a scene, luckily I had a birds-eye view of the market since I was over a head taller than 
most people. I also took a boat across Lake Atitlan to Santiago another lakeside town, there is saw more avocados than I had ever dreamed possible... amazing.
Guatemala is an excellent place to explore... I hope to make it back soon!
