Highlands of Guatemala - part 2

Picking up the end of the last post, this is how the New Year adventures played out...

So the New Year period was spent in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala´s second largest city. Despite its size the city has a laidback atmosphere and I enjoyed walking through the colourful markets in the run up to the New Year.

It is said that of all the countries conquered by the Spanirds, Guatemala and Bolivia are the two that have most held on to their traditional indigenous culture and customs. This is evident in the clothing with many women of all ages wearing colourful garments in traditional styles.

In Quetzaltenango I stayed with Francisco (on the left). He has plans to begin a cycle tour in June this year. On New Years Eve we cooked a feast of monroasted pork and potatoes washed down with beer. His two housemates joined in with the festivities.

Francisco has a reall spirit of adventure and on New Years Day, like an excitable puppy, he proposed going on a mini roaad trip on his motorbike. Guatemala´s answer to the Motorcycle Diaries. 

First stop, la playa. We rode 120km to a beach just south of the border with Mexico. A dip in the ocean was quite a relief after riding pillion for so long. My hands ached from holding on, knees sore from flexing like an extra set of suspension, as we passed the ropey roads of Guatemala

First sunset of the year, dropping into the Pacific Ocean. We rode on to a friend´s house in the foothills of the mountains to eat tamales and crash for the night.

Day two saw a visit to waterfalls and hot springs just south of Volcan Taculmulco, Central America´s highest peak at 13,845 ft or 4220 m. 

The things you find at the bottom of a waterfall...

Riding back to Quetzaltenango we were mking good progress until the rear tyre punctured. Fortunately we didn´t lose too much time as the nearest garage was less than a mile up the road. And this delay allowed us to enjoy...

...the second sunset of the year. However it also forced us to ride the rest of the way home in the dark. With high passes, unpredictable traffic, holes and random sleeping policeman in the road I have to say I didn´t feel too safe on the back of the bike. When we had to rise up to 3000m for the highest passes the clouds closed in. Mist and slippery roads created a palpable sense of danger, all I could do was cling on for dear life. We suffered a second puncture short of Quetzaltenango and Francisco called a friend to pick us up this time. I was incredibly relieved to be off the motorbike!

Back home at 9pm then I had to rise at 4am to join a trek to climb Volcan Taculmulco. Quetzaltrekkers is a wonderful non-profit organisation that runs a school for kids in the poorest part of town. The ex-pat guides work as volunteers.

We were blessed with incredible weather and took a nice steady pace up the mountain tracks.

Third sunset of the year enjoyed from a peak just below the top of the volcano.

A spectacular sunset was accompanied with a distant but exhilirating view of Volcan Fuego erupting. For all the time I spend in the outdoors rarely have I experienced the raw power of Mother Nature like this.

The next morning we rose again at 4am and climbed 200m with our sleeping bags to watch the sunrise from the peak of Taculmulco. Again, spectacular views with a couple of shooting stars preceding the sun´s arrival.

And again, Fuego was erupting in the distance. Awesome experience.

Trekking back down in the sunshine with an incredible sense of well-being. Not to belittle the trek or the altitudes but this was a lot easier than some of the tough recent days in the saddle! Nevertheless, today, the day after the trek I am taking a rest day before riding on to Lake Atitlan tomorrow. A fantastic start to the New Year, I´ve set quite a standard for the rest of 2017!