however, on the way there the cab driver totally ripped me off and it kind of ruined my whole day. i was the only one that got off the bus in flores at 5:30 am and there was only one taxi drive to take me the hour to the ruins. so i didnt really have any other choice and i ended up getting fucked. in short, i paid more for that hour taxi ride than for the ten hour 1st class bus ride that included a meal. shit.
anyway, the ruins were pretty ill, but i couldnt stop thinking about the fact that i lost so much money so quickly. on top of that, it was pretty dreary all day and when i got back to flores, i checked the weather for the next week at the atlantic coast and it was supposed to be pretty stormy and rainy as theres a pretty big storm front developing here - people think its the beginning of a hurricane. needless to say, i didnt feel like spending a week at a rainy beach. without thinking i just bought a return bus ride back to the capitol and decided to head to el salvador right away.
upon arriving in the capitol, i decided it might be better to wait a few days and headed to antigua for the night. i had a pretty chill day there and a girl at the hostel let me borrow her el salvador guide book, which informed me that i should pretty much go anywhere in el salvador but the city i had planned on going to. after that day in antigua, i had had enough - its a beautiful city but its completely overrun with tourists.
the next morning i left at five for xela, the second biggest city in guatemala that is equally as beautiful without copious amounts of tourists. ive spent the last few days in the area. i just got back a few hours ago from a two-day trek up the highest peak in central america - the inactive volcano tajumulco. i was pretty lucky because its the middle of the week and there werent any other people except for my group, which just consisted of my 22-year old guide, a college couple from idaho, and myself. it was pretty amazing. we spent yesterday hiking up to the base camp, setting up camp there, and watching the sunset from the second highest peak. then this morning, the guide and myself woke up at 4:30 to scale the rest of the mountain alone, as the other two didnt feel up to it. we got to the top just in time to watch the sunrise over the other volcanos over a hundered miles away and were able to see a city in mexico from the other side.
we came back down for breakfast and then headed back down the slope. ive been running around here in xela since i got back, buying bus tickets and doing some laundry before i head off again. ive gotta get up at 2:30 tomorrow morning in order to make my 3:30 am bus back to the capitol. from there, im taking a two-hour bus ride to the pacific coast so i can enjoy some beach time in my last few days. i doubt ill have internet access there so i believe this will be my last post. thanks to all who have read and kept in touch. look forward to seeing you all.
we came back down for breakfast and then headed back down the slope. ive been running around here in xela since i got back, buying bus tickets and doing some laundry before i head off again. ive gotta get up at 2:30 tomorrow morning in order to make my 3:30 am bus back to the capitol. from there, im taking a two-hour bus ride to the pacific coast so i can enjoy some beach time in my last few days. i doubt ill have internet access there so i believe this will be my last post. thanks to all who have read and kept in touch. look forward to seeing you all.
love and peace
