I woke up early without an alarm and was on the road by 6 am. Not that it meant I arrived early, I stopped for pictures and laziness enough that it was a long day.
I ended up taking neither of the routes I was contemplating yesterday. The Google default route out of Antigua was this gorgeous long and gentle descent that took you through the valley between Agua and Fuego/Acatenango. And there was visibility! One small climb at the end, but nothing more than 5% grade what’s not to like?
It was as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. The heat got a bit much on the climb at the end, but I refreshed my way through it. Prior to that, it was all peaches and cream. I was enjoying the pleasant absence of feeling you get when a long time itch is gone completely.
I got passed by a cyclist who sped by in a blur as I was leaving Antigua. And then through the magic of social media it turns out he was a friend of a friend and I got an Instagram message from him later. He’s now in El Salvador, traveling at twice my speed. I also met a French couple traveling north from Panama, but we forgot to take pictures. They told me about the campground they stayed at last night but I found a place with air conditioning instead.
Volcán de Agua finally put in an appearance just as I was leaving Antigua
Back in the day it had a hard, uninviting look. Now it has MacDonalds. I’m not sure what’s with the Israeli flag and star, but it’s not the first time. Just the first time on municipal property
Robert BryceWhen we visited we were told Guatemala had gotten a lot of help from Israel - especially designing and building water systems for irrigating crops in the area east of Guatemala City. Maybe they have invested in this area as well Reply to this comment 8 months ago
I hollered “helloooo” and Alexandra came and made me one that was so good I had a second. As we chatted and she learned about my background she stopped the conversation and said she wanted to know where the hell did all those boulders that cover her property come from, because some people say they are growing. I tried to explain they were from the volcanos up the road and actually were getting smaller, just slowly. I don’t think I convinced her
Wonderful air conditioning and a breakfast buffet included. That’s a dilemma because I’d planned to leave very early to give me maximum flexibility at the border
