7.13.2008
I'm following behind on blogs. So to catch up I will try to refrain from my important meditations and give you some snapshots. When it comes to volcanoes, pictures are worth a million words.
Volcan de Pecaya from my bus window on our way from Antigua.
At the beginning of our hike looking north, I think, back towards the volanoes that circle Antigua, Acatenango(?) and Fuego, the more distant peak. There was a thrilling moment early on as we zig zagged up a dirt road through the jungle past lush coffee gardens - Fuego belched up a little atomic cloud of gray ash. The anticipation was maddening.
After a two hour ascent the jungle cleared and behold, Lord Pecaya Cometh!
Traversing the razor sharp rocks of old lava flows as we journey towards Mt. Doom to destroy the One Ring.
You can't tell, but the end of that particular fissure is about 8 feet behind me and flowing towards my back! At that distance it felt like a massive bonfire that you are trying to get close enough to to roast marshmallows, but it's just too durn hot!
This dude's walking stick is on fire. Do you think they would allow tourists to climb around like this in the U.S.? Never! (Later tonight I would actually hang out with him. He is a 26 year old Australian named Sam.)
On another side of the young crater this mighty stream was flowing down.
Around 3pm I grabbed a muerzo for $2 and ate on top of this terrace. That's fuego again on the left. Every six or seven minutes it would belch that little atomic cloud that I mentioned seeing early this morning. It was astonishing to eat my tortillas and watch the show.
After taking a delicious shower after my hike I walked the streets of Antigua. I thought that I could make it through the markets without buying anything but I was wrong. By that time it was dark and the irrestible carnival at the edge of town beckoned me. I was the only gringo there! It was a blast. A hispanic carnival is totally different than a white one. There are more colors, more tight clothes, more children, more smells, more laughing, and more obnoxious popular music than one can imagine. For $1.25 I got the ride of my life, and likely of my death, on this loco ferris wheel. It soared fifty feet above the fair, held together by flimsy struts, pins, and cables. The ride operator was some kid on a cannibalized tractor which had been rigged up to the ferris wheel. He literally sat on the tractor and shifted gears to turn it! You cannot believe how fast he spun this wheel. The ringmaster didn´t care about age, weight, or height. He let everybody on. It was terrifying and probably more dangerous than the volcano this morning.
After the wheel of death I rode another terrifying ride and then caught a three wheeled scooter taxi to Cafe No Se to meet Maya and James Stewart. They are a cool Chicago couple I met while climbing Pecaya. They are going to travel for 9 months before having kids. It was a great cafe and we had a wondeful time over drinks. Sam (remember the guy poking his staff into the lava?) and Zach, two Australian back packers from the Pecaya ascent joined us. -AR
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