Central America 2000 - The end of everything
From Worldtraveller
The day I got back we had nothing in particular planned. Mike and Aasta, with whom we had climbed Volcán San Pedro, were in town, and me, Moh, Mike and Mark, a Canadian who we'd met, decided to go for a bike ride. Having hired bikes, we set off down dusty roads, through small villages, past fields and towards the volcanoes. It was mostly downhill, and we cycled for several miles before stopping for a drink in a spot with a fabulous view. The clouds had lifted, and we could see the tops of all three volcanoes, with Fuego steaming copiously. Just as we began the uphill run from here back to Antigua, though, my chain snapped. I had no option but to get the bus back to town with my bike going on the roof. The others got back sweating and exhausted some hours later.
We had met a Guatemalan guy called Gustavo while we were in Antigua, and he was an incredibly friendly bloke. He was an anthropologist, and knew many remote Mayan sites well. He had offered to take us to Mixco Viejo, some ruins a couple of hours drive from Antigua, to which he said we would most likely be the first British visitors. Unfortunately, I woke the next morning to find that all was not well with my digestive system. Suffice to say that Montezuma well and truly had his revenge on me, and I could not go to Mixco Viejo. I was forced to spend my penultimate day in Guatemala in bed recovering.
I was pretty much recovered by the next day, our last in Guatemala. We spent the day buying some final souvenirs - coffee, an evil saint effigy, and a Che Guevara T-shirt for me - and getting everything in order for our trip home. In the evening we met up with Mike and Aasta, and also Will and Chad, also veterans of the San Pedro climb, and had a marvellously enjoyable last night. We went back to our hospedaje at midnight and packed, and though our backpacks were insanely huge and heavy, we didn't mind too much - we were nearly home.
In the morning we made our way to the airport and had a safe and uneventful flight home. It was tremendously sad to be leaving, as we'd had an incredible time. In an unexpected development, my Mum, Dad, auntie, brother and sister came to meet me at Gatwick. It was a wonderful end to a fantastic trip.
