Hello loyal blog followers:

Lisa is a little tired and so I have been nominated to write this post (plus, we´re starting to enjoy taking turns).
But she gets to help right?          Yes. She is watching over my shoulder like a hawk.

Alright, so on our last post we´d just returned from the Lake for another week of studying Spanish here in Xela. It went really well, and we can now get by in most situations, and we hope to continue to improve our Spanish. I lived with my homestay family once again, which was great.

This city is absolutely wonderful, but we´ve finally decided to press on: we fear if we stay one week more we´ll fall too deeply in love with this city and will never be able to leave (which does not bode well for Wendy Coste and others). Here are a few pictures for a little snapshot of Xela:

Outside Mercado de Democracia

Church and Parque Central

We also had a mighty fight over whether or not we should buy this puppy:

He was pretty cute, but thankfully, I won.

After wrapping up our last week of Spanish (nosotros aprendimos mucho!) we decided to finish off our time in Xela and the western highlands with a bang: the overnight hike of Volcan Tajumulco, the highest peak in Central America!

Happily, the friends we´d made during our time in Xela (Miguel de Cervantes! Woot!) signed up to do the hike as well! The trip was incredible, a challenging hike, not so much in terms of technicality (though we did sport some sore legs afterwards), but the altitude really kicked our butts. Not being able to breath is definitely not in the top 10 sensations known to humans. The hike starts at 3000 meters above sea level, and ascends to the summit: 4222 meters above sea level.

Since pictures tell a thousand words, I´ll let them do the talking. The final few hundred meters from our camp required a 4:00 am wake-up, and Lisa and I, ever the early risers (ha!) forgot our camera, and were unable to capture the spectacular sunrise from the top of Central America. Huge thanks to our friend Daniella, who shared her camera and pictures of the aforementioned glory.

Team Tajumulco disembarking the chicken bus (chicken bus madness is part of our everyday life here, so it´s nice to share)

Getting ready for the climb!

Us starting out (little did we know these would be our last semi-effective breaths for about 18 hours)

Oxygen, over and out.

 Our friends (Rose, Wendy - from San Francisco, Canada - and Daniella) enjoying a well-earned hot chocolate at base camp.

Lisa at the lower peak, Cerro de Conception at sunset (I was not present due to the fact that I was dying of altitude sickness in my tent - luckily, I pulled through, thanks in no small part to the Starbursts in the medical kit. I had 50.)

The final few hundred meters at 4 in the morning were tough, but this sunrise was well worth it. What looks like a curved wisp of cloud near the middle of the shot is actually smoke from Volcan Fuego erupting!

The highest snuggle in Central America.

Me on the summit with an eruption cloud from Volcan Santiaguito in the background (the volcanoes were going bananas!)

The whole gang (me and Lis, Daniella, Wendy, Kevin and Rose) on the summit!

Lisa and I in our arctic gear (would you ever guess that that is Mexico in the background?)

 Lisa warming up on the ridge of the crater.

Regrouping before the hike down (we are not sure why I am angry and Lisa is overflowing with glee like a chipmunk on valium)

 I was feeling a little better, so I walked like an Egyptian the entire way down. Serious.

Tajamulco, conquered!



So that was Tajumulco, a wonderful experience (despite almost suffocating and or losing our lunches for a good portion of it) and a great way to wrap up our time in Xela. For anyone heading this way, we did the trek with Quetzaltrekkers, a volunteer guiding organization whose profits go towards a school and a scholarship fund for local children. The food was great and the guides did a good job with a big group (16 in total!). We highly recommend them. 

After a rest day (and laundry, wholy cow), we finally decided to press on and say goodbye to Xela, our home away from home. With good friends, language schools, homestay families (que bueno, es muy amable!) and more chocolate and craft supplies per square meter than Santa´s workshop (a big bonus for Lis), it was tough to leave. But yesterday we were on the bus for Momostenango, a town known for its culture and the big, heavy woolen blankets (chamarras) made there.

Well. We hate to be blunt, but the town was a bit of a let down. More fried chicken than Colonel Sanders´ birthday party, and, despite what the crack squad over at Lonely Planet say ("dozens of little tables and shops selling the chamarras welcome you to watch the blankets being made"), not a blanket in sight. We took it as an extra recovery day, and, not having the courage to brave the culinary scene a second time, enjoyed a fine dinner of peanut butter sandwiches, watermelon, and Gallo. The one draw of Momo (one of the reasons we went there) is that it is midway between Xela and Huehuetenango, a gateway into the northern Quiche region. Only once we got to Momo, however, we found out that we needed to go all the way back to Xela to switch buses to Huehue, making Momo a completely out-of-the-way destination. This all sounds pretty negative but we made the best out of it, and actually had a pretty good time. Still, we don´t highly recommend Momostenango if you´re looking for some excitement. It´s a detour, definitely not on the way way to Huehue.

This morning we rode a succession of early morning chicken buses (more mellow compared to any other time of day) and wound up here in Chichicastenango, in Quiche department. Chichi is also known for its adherence to traditional Maya customs and has one of the biggest markets in the country (this comes from sources other than Lonely Planet, so it´s probably right). We´re spending today poking around town, and are really excited for market day tomorrow.

After a few days in Chichi we plan to head further north, towards Nebaj, and then, gradually (our usual pace) make our way back down, and southwest into El Salvador.

Thanks again for reading, and for the comments that you´ve been leaving, they mean a lot to us, and remind us that even in a land where Harper can win a majority (ugh!) there are wonderful and warmhearted people.

Love, Torrance and Lisa