I've just laid down on a very comfy bed in Antigua, Guatemala after a
long, tiring yet beauty-rich journey from Mitcham this morning. The
plane out of Heathrow flew over the coast of Greenland on it's way to
Houston, treating me to a view of snow covered ice sheets in the crisp
brilliance of the midday sun. It seemed to be midday or thereabouts for
most of the flight and going up and down out of the clouds was
magnificent with the sun and the speed really accentuating the feeling
of moving through a vast and totally 3 dimensional "skyscape" of giants.
Leaving Houston and flying to Guatemala was a different experience in a
far smaller plane. The full moon rose over a misty, expanse of dark
indiscriminate matter stretching to the horizon in all directions,
a yellow moon track diffused on the wavy surface underneath the silver disc. There wasn't much more to see
until we dropped down through the smooth, fluffy surface of the highest
reaches of cloud. At that point we found ourselves plunged into an intensely beautifully moonlite environment like some kind of gianormous aquerium for grey, black, silver and white billowing clouds. We were zipping along at over 500mph with micro droplets of water streaming over the windows. Everytime we entered a cloudmass the planes extenal lights lite it up bright and every window of the plane flashes blank before flashing back to the surreal scenery. Then as we came out the bottom of the space I was treated
to the throbbing orange glow of light coming from one of Guatemala's
active volcanos. Truely hard to believe it was real.
On the ground it was wet but warm. A girl from the plane had a van booked and waiting outside the airport to drive her to a hotel in the Antigua (Old) City. She offered me a place to split the cost and after such an exhausting length of time travelling ,there was little chance of me turning it down. So I thanked her and splashed out on a taxi and a room to myself in a hotel more luxurious than I would normally have treated myself to. I'm glad I did, I took the easy option that chimed with James's advice of getting out of new Guatemala City and into Antigua (the old city) as quickly as possible. It is a beautiful hotel (Casa Rustica), all bright colours and rustic (unsupprisingly) style everything. The nice guy whose here manning the place overnight let me in and found me a room before telling where I can find a place tomorrow for a tenth of the price.He speaks musical and politely wishing me a good rest and agreeing that it's better to wait until tomorrow to find food. Buenas noches.
On the ground it was wet but warm. A girl from the plane had a van booked and waiting outside the airport to drive her to a hotel in the Antigua (Old) City. She offered me a place to split the cost and after such an exhausting length of time travelling ,there was little chance of me turning it down. So I thanked her and splashed out on a taxi and a room to myself in a hotel more luxurious than I would normally have treated myself to. I'm glad I did, I took the easy option that chimed with James's advice of getting out of new Guatemala City and into Antigua (the old city) as quickly as possible. It is a beautiful hotel (Casa Rustica), all bright colours and rustic (unsupprisingly) style everything. The nice guy whose here manning the place overnight let me in and found me a room before telling where I can find a place tomorrow for a tenth of the price.He speaks musical and politely wishing me a good rest and agreeing that it's better to wait until tomorrow to find food. Buenas noches.