Antigua
Winter 2006-2007
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We spent Dave's first day in Guatemala in
Antigua .
We took a small van from the hotel to Antigua,
then spent the day walking around seeing the sights.
We returned to Guatemala City that evening,
then took the bus to Rio Dulce the next day.
Antigua was fun.
It's now pretty much a tourist town,
but it is colorful and charming and gives you a feel for what Guatemala
was like once upon a time.
It has more churches per square foot than any place I have ever been.
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Market |
Restaurant for Breakfast |
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One of the most colorful things about Guatemala are the local buses.
The Guatemalans understand paint really well.
Known as chicken buses,
since one encounters people carrying everything imaginable,
including live chickens,
on the bus,
they are often packet to overflowing.
They're inexpensive, and a pretty reliable way to get around.
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| Chicken Buses |
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What the??? But it was cool |
Antigua was the first place in Central America to have a printing press.
The museum of old arms was also fun.
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First Printing Press in Central America |
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| Crossbow |
Swords |
Blunderbuses |
Spears |
Lances |
Clubs |
Antigua has a large craft market.
We enjoyed it a bunch,
and broke down and bought some stuff.
I bought a quilt,
which turned out to be the wrong size for what I wanted it for,
but I still like it.
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Central Square
Photo by Dave |
Quilt Lady |
Mayan Family
Photo by Dave |
Photo by Dave |
Antigua is in the highlands,
and a large volcano overshadows the town.
It looks to me like the town itself
is located in the crater of an old volcano,
but I've never read that that is the case.
But the sharp edged hills ringing the town
sure look like the inside of a crater to me,
much like I saw in Bali.
At the end of the day, we were sitting on a park bench
resting our legs,
and a guy came by with a polaroid camera
wanting to take our picture.
We didn't need another picture,
but he needed the money,
so we got one.
I didn't know they even still made polaroid film...
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| Volcano |
Dave and me |
Bus to Rio
Photo by Dave |
