04/03/24 Antigua - south - CycleBlaze

April 4, 2024

04/03/24 Antigua

I had to walk my way out of the notch at mile 23, but other than that it was an easy ride
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I didn’t leave until 9 am, very late by my standards, knowing I had a mostly downhill ride. I was trying to decide if I should stay another day and visit some ruins a few miles out of town.  A chance of rain tomorrow is what pushed me to leave today.

I’m in Antigua for at least two full days. Let it rain tomorrow if it wants and I’ve booked a trip to Pacaya Volcano for the day after. I hope it rains, it may clear the air enough to see the volcanos.

I’ll decide tomorrow if I want to extend my stay for an additional day after Pacaya. I think I might want to rest after the climb, but I may also be completely over Antigua by then. Antigua reminds me  a lot of San Cristobal de las Casas, i.e. a pretty colonial town catering to white people with money. Its absolutely *nothing* like any of the other towns and cities I’ve seen since arriving in Guatemala. Clean streets, abundant cafes, restaurants, bars and high end shops.  I admit to enjoying such places. In small doses it’s like a vacation from traveling, but then self loathing kicks in and I need to flee. 

Carrots, onions and beets, oh my!
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Bill ShaneyfeltThe most enormous carrots I have ever seen were in Guatemala.
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6 months ago
Field of carrots
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Harvesting beets. Huge beets
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Bamboo “lumber” yard. I saw several of these
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Oh, hello!
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Unstable slopes
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Volcán de Agua from the viewpoint (trust me)
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And Volcán de Fuego, in active eruption (note to self, cycle Guatemala in January if you want to actually see the volcanoes)
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A valley filled with volcanic ash
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15% downhill
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The town of Pastores is known for its boots
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Store after store of boots
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All made in shops like these
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It got busy as I approached Antigua
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Entering the historic center
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The cobblestone streets still showing bits of alfombra from last Friday. These are hell to pedal on
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Looks like a historic center
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The central park is free of litter, as are the surrounding streets, keeping things clean for the foreigners. I’ve been pondering capitalism a lot lately
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The wind has picked up. Nice to not be fighting it
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I overheard a guide say that this is a bridge from the cloister on the right to the church on the left. Constructed to allow the nuns to go back and forth unexposed to the outside world
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The church is in ruins (earthquake country) and now stores what I’m guessing are procession floats
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A sure sign it’s going to be expensive. Speaking of coffee, I’ve been finding Guatemalan gas station coffee to be absolutely delicious. I’ve not been disappointed once in that department
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Casa Rústica for the next three nights. I’m spending what feels like a fortune, $45 a night
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Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 3,203 miles (5,155 km)

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