Panajachel-Antigua

1010 Woke up 0830ish, not really tired any more, wifi shit in dorm, eventually got up 0915-0930ish. Had shower, cleaned teeth, sitting in common area charging phone. Checked cash reserves. Want to avoid withdrawing too much and being stuck with loads when go home but conversely want to avoid paying loads of three quid cash machine fees. Also reluctant to leave too much cash in bag during absence on Acatenango hike.

Have about Q900 on me, ignoring a really emergency reserve of maybe Q200 which I will only start to spend in the last few days. I need *roughly* Q100 a night for accommodation Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun so call that Q600. I'll need maybe Q100 for a shuttle to airport (we'll provisionally assume I'm staying in Antigua until I go home.) I think minimum realistic daily spend is Q50 (a meal runs Q25ish with tip and I think Antigua is pricier, though can't remember for sure, that leaves a bit for beer) so (remembering I'm on Acatenango trip 1-2 days) that's another Q300, which already hits Q1000. I also need to buy a few hopefully cheap bits and pieces prior to Acatenango (hat, gloves, chocolate). This isn't a problem - I want to keep costs down but it's not like I've run out of money and have to live super cheaply - just trying to get a feel for how much I need.

I think on the plus side I definitely have enough to not need to withdraw until after Acatenango. Let's say Q300 for accom Mon/Tue/Thu. I could spend another 100 a day on food/beer/incidentals (and I am not likely to be drinking at all Tue or a lot today) and that still leaves me Q300 to buy the supplies for Acatenango.

Was tempted to pop out and buy breakfast but not that hungry, I am trying to avoid putting any sun block on today (I'm not sure exactly how much I have left but if I can avoid putting any on I will, I'd rather not have to buy a ten+ quid bottle for the remaining few days) and I would still eat when I get to Antigua so no real need to eat now.

Slightly bad dreams about Acatenango, I think. Meh.

1035 Second try at pasting in the QT 3-day hike itinerary without smartarse formatting being copied across in an uneditable way... Actually due to shitty formatting being copied over I'll let it stay at the bottom of the e-mail instead of inline here.

1049 Just paid tab, Q45 which is what I expected. Just milling around now until pickup at 12; not sure if the driver will want to walk up to reception on 2nd floor, dunno if will end up going to lurk uncomfortably in street.

Got to rein in my imagination; I keep thinking of the new Antigua hostel as a bearpit, it may or may not be busy but no reason to think of it as hostile.

1149 Usual "will the shuttle turn up?" worries. Meh.

1357 Shuttle turned up 1215ish. Just me and a 50ish bit (Craig). We're about halfway there judging by Google Maps but I think we're caught up in a peaceful protest (there was a sign just back down the road saying the mothers of X apologised for the inconvenient but were only fighting for a fairer country or something). Driver has turned engine off. I did catch something about "4 hours" earlier but no point fretting. There are ambulating vendors, I have about 3 litres of water, a fully charged battery pack, all my belongings and - luckily, notwithstanding the need to shop - a day in hand before the Acatenango hike. Would very much not rather be stranded here indefinitely but my completely uninformed guess will be that I will get to Antigua this afternoon/evening, even if there is a big delay.

1747 Emotionally rocky afternoon. Hostel has triple decker bunks and naturally I am on top. Been up once. Going up is fine, getting onto the ladder to go down is not. Few SYTs in courtyard but not spoken to anyone; irrationally I have decided I completely don't fit in and I'm going to have trouble going about my business in the dormitory.

Come out for food and been reminded how hellishly expensive Antigua is. Luckily have managed to remember+stumbled across El Faro and hopefully getting pollo a la plancha for Q20.

Been to market earlier after trying what I remembered as cheap restaurant near original Antigua hostel and seeing all the prices round Q40 and everything on menu has tomato sauce. Did manage to buy a pair of very cheap gloves (Q15) at market - I could have got some really chunky and I think scratchy woolly ones for Q25 but figured these will do, and if not they will do to wear inside the scratchy ones. Suspect they may rip at drop of a hat but if they last the tour that's fine.

Been in couple of supermarkets and have big bag of Tortrix lime tortilla chips which I will gorge on street after eat here.

Hopefully I'll feel better after food. Plan is to maybe have literally one or two beers at hostel bar - if I can find it, not shown anything except dorm, not even bathroom - and have an early night. To be fair the bunk is at least railed off so not too worried about falling out in sleep and there is a cupboard up there with electric socket for phone charging. I still haven't made the bed up so will need to do that before anyone goes to sleep and I have to try to do it in the dark.

1800 Yay. Salad is dressed and chicken has unnacounced tomato sause slopped on it. Fucking hell. Having a shit afternoon and on verge of walking out.

1810 Sacrificed chicken skin and that got the sauce off, had that and rice and a couple of tortillas so not too bad. And a small juice too.

1925 On hostel terrace. Some people sitting at bar but just got myself a table. Spitting very lightly with rain which is annoying. Gonna get a beer at half past. Bed seemed to be mostly made, some woman looked at me pretty evilly when I went into dorm but fuck her. Got bottle of water with me and toothbrush in pocket so hopefully can disruption, but TBH suspect gonna be in bed way before most other people if not all. Smell of marijuana floating past, which peeves me a little - it seems a bit openly smug but WTF.

I am kind of forming a view that there's a kind of "thing" where you go stay at a hostel for a while and hang around there a lot and get to know people. In many ways this doesn't appeal, it seems a bit time wasty and "living on the tourist circuit" . OTOH I'd like to meet more people. Maybe the last few days of this holiday I can "experiment" with hanging around hostel, be it this one or another one with less vertiginous bunks - guess see how it goes tonight and if I feel I've broken ice with some people after Acatenango.

Let's go get a beer and carry on reading "Three Act Tragedy".

1932 Bottle Victoria (house beer, not I think other better known brand) for Q15 was cheapest option. Brought it back up to terrace for now. Oldish bloke sitting at bar but I am not feeling super social and didn't like to say anything to him. Meh. Just feel a bit out of place and still a bit worried about dorm and general etiquette, not to mention looming trip to Acatenango. Obvious joke is that if I can sleep on the bunk here I'll have no trouble sleeping up Acatenango.

This beer is not exactly cheap but IIRC it's Q21 a similarly-sized bottle of Moza at Snug (which is v near; passed it on way here tonight - but gut feeling is I will avoid it, see how I feel later in week though) and this is Antigua and it's tolerable pricing.

1949 Yawning a bit. Slightly odd. It's too early to go to bed yet, I'm thinking 930 or 10 at earliest. Need to be relatively sober to avoid shit with ladder up to bunk and also to avoid having to get down in night for a slash if can possibly avoid it.

2018 Far too much shit stuffed in fleece pockets due to dorm shit (feels too busy for me to leave my daypack out unlocked on bed, as I did in last place, with low-value but useful stuff like bottle of water and toothbrush). Shifted down to lower bar; don't particularly feel social but WTF, sitting at the bar may help.

2022 For all I like a drink myself, seeing the #GetFaded happy hour stuff on the blackboard, I am reminded of Cake's lines in Rock 'n Roll Lifestyle:

Excess ain't rebellion

You're drinking what they're selling

Meh. Who's a cheery chappy today then?

2029 Odd. Someone just invited me - annoyingly, in Spanish which I failed to comprehend, so she had to repeat in English - if I wanted to go to Reilly's later (wherever that is). I had to say no; I don't have huge prep to do tomorrow but some and I'm also highly dubious about my ability to get into bed after more drinks without any practice.

This is now annoying me that I turned it down, but I think it was only prudent. It might have been a super awkward night too, not knowing anyone, but you have to start somewhere. Oh well. I do wonder if she was maybe staff, but fuck knows. There was no other chat at all, this was completely isolated and out of the blue.

Linguistically, I guess this is the context problem. It was such an unexpected thing for someone to say to me out of the blue I probably didn't believe what I thought had been said.

2216 Bed. Just about got undressed into compartment next to bed OK. Managed some chat with Argentinian barman which was informative, also felt semi-invisible in a semi-bad way, but all OKish, will write more tomorrow. A fan is running and I have curtains on bunk but still don't like to write too much so more tomorrow.

ITINERARY 

Day 1

• ~6:15am — meet at the Quetzaltrekkers office for breakfast *NOTE: Your guides will give you the exact time at the mandatory pre-trip meeting the evening prior at 6:00pm.
• 7:30am — 25 minute walk to La Rotunda bus depot, 25 minute bus ride to Xecam
• 8:30am — start walking uphill, climb out of the Xela valley
• 10:30am — make it to Alaska, our highest point during the hike (3050m) 
• 11:30am — begin our descent from Pacural into the cloud forest
• 1:30pm — lunch
• 5:00pm — arrive in Antigua Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan
• 5:30pm — temazcal
• 6:30pm — dinner

Day 2

• 7:00am — breakfast at a comedor
• 8:00am — walk out of Santa Catarina 
• 10:00am — Record Hill
• 11:30am — Ice Cream Village! (Tzucubal)
• 1:30pm — lunch
• 2:30pm — begin the stream crossings
• 4:10pm — the corn field of death
• 5:00pm — arrive in Xiprian
• 6:00pm — dinner at Don Pedro's
• 7:00pm — camp fire!

Day 3

• 4:30am — start walking to the mirador
• 5:45am — arrive at mirador, eat breakfast, watch the sunrise over Lago Atitlán
• 8:30am — descend through a coffee plantation
• 10:00am — arrive in San Juan La Laguna, stop at La Voz Coffee Cooperative for a fresh cup of coffee
• 11:00am — take a pickup to El Fondeadero, a restaurant on the water in downtown San Pedro
• 11:20am — arrive in San Pedro, eat lunch, hang out, swim
• 2-3:00pm — bags arrive, goodbyes are said, trip ends