August 3, 1999 -- (0700) We walk, bleary-eyed, from the bus station with our gear to catch another bus heading to Antigua where we will base ourselves once again. Antigua is certainly the place of choice by most foreigners - most evident when we arrived there - most are here to study Spanish.

August 17, 1999 -- We catch a bus from Antigua and head south to Escuintla - a route that carves its way around the base of the mountains descending towards sea level where temperatures rise dramatically. From Escuintla, we change buses and turn west to the town of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa. A volcano decides to vent its presence in the form of thick white clouds on our way there. It´s a regular occurence in this area of the country. This volcano is one of many forming a very long chain running along the Pacific rim between Mexico and Panama - some of which our attention will be focused on, along with their intermont basins during our travels through Central America.

August 18, 1999 -- 0900 and 35°C/90°F - we hike to the edge of a massive sugarcane field in search of 3 large ninth-century stones which shows artwork of Teotihuacan and Veracruz influences. There were many tracks all scattering in various directions. Local residents gave us some idea on where to find them - without which would definitely have been 3 needles in a haystack and 10 gallons of water! We found 2 of them -- the third was missing leaving a large deep hole. The first was the best one but there was evidence of attempted looting. We could see a series of drilled holes along the middle of the carving in the hope of breaking it in half. The second stone was covered with graffiti -- very sad. A few more kms of uphill walking heading North took us to the ruin site of El Baul. A polite muchacho showed us a short cut through the thick cane to the top of a small hill which is, in fact, an ancient pyramid. (yes thats right - another one) built by the Pipiles tribe. We arrived at the end of a ceremony. Wisps of smoke rising from mounds of black ash, the smell of candle wax and the burnt spices fill the air. Two men and a woman were present. It was very quiet. One of the men was seated staring at a stone idol - a large half- buried head elaborately carved. He seemed totally oblivious to our presence. Both of us felt like trespassers but the other guy assured us in Spanish that it was okay - he even let us take photographs. We didn´t take many - the camera made a lot of noise. We shook hands and quietly departed.

August 19, 1999 -- We take a day trip to La Democracia to view carved stone heads displayed in the town´s central plaza. The people of this small town are openly proud of these ancient relics - very friendly.

August 21, 1999 -- A 2 hour bus ride west on the Pan Pacific Highway to Retalhuleu; change buses there then slow-paced it up into the highlands north to Quetzaltenango; changed buses again and headed east back to Antigua, thus completing a wide circle around Lake Atitlan - a very scenic route.

August 27, 1999 -- From Guatemala City, we headed northeast to Quirigua. This ancient site holds the highest stelae in the known Mayan world - the highest being 39 feet and built in 771 AD. Excellent detail of the sculptures preserved. This time, getting to the site from the village nearby involved walking 4 kms through a banana plantation. (We passed the Del Monte processing plant of the way.) We reached an unpaved road half way there where a Guatemalan was kind enough to drive us in his Kenworth truck and trailer the rest of the way to the ruin site. It was a very hot and humid day, over 100°F, there was no breeze or any place to buy water along the way. When walking that kind of distance under that kind of weather, availability of water is a very serious issue. But if you get hungry there are plenty of bananas around.

August 28, 1999 -- 0700, 5 hours and 3 buses back to Antigua.

August 31, 1999 -- A 2 1/2 hour bus ride from Antigua to the lakeside town of Panajachel. The lake - Lago de Atitlan - is probably the most beautiful lake in the world. This lake is, in fact, the large crater of what was once an extremely active volcano. It was so active that, according to geologists, an eruption approximately 85,000 years ago wiped out all forms of life from Mexico to Costa Rica. Now, the lake (1562 m above sea level) is the most visited place in Guatemala. It changes colors regularly due to its mineral salt content and with its 3 volcanos on its southern rim, green hills, and purple colored mountains, all of which completely surround it, you would understand how awe-struck we were during our 500m descent on the road towards Panajachel. We stayed at a place owned by a wonderful lady, and like most local women of Mayan descent, she wears the traditional dress of her tribal group - in her case, the Cakchiquel people. Very bubbly personality -- hugs and kisses throughout -- we felt very much at home.

September 5, 1999 -- We head north for a day to Chichicastenango - a place known for its outdoor market. Very popular with tourists. We walked southwest from the centre of town to a hilltop ceremonial site called "Pascual Abaj" where offerings of candles and flower petals -- very interesting.

September 6, 1999 -- The next morning we headed early 0630 from Panjachel to Santa Cruz del Quiche (2 1/2 hours north) to visit the ruin site of K´umarkaaj, a 4km walk west of town. The site is mostly unexcavated but what was more interesting about this place were the subterranean burial chambers. When we entered, there was a chicken sacrifice taking place deep within- the smell of candle wax everywhere and you could hear chanting echoing through the tunnels. Both of us stumbling with our small flashlight making our way through the smoke-filled tunnel. We stopped at what looked like an intersection- on our right was a deep hole with rose petals around the opening; on out left was another tunnel that led to a chamber filled with burning candles and ahead of us was a group of people kneeling in another chamber lit by candles and a shaman walking around them chanting while performing the sacrifice of the 'lucky' chicken. We walked back to town with a sense of amazement. On our way back, an old man returning from working in the cornfields chats to us about his Mayan heritage. It was a shame because we could only understand small parts of what he said. But he did stress how upset he was regarding a Mayan idol made of gold that was taken to Spain and how it should be returned to the Quiche Maya.

September 7, 1999 -- We head to the top of the hill from Panajachel to Solola market day - much more traditional. Villagers from all around the lake head to Solola to sell their wares. It´s one of the few places where traditional dress is worn by both men and women. It was a very colorful spectacle.

September 8, 1999 -- A boat trip across the lake to the southern end, to Santiago and then to San Pedro. We had good close-ups of the rugged contours of Volcan San Pedro.

September 12, 1999 -- An early start 0600 from Antigua to Chiquimula and stopping for a night before heading east to the Honduran border the next morning and onward to the ancient city ruins of Copan. We walked across the border to find no buses anywhere. The only transport available are Toyota pickups. Apparently, the road between the border and Copan are in poor condition. So, we hopped on with our gear along with 12 other people, standing on sacks of corn and rice and slowly made our way along a muddy road that hugs the sides of mountains with no barriers to stop us in case we slide sideways to a sheer drop. We did, however, get stuck once. We are in the middle of the rainy season so we expected this kind of road condition here, but the road itself was seriously damaged from the earth beneath it slipping away down the slopes. We passed a few yellow Caterpillar machinery and surrounding workers making repairs.

Sources of Further Reading-

Baudez, Claude and Picasso, Sydney. "The Lost Cities of the Maya" Henry N Adams, Inc., New York, NY. 1992.

Coe, Michael, D. "Lords of the Underworld: Masterpieces of Classic Mayan Ceramics", Priceton University Press, NJ.

Fash, William L. "Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copan and the Ancient Maya" Thames and Hudson, Ltd, London, 1991.

Menchu, Rigoberta. "I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala"

Schele, Linda and Freidel, David A. "A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Maya" Morrow New York, NY.

Sexton, Jame D. "Mayan Folktales: Folklore from Lake Atitlan, Guatemala."

Stephens, John L and Catherwood, Frederick. "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and the Yucatan"

Stuart, George C and Stuart, Gene S. "The Mysterious Maya" National Geographic Society, Washington DC., 1997.

Wright, Ronald. "Time Among the Maya".

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