Our 8 day adventure out of Antigua to the countryside was awesome. We went to the most beautiful lake in the world, Lake Attilan. It is surrounded by Volcanoes and Mayan Villages. The main town is Panajachel. It is a bustling town that has a a chaoatic, bright lights Asian feel to it. All the TukTuks are blinged out. We stayed at the Casa del Mundo across the lake from pana. It is the most beautiful hotel that I have ever been in. But its friendly, affordable, sustainable and great food.

We then went up to the Alti Plano up on the Chugamangas(?). We rode our bikes at 11,000ft. We huffed and puffed. I pushed my bike a lot( as usaual this trip). We got sunburned, but decided that this was the coolest place so far for mtbing.

Then we went to the triangle area. This area in the very green part of the mountains was an epicenter of guerilla restistance during the civil war. These were the poor country people that would not let the rich take over their land( United Fruit, CIA). Its said that there are stil undetonated mines high up in the hills.

We stayed at an amazing cheese farm called Hacienda San Antonio in Acul. They make chancol cheese. It is so good. And of course we had fresh creme on our frijoles. Tim and Matt tried their hands at making tortillas. The little old lady making them just shook her head at them. Tim's were the best, I guess from making pizza at Luigi's for so long.

Then we finished up the trip at ChiChi. This is the biggest market in guate. It is hectic, frentic and so colorful. Its like sensory overload. We got some textiles and I got a jaguar mask.

I'll post some more pics later.

I'm so impressed with the hospitality and amazing adventure we are getting from Matt and Luisa at Old Town Outfitters. This is so fun.