Guatemala!!

Well, we have finally made it into Guatemala. We didn't realise how much Mexico had to offer. Despite the love of all things loud, and being ripped off left right and centre, it was amazing. But loud. Everywhere you go there are cars with megaphone speakers attatched to the roof - sometimes they are selling things like water, or gas, or a politician even.
We stayed in San Cristobal longer than anticipated, but it held a lot for us. After our sheperds pie, all the people in the hostel took turns to cook. One night we had a Swedish pasta dish, then a German bread ball dish, a curry and a Spanish omlette. Worked out quite well! We already miss the homeliness of El Hostalito. They have a website where they show how the hostel came into being. I recommend checking it out as it's very cool. We ended up doing a Temascal, which is a cleansing ritual done in a form of sweat lodge. You pray for your family, yourself or anything you feel needs praying for. There were seven people in this tiny igloo looking tent which has a deep hole dug in the middle. You are sat in the mud and leaves as more and more red hot rocks are passed into the tent. Songs are sang, prayers are made -it's a bit like a sweaty girl scout camp. But it is meant to be a spiritual experience. I found it quite emotional, and coming out of it I did feel like a shrivelled up newborn, and bawled like one too. But it is meant to be a re-birth experience. However, I have found that being born once is traumatic enough, let alone doing it twice. I'm glad for the truly unique insight into ritual.
Getting into Guatemala was beautiful. The word of the trip is Epic, and the scenery exemplified this word better than the word could ever express. Mountainous and treacherous and you careen along the road in a little mini-van, you feel alive. It is poorer here and you can tell that by the litter and the dirty buildings, but still incredibley colourful as they make the best of their situation. Or perhaps that's my romanticised version of things. The people here seem instantly more friendly. Tomorrow we hope to trek up a volcano, or, well, half way up as we are realistic about our physical fitness. Although we nearly didn't make it here - Rosie misplaced a tiny slip of paper we were given on our way in to Mexico which we were meant to psychically know to keep. They acted as if this had never happened before, but it was found at the last minute!
It's still cold here, so we are hoping to hit the warmth soon. Bienvenido a Guatemala!!