In Copan I bought a bus ticket to Antigua, Guatemala (5 hours, $25 US). I had lunch right before leaving at noon. My trip to Antigua was in a comfortable modern minibus and very few other passengers. We passed through Guatemala City, Central America's largest city with 2 million residents and kept going west for another 1 1/2 hours to Antigua.
My guidebook had described Antigua as one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in all of the americas, so I was anxious to see for myself. This city was the colonial capital of Guatemala, but they moved it due to the frequency of large earthquakes. The city sits in a valley at the base of three conical volcanoes, one of which erupts daily. The city is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Volcano Agua is directly south of the city
Volcano Fiero erupts daily - the view from my hotel room window
I found a backpackers hotel in the northwest corner of downtown (Internacial Mochilero) for $25 US per night. I discovered that the city was really quite small and easy to navigate. The buildings were all limited to about 2 stories in height and the regulations required all commercial signs to be affixed to the building and not protrude over the sidewalks. From my hotel in the northwest corner of the downtown, it was about a ten minute walk to the city's central plaza and main cathedral.
I went out for dinner and found a traditional restaurant. Upon coming back to the hotel later, I felt very chilly, like the city was high in the mountains. The restaurant staff told me no, we are not at a high elevation. I went back to my room and started feeling sick. Chills and fever mostly. I had recollections of my bare legs covered with mosquitos while hiking the backcountry trails of the Tikal National Park jungle. Is this the feeling of coming down with malaria? I hoped not.
Women street vendors dressed in traditional Guatemalan clothes
The next day I still had a fever and did not feel well. I did go on a few walks to explore the city, but mainly I slept in the afternoon and all evening. My guidebook told me that Belize City was a 17 hour bus ride away on poor roads. I was not looking forward to that trip, especially if I was feeling sick. I decided to make an exit sooner than I had planned and get back to Belize where I could fly back to the US easier if need be.
I bought a plane ticket back to Flores, Guatemala, where I had left a week earlier. This plane ticket was only $150 US, but the 1/2 hour flight saved me 14 hours on the road (bad roads). I thought it was worth it.
My next stop was Belize City and on to the Belize islands for R & R.