Antigua was our next stop. The original capital city before it was moved to Guatemala City after a series of earthquakes destroyed many buildings. Antigua is now a World Heritage Site and receives a lot of tourism through its pretty, Colonial streets topped with sprays of bougainvilleas, and surrounded by volcanoes.

This is where our real bus adventure has begun. Guatemalan buses are old American school buses - brightly coloured and driven with a rapidity that would make members of school boards shudder. So much more interesting than the sanitised Volvo coach with AC, TV and bathroom in Mexico!

Easily my favourite thing about Guatemala are the colourful markets. We went to as many markets as I could get to including the fabulous Chichicastenango, around Lago Atitlan and San Francisco del Alto. I had been told and had read that Guatemalans do not like having their photo taken. In a couple of months I was rarely refused a polite request.

Quetzaltenango or more commonly known as Xela would be our home for the next 5 weeks as we studied Spanish. Xela, Guatemala's 2nd largest city is a nice enough city with nothing in particular to recommend it. However, it was a wonderful 5 weeks during which time we met many new friends - some of whom are in the photo below (not sure who took the photo on Alison's camera). The school was excellent and we both achieved what we came to do - in my case I learnt how to count past 3 (big Oooooh! for me please) and Ange enjoyed being able to natter all day long and enter the worlds of Spanish literature, interpretation and translation.

(For the rest of this article and more, see zhero.net)