At 1500 meters elevation, I feel the colours of this town are even more vibrant. And there is colour everywhere – the buildings, the clothing, the buses…

There are also many tourists, and I’m surprised the locals don’t have more of an attitude. They seem kind and tolerant.

Two of the iconic symbols of Antigua – Santa Catalina Arch and Agua Volcano

And where there are tourists, there are street vendors. Guatemala is famous for their woven textiles. Viveka and I can now start our own scarf and bag shop…

Incredible local market where you can find anything but an exit.

The beautiful La Merced church and wedding party waiting for the bride on Saturday

Many of the historic buildings were destroyed in the 1773 earthquake, but the remaining facades are still beautiful. The area lies on a fault line and is still is active for earthquakes.

The are also three volcanos visible from town. Fuego is active, and was letting off plumes of smoke about every 10 minutes today. It’s last major eruption was 1974.

This is no ordinary ‘bus terminal’. Some the buses are still plain ‘school’ yellow, but most are proud works of art with lots of colour and chrome. They are nicknamed ‘chicken buses’ but around here they just seem to an inexpensive way to transport people to the towns.

We have had fun shopping at the market and doing some cooking at our little house

But hard not to eat out too when a wood fire roasted chicken dinner is 30 quezales ($5 Canadian)

With Gallo, the official beer of Guatemala!

Tomorrow we are off to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, and looking forward to being near water again. It is 2.5 hours and we opted to spurge and book a private shuttle as we’ve seen how tight they pack people into the regular – four people where there should be three seats.