It was not meant to be. It didn't matter how many body parts I crossed, overnight the clouds didn't budge. The guides woke up at 3, 4 & 5am to check conditions & each time there was no improvement. When I became conscious at 6am & could see light, I knew we'd missed our opportunity. I unzipped our tent & everything was wet & white & sadly it wasn't even snow, only thick, impenetrable cloud.
Once back in Antigua, we had about an hour to shower & make sure our smaller bags that we prepared yesterday were good to go.
Once this was done we were on another mini bus driving to panajachel. A lake side town that was a few hours away from Antigua. Today's windy & hilly roads were some of the worst we've had yet & only the strongest could honestly deny feeling nauseous.
It was late afternoon when we arrived in a quant little town & our accommodation. We finally have another private couples option with no dorms!
Disagreeing is a healthy, normal & productive way to progress a relationship, Arguing when the issue at hand & emotions are alcohol enhanced is not. It's definitely not our style & has only previously happened once or twice in the 5 years we've been together.
Traveling was always going to create new situations, that are vastly different from our normal life routine which would test us... this particular test we passed, together & our reconciliation was inevitable.
- Alli
The guides were soon calling for us to get up & get some breakfast which was coffee & banana bread. Soon after we pulled down the tents & it was only now that the cloud started sliding down off the volcano to give us views off the valley down below & the sum rise. Sadly the cloud covering the top of Pacaya was still very much there, stubborn & unyielding till the end.
The hike back down was easier now I didn't have all the food & liquids in my pack. Before too long we were all down the bottom at the starting point & piling back into the vans.
We were all disappointed by the lack of lava, even though we all had a good night & made the most of it.The drive back to Antigua went quickly & the mood was quiet, a lot of people were tired & disappointed.
Our guide did give us some sad news about one of the other active volcanoes called Fuego, one of the 2 volcano's we could see from the view point half way up Pacaya, looking across the valley at the volcano's Acatenango & Fuego. Fuego is very active & very dangerous. While hiking Pacaya we could frequently see smoke & eruptions from Fuego.
On Sunday June the 3rd 2018, Fuego had a massive & violent eruption ejecting ash & hot gas 10 kilometres into the sky & shadowing the people of Antigua in an impenetrable darkness. NASA has photos of the ash cloud, taken from satellites in space, just to emphasise the size. Following the ash induced darkness & confusion was a pyroclastic flow from the ash cloud collapsing under it's own weight. Pyroclastic flow's contain ash, hot volcanic gas, pumice & lava, reaching speeds of 700km/h & temperatures of 700 degrees celsius. You can't out run them & they totally destroy everything in their path.
It's extremely sad to have barely heard of this disaster that killed so many people, it's obviously not important enough for western media. Today we can still see the ash & the path that the pyroclastic flow took as it made it's way down the volcano & through the local villages. RIP to those poor souls who never had a warning, who never had a chance & who's story never made it to the forefront of the media.
It's extremely sad to have barely heard of this disaster that killed so many people, it's obviously not important enough for western media. Today we can still see the ash & the path that the pyroclastic flow took as it made it's way down the volcano & through the local villages. RIP to those poor souls who never had a warning, who never had a chance & who's story never made it to the forefront of the media.
Once back in Antigua, we had about an hour to shower & make sure our smaller bags that we prepared yesterday were good to go.
Once this was done we were on another mini bus driving to panajachel. A lake side town that was a few hours away from Antigua. Today's windy & hilly roads were some of the worst we've had yet & only the strongest could honestly deny feeling nauseous.
It was late afternoon when we arrived in a quant little town & our accommodation. We finally have another private couples option with no dorms!
Having privacy, sharing a room & sharing a bed are one off the everyday luxuries that couples often sacrifice on a trip like this.
Not having privacy or intimacy for many days in a row creates a lot of distance in an unstable lifestyle such as travelling & after 6+ months of being on the road, it's one of my least favourite things. The rooms are basic, clean & comfortable, however the garden outside the hotel was really something beautiful. Tom & I lied in bed, hiding away from the world until dinner time. We went out with the majority of the group for dinner, drinks & dancing.
It was a great night full of laughter & ridiculous dance moves. At one point, Tom & I had a disagreement at the bar over a few recent things, which very quickly escalated into an argument. Nobody in the group saw or heard us & in an effort to keep our relationship private & to not jeopardise anyone else's night, we left to go home & sort out our problems in privacy.
Disagreeing is a healthy, normal & productive way to progress a relationship, Arguing when the issue at hand & emotions are alcohol enhanced is not. It's definitely not our style & has only previously happened once or twice in the 5 years we've been together.
Traveling was always going to create new situations, that are vastly different from our normal life routine which would test us... this particular test we passed, together & our reconciliation was inevitable.
- Alli
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