While I was in Antigua, I decided to go see the volcanoes. I chose not to take a guide and just decided to go alone, which later I found it was a mistake. I left the hostel and took a bus to go to Parramos, a little town where I could catch another bus that will take me near the volcano.
Once I arrived in Parramos, I started to ask people in the street where I could find the bus, they told to go across the park and the bus will be there in few minutes. I crossed the park and then I asked a police woman on which corner I can take the bus to go to the Soledad, that’s the little village near the Acatenango volcano. It seems she never heard of La Soledad, a man in his sixties heard us and he said he knows where it was and he’s going there anyway because it’s in his way. The policewoman told me I can go with him. I went ahead with Mr. Mario in his little beat-up toyota pickup. He was very kind and refused to take any money and even stopped along the way to show me his farm. Once I got to Soledad, it was cloudy and cold because of high altitude not to mention I still have to climb to go up the mountain. I put on some of the long sleeve and long pants that I brought with me. I started walking right away because I wanted to do the trek on the same day, I was told it will take 5 hours to get up the mountain to the base camp but if I don’t stop it could take 3 hours and it was around noon by the time I arrived in Soledad.
The climb was very steep and difficult, there wasn’t enough marking and even the markings that were painted on some of the rocks were unclear because of the fog and the rain. I got to a point where I couldn’t tell which way to go, so I decided to take the easy path and I walked for 10 minutes and then saw some people running and I asked them for direction. They told me to go back and take the other path, although it’s harder but it’s shorter. They told me to be careful because it’s very dangerous, and they suggested not to go all the way up but until the base camp. They also offered me a snickers chocolate bar, because they thought I might needed although I had some food on my backpack. I started climbing and it was really hard and I got to the base camp after another hour but it was very windy and rainy. I started to climb toward the summit but after about 20 minutes I realized it’s very dangerous with the wind and looking on both my sides it was really high and if I fall I may not make it. At that point I regretted not going with a guide and with a group. I understood why all the guided tours spend the night inside a tent because the only time to see the mountain would be early in the morning.
Once I saw that there’s nothing I could do at the base camp and climbing became almost impossible. I started to descend the mountain and it was as hard as climbing up, and I needed to get back to the main entrance by 5PM otherwise I won’t find transportation to go back after 5PM. It took another 2 hours to come down and while I was descending I met 2 young guys. Reading on the internet you get suspisious of people intention, so I was a little apprehensive because I read sometimes there were some robberies along the path. The 2 young guys were very friendly, and they turned out to work for some of the tour guide companies that work with tourists. They even said that they are going to accompany me so I won’t get lost because the path branches to another village. They stayed with me till they made sure I was on the right path.
Once I got back to the main entrance and walked to the road waiting for the bus to go back to Antigua. I thought about the day and how amazing the people I met during the day, everyone was there to help and assist. You hear and read a lot of things about Guatemala and how dangerous it is. Even the locals would always warn me to be careful. But I am glad everyone I met so far and especially on this day, everyone was very helpful. I thought I had one of the best days during my travel, I probably didn’t get to see the volcanoes but I got to witness humanity at its best.
