In which Layla and Roz cook marshmallows on a volcano in Guatemala

By Layla

Having been to Guatemala once before, in 2003, I worried about the intrepid quotient of us going there on holiday yesterday. My fears were allayed by the check in woman at National Airport in Washington who, upon enquiring as to our final destination, queried "Guatemala? Is that in Mexico?" Though to be fair she also claimed not to have heard of Britain, so it wasn't entirely reassuring that Delta would get us to Guatemala City at all... but get there we did, inexplicably in business class no less, and as we sipped mid-flight mimosas, we felt we were starting the holiday in grand style.

An hour and a half of taxi fighting through dreadful traffic, and we stepped out into the sunny, colorful, cobbled streets of Antigua, a beautiful little colonial town. Since we were too early to check in, the first order of the day was clearly a search for late lunch (glossing over my early lunch courtesy of business class!). We strolled a few paces to the very attractive main plaza, with greenery, fountains, and churches galore, then walked up a restaurant-lined street with our mouths watering. We settled on a cute little place where we acquired mohitos and guacamole, and were very cheery indeed - til some Googling got us anxious about difficulties of getting cash in Antigua, dodgy cash machines, etc. And so, feeling like a very good wife indeed, I left Roz with her mohito while I embarked on a quest for cash. Four cash machines later, and several conversations with bank type men holding guns, I procured 2000 quetzales, which I felt was a vast sum of money. The exchange rate is killing me - I just can't do rapid sums that require dividing by 7.8! Luckily I have now told Roz she's in charge of money...

After our guacamole, and checking into our cute little boutique hotel, we embarked upon a further food and drink mission. We had mohitos on a rooftop bar, then some tasty wine and bruschetta in a second, charming establishment, then local beer (Gallo) and tacos in a third establishment. And after all that we rolled home to bed, anticipating our 6am start the next day...

Today, up bright and early, we seized packed breakfasts from our hotel and climbed aboard a minibus with 10 others, bound for the Pacaya Volcano. It's an active volcano, so we couldn't go up to the crater, which we saw steaming, but we could and did have a fab hike up through countryside, then across fields of black lava grit (familiar from our Nicaragua volcano surfing experience), and finally to a hot hole in the ground where we roasted marshmallows with volcanic heat, and munched them while gazing at the really glorious scenery, of lakes, craters, steaming volcanos, and a range of peaks like the way I drew mountains in childhood art classes, all under a brilliant blue sky.

We bused back to town, then set out for lunch. We had a pleasant panini in Cafe Barists, overlooking the square, then we went to a travel agency to book a bike ride for tomorrow. And then it was time for our customary Lonely Planet walking tour. We wandered down pretty cobbled churches and admired copious churches and monasteries. Antigua really is a beautiful town. We came across a little bookshop and Roz bought Like Water For Chocolate. And then proceeded to read the whole thing, first over mint tea and key lime pie in a beautiful sunny courtyard cafe, then beer and chips at a second pretty courtyard cafe. So far, this holiday has not been slimming...

We returned to our hotel at 5 as we'd booked an hour in their rooftop jacuzzi. This turned out to be lovely - they'd left robes on our bed, and sprinkled flowers in the water. We enjoyed the jacuzzi while gazing out at the nearby volcano - a fabulous view. And now we are getting ready for dinner. A relief, as we are definitely in need of more food urgently.