Temples and cows and bedbugs...

Hey guys, I love traveling. (And cows.)

It's been ten days since I blogged, because it had been some of the fullest travel days in history, covering Guatemala from top to bottom with Marya.

We started out in Tikal on the 4th, waking up at two am to hike through the jungles to the old Mayan temples.

We climbed to the top of a temple to watch the sunrise over the clouds, trees, and ancient history, with howler monkeys and birds serenading our silent awe.

We spent hours exploring the ruins of the temples and monuments.

From Tikal we caugh a six hour ride to the tiny mountain town Lanquin, where we, along with maybe ten others, climbed into the back of a pickup to go to our hostel.

At first we were surrounded by people and houses and a decently bumpy gravel road, but as we drove, the houses disappeared and we were surrounded by nothing but jungle and the road gave way to...bumps. Just pure bumps.

But the ride was well worth it, because it brought us to this hostel...

And I woke up to this view.

There was no wifi, so the small group of about ten travelers had tons of fun talking about the world and playing games - the way life should be.

In the morning, after some well needed coffee for our travel-beat souls...

(Ahaha)

We hiked to this cool place!

Six crystal clear pools with healing water and little fishes that eat your dead skin leaving you feel brand new :p

After too few days in paradise, we again hit the road for Antigua - where I've been stationed since. 

We took one day trip to Panajachel to see the lake and volcanos..

And eat delicious food...

And meet cute little kids selling things and try to balance the baskets on our heads like she did...(the photo is deceiving. She's holding it)

We also took a day to hike up volcano Pacaya, one of the three active volcanos around Antigua.

It was a simple, two hour hike, and unfortunately clouds surrounded us at the top, hiding much of a view.

But, we did get to see some pretty land...

And roast marshmallows on the lava rocks.

They also had the option of riding a horse to the top, but for 200q, I opted for excersize. :P

Back in Antigua, I introduced Marya to my favorite food in the world - the most amazing tacos ever.

We wandered around markets, and met some cool people who drove us around on motos and showed us the hidden gems.

It's comfortable here. There is dancing every night, the people are beautiful, and the food...oh gosh the food.

After an incredible adventure, Marya had to go back to the reality of the land of the cold.

And I was left to dance alone, but as known to traveling, I ran into several people I had met earlier in the trip, and while salsa dancing, I met a farmer and got to tour the farm!

It is the only dairy farm in Antigua and they milk 70 beautiful cows by hand. The cows are out in pasture and come home twice a day to their milking stalls where they get to eat Rye grass.

All the milk is bottled and delivered door to door in Antigua by motor bike.

The cows have been shown around Guatemala and they have proof!

They were currently harvesting some type of crop, chopping the long grassy stems and packing it below the barn.

The calves, who get milk until they are six months old are out on pasture during the day and knowingly run to their pens for the night. Except this one. She was a rebel and tried to run away.

They keep five bulls - this guy is four years old and absolutely huge and as my tour guide said, a pretty mad guy.

And of course the new babies...

Life in a tiny little nutshell. Everything's beautiful, besides the bed bugs that I was graced with for the first time in all of my travels. You definitely don't want to see photos but hey...it's part of the adventure. :)

Two more days here before a vacation to the beach with a new travel buddy, before starting work Thursday in Coban. Excitement is real. :)