Day 6

Today was the sixth day of our trip, but it was also the last day in Xela. We began our day with the usual breakfast of porridge, scrambled eggs, beans and an assortment of fruit. After breakfast, the group loaded up the bus and headed towards the Mayan ruins of Iximche. The journey from Xela to Iximche was roughly two and a half hours, consisting of roads that wound up and down multiple mountains. When we arrived at the ruins, we were greeted by our tour guide, Alex, who spoke great English and was of Mayan descent! In addition, our tour guide was very informative and comical which made the tour more enjoyable.

During the tour we were able to see the remnants of the city, which was considered a metropolis in the Mayan civilization. On the tour, we were informed of the layout of the city and various characteristics of the Mayan civilization such as how the Mayan’s walked up the stairs at a diagonal due to not wanting to have their backs to the Sun out of respect for the Sun god. After the tour, we were able to walk the grounds of the ruins and take photos of the ancient city as well as group photos. Later on this afternoon, we stopped at a nearby restaurant for lunch in which the group shared a cheese pizza that everyone thought was delicious!

After having lunch, we made the trek down to San Lucas Toliman. The drive was another two and a half hours, which was grueling to say the least, but the drive did provide great photo opportunities! We arrived in San Lucas Toliman later this evening and unfortunately had to say goodbye to our hosts from Xela, who will be greatly missed by the group for the rest of the trip. After settling into our hotel rooms, we quickly realized that the San Lucas Toliman is a beautiful place with picturesque views of Lake Attilan and the volcanoes of Attilan and Toliman. We were then treated to dinner at the Mission in which we were able to mingle a little bit with the other groups visiting this week. After dinner we then informed of the general rules of the Mission and what a typical day consists of. Starting tomorrow, we being the final leg of our time in Guatemala!

-Jessica