For some reason I was entrusted with the alarm clock, so at 4:45 when it went off, in my half state, I was easily able to reassure myself that the volcano was going nowhere and could wait till another day and switched off the alarm and went back to sleep.
I was awoken by Rees slamming my door open informing me that it was 5:15. I stumbled out of bed, put on some pants, grabbed my bag and staggered out the front. Rees and I stood there for about 30 seconds, pondering if we had missed the mini bus when it pulled up. Robert the pom was already on the bus and we soon picked up Ed. Bout a 15 min ride to a small town at the base of the volcano, where we met our guide.
The 4 hr hike ascending about 2000m was pretty tough, luckily the two guys we were hiking with found it harder and helped keep things at a reasonable pace. Rees was finding it hard and I was just focusing on not shitting myself as my guts were churning and my head was pounding. From the top was an excellent view of the area. The different valleys, containing towns surrounded by volcanoes. The hike down was seemed to take ages and we were all relieved to get back to the base of the volcano. Only to find no mini bus to pick us up. We had paid US$15 (heaps for central America) for a one way ticket. The guide pointed us to the local bus and we clambered aboard to sit completely knackered and waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. I was feeling pretty tired and shit and at this point I vowed never to do something like this again hung over.
Got back to town and we all went for a nap. That night, we met up with the guys and headed to the pub. One of the best things about Guatemala is the local beer “Gallo”, comes in 1 litre bottles. Bought a round and settled in. I knew something was wrong when Rees couldn’t finish his beer and headed home early.