I went on an amazing trek this weekend, to the highest Volcano/mountain in Centro America - Volcan Tajamulco. I went with a group called Quetzaltrekkers. They have volunteer guides and does treks for a good cause. All the money goes to Escuela de la Calle (a school for the street kids, they also have a dormitory) - I encourage donations to the organization, you can find information on the website above.
We woke up saturday morning at 5am, took a series of buses until we got to our starting point at about 3000m (approx. 9750 ft) 3 hours later. By the way, the chicken buses are no longer fun, I felt quite ill on all the rides, it`s VERY smoggy, the driving is insane and it`s extremely crowded. Unfortunately I will have to take them many more times on long trips for the next couple months.
So, we trekked for about 4 or 5 hours until we got to our campsite at 4000m (about 12, 500 ft I think). It might have been the hardest trek I have done, I carried more than I usu. carry on my backpack and it`s pretty steep, and I really felt the shortness of breath from the altitude. Nonetheless, all 25 of us made it up to the top. A couple women (in their 50s!!) felt quite sick from the altitude but they made it through the night. The views we got from various points on the hike were amazing. I will post photos when I develop my film. We had an early night because we had to wake up at 4:30am the next morning to climb up to the top - 4220m, about 14,000 ft - before sunrise. There was so much condensation from the cloud and fog that our tent got quite wet, the end of my sleeping bag got soaked and I had to hike with freezing wet feet the next morning.

But it was all worth it when we saw the view from the top. We can see all the way out to the pacific ocean to Mexico, a few other mountains and volcanoes, even some smoke from one erupting from a distance. We looked down on a sea of clouds as the sun rose. It was an amazing sight!!

Needless to say, I am a little sore right now but I am considering doing a Full Moon night hike tomorrow night up to the nearby Volcan Santa Maria. Not sure if i will make it though. Now I am back in Xela breathing in smog, yuck.