Three in the morning. We dive into a dark forest in the Guatemalan countryside and start walking. The path is covered with fine, black, volcanic sand.The guide is in the front, Burak is behind him and I am at the very back of the line. I follow their steps and soon, my boot is filled with sand. There is no point in stopping to clean it, the same thing will happen in 5 minutes.There is so much fog that when I turn on my head lamp, it is as if there is a white wall in front of me. From time to time I think, "Is there a veil over my eyes?"&nbsp;We climb for about 1.5 hours with a visibility of 2 meters. I think about my story of learning about Pacaya Volcano. It all started the night I climbed Acentenango Volcano&nbsp;to see Fuego Volcano,&nbsp;which erupts every 15 minutes. After watching Fuego spewing flames all night long, I came down and saw a poster with a picture of flowing lava and I was struck by it. The answer to the question "What is this place?" was Pacaya. While my legs are still aching from the climb, the question "Should I go to yet another volcano?"&nbsp;starts to circulate in my head. In bed, in the restaurant, on the streets of Antigua, I am always faced with the same dilemma. Is it worth it, or should I let it go because I have already seen the most beautiful one?<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/7/5/1659711567575.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="1.51" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Fuego Volcano<hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;">I finally decide to head for Pacaya at sunrise the next morning. They say there won't be much lava flow as there has been no activity lately. However, this news does not have much effect on a seeker of wonders whose curiosity is tickled. Worst case scenario, I will curse my legs that will ache even more and my knees that will hurt. For the last half hour, the ground turns from sand to rock. Hopping between sharp and black rocks, we follow the guide without knowing where we are headed. In the distance, we see another team with flashlights, it feels like we are meeting on a deserted planet. It looks as if they have landed their spaceship in the wrong place and are walking in a single file to the meeting place in dense fog. We are space cowboys in a surreal movie, trying to survive on a desolate and hostile planet.We move a little more on the rocks in the fog and stop at some point. If we don't stop, the risk of splitting our heads and eyes increases with every step. The rocks are sharp, it's dark, the lanterns can barely illuminate one step ahead of us because of the fog and we are still barely awake.Our guide takes out a pack of marshmallows from his bag. He puts them on sticks and inserts them into the crevice between the rock we are standing on and the rock next to us. After 1 minute, we start eating the fried marshmallow. The melted marshmallow gets all over my beard and mustache. I'm trying to clean them up. "This adventure is turning into a pointless one," I think in my mind. The fog that surrounds us, the dark sky, the fudge cooking between the rocks and the drowsiness combine to make it hard for me to comprehend what is happening around us.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/7/5/1659711660258.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.80" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Marshmallow all over Kerimcan's beard<hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;">After a while, the guide places a pot in the crevice and starts boiling water. I look for the source of the dark orange lava flowing around us, but there are black rocks only a few meters away. I put my hand into the crevice, it is hot as an oven. Our guide laughs and says, "Don't look around, it's just below us." He points to a small cavity a little further ahead. Through the hole, I see lava flowing beneath me.The rocks on which we jumped and then sat and rested are actually freshly frozen lava. We continue to rest just above that region that is boiling from inside the earth. As the first sun rays of the day reach the earth, I sip on a cup of coffee that is brewed by lava. The fog and my sleep lighten slightly, I become aware of my surroundings... What I see cannot be real!<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/7/5/1659711772353.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.80" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">Lava seen through holes, Pacaya Volcano<hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;">I'm sitting on top of an active volcano, on top of lava that is still hot underneath and that has only cooled down a week ago... I finish my coffee. I look at the sun rising through the fog and take a deep breath. I want to walk around. Our guide asks us to check the ground with a light step. Since no one wants to take the risk of returning from the volcano with one foot left, we start walking on the black rocks with timid steps like gazelles. From time to time we look down through the holes we find and watch the flowing lava. The lava has a meditative power. Just as the first humans worshipped fire, the lava immerses itself in the depths and makes us watch it. We are actually facing the ancestor of that ancient god. It is the fire that created the world and started life.After the sun rises, noises start coming from the crater of the volcano right above us. After listening to the rumblings coming from Fuego every 15 minutes 2 nights ago, we don't care much about it. But soon the noises started to intensify and small pieces started to fall a few hundred meters away from us, our guide tells us to quickly pack up and take off. After a while, a small athletic race starts on the rocks that we naively control before we take a step. Meanwhile, the activity in the crater is increasing.<img src="https://images.aposto.com/2022/7/5/1659711828238.jpeg" style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px; border-style: none; position: relative; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box;" width="550" ratio="0.80" fr-original-style="display: block; vertical-align: top; margin: 5px auto; text-align: center; width: 100%; max-width: 550px;" fr-original-class="fr-draggable">The ground of Pacaya<hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;">Soon we come to a safe area. Everyone takes a breath. We watch Pacaya for a while, with rocks and lava fragments flying out of it. The slight tension in all of us gives way to joy. I look around me, I am happy and trying to digest what I am experiencing. There is a single tree up ahead, planted like a monument. I go to it and rest in its shade.I thank the world for making me feel like a character in a Jules Verne book.

Fuego ile ilgili hikayeler