Happy New Year, aka “let’s blow shit up” day in Guatemala! Very different from last year’s party in Sydney, but a lot of fun too.
Antigua is famous for crazy New Year’s Eve parties and it didn’t disappoint. The town was packed with travellers and locals, mostly from Guate. Some family-friendly entertainment took place in the picturesque “Arch Street” but the rest of us were too busy playing with a lighter and firecrackers to stop and watch it.
Yes, I’m travelling with a pyromaniac Chinese. Feng has great memories of Chinese New Year in his childhood where the entire city just smelled of gunpowder and when he saw the stalls of firecrackers, he just couldn’t resist. We bought a bag of goodies and did what the locals did—find a quiet street, light up and run like hell.
Soon, the entire city smelled of sulfur and gunpowder and thick clouds of smoke floated around. Cars alarms, triggered by the explosions, started off everywhere.
It’s a miracle the city didn’t burn down. In the Plaza, groups of people started playing with what I call “Thai Lanterns” (we saw a lot of these in Thailand). They are basically like mini air balloon. You are supposed to throw them high and they fly away, powered by the fire. Of course, in Thailand, people do that on the beach, not in crowded alleys. On the plaza, lanterns kept on getting caught in the trees—talk about a fire hazard!
At midnight, people switched from firecrackers to actual fireworks—you know, the kinds that are usually done from a safe place. Not a chance: once again, people light them up from the street!
Since I don’t have the intensive Chinese firecrackers training Feng underwent as a kid, I just played with “baby” firecrackers. And smoked the cigarettes needed to light the things up.
Today, the firecrackers frenzy continues. At noon on the dot, it felt like being in Kabul. Firecrackers, more fireworks and smoke coming from all corners. It is now 5:38, and apparently, it’s time to play again… my ears are rigging as the leftover firecrackers are being lit up again!
So I wish all of you a prospero año nuevo. May all your dreams come true!
As an Asian, New Year’s Eve celebrations for me are usually associated with firecrackers. Even in the Philippines, the newspaper headlines for January 1 usually involve the statistics for how many injuries were sustained during the night before, accompanied by gruesome bloody hand pictures!
I guess I hadn’t realized that firecrackers were popular throughout Asia, I always associate them with China!
Happy New Year for both of you, too! I wish you a wonderful trip till you come back in Canada and lots of happiness.
Thank you Lily! I wish you both plenty of happiness in your newfound home!
Congratulations for the beautiful pictures you took in Guatemala. New Year’s eve parties here are awesome, specially in Antigua Guatemala and you can love or hate the thousands of fireworks.
Regards from Guatemala!
I loved them personally!
WOW! So impressive! 😀 Wishing you two a Happy New Year in Guatemala!
Happy New Year too!
Thank you, same to you!
Thank you! I wish you the best in Macau!
Yooooo Zhu…you have been travelling for A YEAR!!! From last year to this year heheheheh….Happy New Year once again 😀
I wish! There was a lot of work in between though!
Happy New Year! Firecrackers make me nervous but the ‘drawing ones’ are really beautiful! 🙂
Trust me, after a night of craziness with them, you do get less nervous!
Happy New Year!
I would have been dead scared: I fear fire!
Ahem… so don’t come anywhere close to Asia during New Year!
I like your pictures of Antigua Guatemala on New Year’s Eve. I was in Quebec city this year! Hope you have liked it!
id you enjoy Quebec City? Must be a new place to spend New Year Eve. I love Antigua!