Guatemala (16-25 April 2016)

We arrived in Guatemala City around 7.30pm and headed straight for our hostel for 1 night as our plans were to get out of the city as quickly as possible.  The hostel was terrible (felt grubby, no English, no way of getting any assistance) and we weren’t allowed out as it ‘wasn’t safe’ according to the staff, so we had Guatemala’s version of twisties and a beer for dinner before calling it a night.  The next morning we headed back to the airport and caught a shuttle (pretty much straight away) to Antigua – our first planned destination.

Old town Antigua became obvious as we hit the cobbled streets and had views of multiple historic and beautiful looking buildings.  Our hostel was a breath of fresh air (esp. after last night).  We spent the rest of the day familiarising ourselves with the very quaint and pretty town, organised our 9 days here, and relaxed knowing everything was sorted as Antigua was to become our base for the next week or so. 

First thing the following morning (7am) we were on a shuttle to the highlands and our first stop, Chichicastenango.  Chichi (as it’s affectionately known) is surrounded by valleys and mountains but is known for its huge Thursday and Sunday markets. 

Went spent a few hours wandering the narrow cobbled streets, visiting the church of Santo Tomas, and just people watching at the Mercado.  It was Sunday so it was absolutely going off and we enjoyed nearly an hour inside the two story food market where you literally could see everything below you in real time. 

 

The absolutely amazing colours of the vegetables for sale as are the characters that sell them, from 8 to 80 intriguing and exciting to watch.   You could have stood here for hours watching life unfold - amazing people and way of life.  The people are tiny (Lesley was a giant) and the colours unforgettable.  A very special place to visit on our way to the final destination for today, Panajachel.

Panajachel is the busiest and most built up lakeside settlement on Lake Atitlan and has an amazing volcano panorama (apparently – on day 1 we couldn’t see it).  We’re here to get up close with the beauty of the lake and a glimpse at the Atitlan world.  The first evening we arrived we wandered down to the lake front to see what it’s all about, and walked the main cobbled street before calling it a night (unfortunately not before Lesley managed to slightly twist her knee on a slippery step!).  Day two consisted of a lake tour and a visit to three Lakeside villages.  We were collected around 9.30am and headed lakeside for our 30 minute boat ride to destination 1 – San Juan.  Unfortunately the seasonal “mist” that has enveloped Guatemala is playing again today so we still couldn’t really see the three volcanos that edge the lake, although are assured they are there (and even saw so on a map, along with the 34 others Guatemala has claim to). 

San Juan (pop 6,000) was a tiny traditional village edging the Lake.  The walk up the hill side took us through their main street edged with handmade paintings, arts and crafts.  The colours are something else – Guatemala is nothing if it’s not colourful.  We headed into a Women’s Cooperative where they are working together to bring back the Mayan traditions (e.g.; weaving) and contributing donations and sales towards the education of the village children.

Another 5-10 minutes by boat and we were at San Pedro – home to Volcan San Pedro and 14,000 people.  A really cute place and a little more set up for tourists with cafes, restaurants and hostels.  Still nice and small though so a lovely hillside homely feel, again with lots of colour. 

Coffee - from start to finish

Our final stop was at Santiago (Atitlan).  This town is much bigger with a population of ~60,000 and the initial feeling when we arrived was way too much concrete.  It really didn’t feel like a lakeside village as it was much more built up.  Here we visited the Catholic Church which was really pretty inside and plain outside. A special treat outside the church was a 75 year old lady who took the time to show us how the traditional women wear their headdresses – it was amazing and she was so quick winding yards of fabric perfectly atop her head – and with a big smile at the end she looked exactly that, beautiful and perfect.

Back to Antigua for an overnight stay as we departed again at 8am the next morning on our Volcan Acatenango trek.  After about an hour mini bus ride we reached the small village which is the treks starting point (2,250m) and began walking at 9.30am.  The trek goes through different stages of scenery – the first being the agricultural fields of the village, of which most villagers have their own plots to manage. Within a very short time we had great views of the village below and the mountain looked pretty ominous. 

Focussed on putting feet first however we headed into the cloud forest (this one was a bit more cloudy and damp feeling) and then out into the open before heading into the pine forest.  The three areas are very distinctive as you climb and going out of one and into the other very obvious.  The trail was pretty loose gravel most of the way which made for some pretty tough uphill and Lost City memories resurfacing (thank goodness for the sticks we borrowed to literally put a stake in the ground).  After stopping for lunch for an hour, we arrived at base camp (3,578m) 4 hours and 45 minutes after we began, and we were the first ones there – so easy pickings for tent sites. 

The site has fantastic views of Volcan de Fuego – 3830M (again in the cloud we couldn’t see it at first) which we had heard rumbling on the way up.  It’s famous for “going off” regularly and spitting out red hot rock and ashes.  We were hoping for a bit of a spectacle but on this occasion it wasn’t to be.  We sat around a roaring fire with other trekkers, guides and porters admiring the changing scenery and cloud formations before it got dark.  It did clear up in the evening (after about 15 mins of rain) and we got to see two other Volcanic peaks (Pacaya and Agua at 3,766M and the lights of the towns below and the incredible stars above and the full moon.  It was an early night as we were up at 4am to climb another almost 400m upwards (on loose gravel scree) to the top of Volcan Acatenango for sunrise (3976m).  The body was definitely not wanting to play ball (particularly Lesley’s knee) however we made it up just in time to see the most beautiful sunrise and the two Volcanoes in all their glory above the clouds.  Fuego was very special as the sun came up high enough to light it up – the colours very reminiscent of Tongariro in NZ.  The view was worth every ounce of pain and sweat to see – really stunning and very special. The temperatures at the summit were freezing made worse by the very high winds. Not wanting to leave, but the temperature dictating so, we headed back down to base camp for breakfast and shortly thereafter (7.50am) our departure back down the mountain (not before Fuego decided to put on a smoke stack display though :o).

The walk down was pretty slippery and Lesley’s shoes appeared to lose all grip and we slipped and slid our way down with a couple of short stops thrown in.  We were back in the village 2 hours after we left base camp, much quicker than the 3 hours and 45 minutes of walking it took us to get up.  A quick celebratory cerveza (beer) and we were back on the bus heading again towards Antigua arriving around 11am we were lucky that our room was ready (everything is unbelievably dirty and dusty) so priorities were definitely sorting laundry and showering. 

Our next adventure was to catch the overnight bus (8.5 hours / 490km) to Tikal.  The bus was unbelievably cold (way too much aircon) so very little sleep was had but we arrived safely into Flores around 6.30am where our taxi was waiting to transfer us to Tikal Inn inside of the National Park.  Tikal is an ancient Mayan city within the rainforest and is set on a low hill – at the time to avoid the surrounding swampy grounds.  It was settled between 700BC and 900AD because of its location and abundance of flint, allowing the Mayans to trade for other goods.  The National Park was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1979.  After checking in to the hotel we departed on a guided tour of the ancient city taking in specific key areas like Gran Plaza which includes temples 1 and 2 as well as Acropolis del Norte.  The Gran Plaza was a highlight of the ancient city and as well as the amazing structures is riddled with beautiful wildlife – coatis, toucans, parrots and turkeys amongst others –well over 30 degrees now.

That afternoon round 4.30pm we took ourselves out for a bit of a sunset wander back into the forest and immediately were treated to the sounds of the jungle and the wildlife literally coming to life now the heat is slowly retreating from the day.  We saw multiple spider monkeys and howler monkeys on the walk in and then upon heading up Temple 2 in the Gran Plaza were treated to an eye to eye encounter with multiple Toucans (Tucancillo Collarejo) in the tree alongside.  Absolutely amazing and Lesley had to keep pinching herself that we were that close to these beautiful creatures. 

The time in the park at sunset was priceless – peaceful and quiet with only a few brave souls still exploring the site.  We sat and reflected for some time before heading out just after 6pm (the park closes at 6 and no-one is allowed in after that, and you are encouraged to leave before it gets too dark). 

The next day bought an extremely early start as at 3.30am we arose and headed out for sunrise.  Back into the Gran Plaza and then we headed to Temple 4 (~70m high and 741AD) to witness the jungle awaken.  The sounds of the howler monkeys and birdsong was quite something and much more spectacular than the sunrise itself – although being awake at that time of the morning and witnessing the sun rise always makes you feel lucky and very alive.  The morning tour consisted of visiting the residential area and temple 5 (reconstructed in 1996).  This side of Tikal is a little more raw with less reconstruction in general and again the wildlife and birdsong making the visit very special.  The estimate is that only 20% of the site is uncovered and as you walk around every “hill” or mound you see is pointed out as another structure hidden away beneath the growth of the jungle.  After our third and final visit to the site we made it back to the Tikal Inn and their very welcome pool where we spent the afternoon before catching our shuttle and flight (wasn’t about to do the overnight bus again this time) back to Antigua.

Our final full day in Antigua (and Central America) we decided to complete the Lonely Planet’s walking tour.  After walking to the edge of town and seeing multiple ‘chicken’ buses we started uphill to the town’s viewpoint – Cerro de La Cruz.  Great views of Antigua and the volcano directly behind it (Volcan Agua) – although of course with the seasonal haze we’re getting used to.  Can only imagine what this area and Guatemala would look like on a clear day!  The walk took us in and out of a number of cobbled streets visiting the old ruins of the city – churches, temples, convents, markets and of course Parque Central.  Walking around these old cities is a great way to get to know them – the old ruins are everywhere and are quite beautiful.  They remain following a large earthquake in 1773 (at that time Antigua was evacuated and the capital was transferred to Guatemala City).  That evening we headed back to Parque Central to get the night-time view and pic of Palacio de los Capitanes Generales – much more stunning at night lit up.  Then it was a really nice dinner at La Estancia before an early night and preparation for our departure.

Our final day was about chores, catching up with emails, photos and notes as well as relaxing before the long haul to Thailand.  Guatemala has been a pleasure to visit, whether it was our association with Antigua as ‘home” or the country itself we’re not sure – but it’s been a wonderful experience.

Best moment – Making it to the top of Volcano Acatenango and seeing the sun rise

Worst moment – Lesley twisting her knee 2 days before the Volcano trek

Most special – Tikal at sunset change of light with the “Toucan” tree

Most surprising – The colours at the Chichicastenango market – amazing!

Most disappointing - Volcan de Fuego not spouting red hot rock (although it did smoke for us)

Things we’ll remember about Guatemala;

Volcanoes

The bright, beautiful and traditional colours

Antigua

Roof riding (utes/trucks)

Taxi trucks

Altitude

Traditional markets
Tiny people
Firewood
Small agricultural blocks
“Chicken” buses – painted, colourful and character vehicles
Roadside stalls
Tortillas
Pot holes
Judder bars
Children with children
Traffic
Street food
Roadside stalls