Total stay in Guatemala: 25 May - 27 June
Guatemala was definitely worth visiting and we could stay here even longer, but it was time to move on. We definitely have to come back and explore more. The country was cheap, easy to travel and Guatemalans are very polite, helpful, open-minded, relaxed and religious people. More than 50% of the population is Mayan, which almost represents the entire indigenous population here. Unfortunately they have always been kept in a secondary role by the ruling elite.
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Fast Facts
Capital: Guatemala City
Population: 12 728 111
Known for: volcanoes, decades-long civil war, Maya culture and indigenous people
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala |
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Flores
25 - 28 May
We arrived to Flores, a tiny island on the Petén Itzá Lake in the afternoon and checked in to a very cheap but ok hostel (10 USD for 2). We've enjoyed excellent views from our terrace over the lake. But our main goal was to visit the ancient temples of Tikal hidden in the deep jungle nearby.
Tikal - Sunrise Tour
26 May
The driver picked us up at our hostel at 03:15(!) in the morning and after an hour driving, we arrived to Parque Nacional Tikal (an Unesco World Heritage Site since 1979). We climbed the highest building at Tikal (Temple IV) to enjoy the sunrise and to relax after the 30 min hike through the jungle. And it was amazing! While the sun was clearing the mist slowly and revealing more of the rainforest and its towering temples, you could hear the Howler monkey flying in the jungle and making a lot of noise.
Tikal was one of the major cultural and population centers of the Maya civilization. The Maya city of Sounds (Tikal) was huge and its steep-side temples were amazing. The satellite picture of the area (taken by NASA in 2001) showed that only around 10-15% of the temples had been uncovered from the dense rainforest. The guide explained that it will probably take 10-12 years and 6-9 MM USD to uncover and restore it all. It took Maya Indians 52 years to build it.
While walking between the temples, we've spotted toucans, raccoons and monkeys and the guide showed us some of the medical plants and trees the Mayas were using.
We had a nice ending of the tour by taking the dip in the lake right next to our hostel.
It was one of the best guided tours we ever had and for us it was the biggest highlight of Guatemala.
To learn more about Tikal, visit this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikal
For deeper understanding and work about the hidden temples in Tikal, have a look at the following sites:
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/satellites-provide-clues-ancient-mayan-civilization-0
and http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/multimedia/photos/2006/photos06-018.html
Departure to Antigua
28 May
In Belize, we discussed whether we would go to Guatemala or straight to Costa Rica as planned. We have red that Guatemala had high crime-rate and that overnight busses could be dangerous and so on. But we decided to do Guatemala - on some conditions: 1) We wouldn't take an overnight bus 2) We would avoid Guatemala City 3) We wouldn't stay long.
And here we were, taking an overnight bus from Flores to Antigua with mostly locals on board. Arriving first to Guatemala City 5 o'clock in the morning and waiting at the bus stations for an hour for the shuttle to Antigua. And on top of that we overstayed in this beautiful country!
Antigua (elevation 1530 m)
29 May - 6 June
La muy Noble y muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Goathemala (what the Spaniards called Antigua) was once the epicenter of power throughout Central America.
Antiguas' setting is very beautiful, especially on a clear day, where you can see the 3 volcanoes: Agua (3766 m), Fuego (3763 m) and Acatenango (3976 m) overlooking the town. Because of a cold front it rained a lot and the temperature also dropped because of the alltitude.
The well maintained Spanish colonial buildings looked pretty nice, though there are a lot of expats in town, i.e. there are many nice and expensive shops and restaurants. Many of those places and also important offices where protected by guards wearing pump guns.
Overall the town didn't give us much of a feeling of the real Guatemala, but it has a charm. We stayed here and waited for the weather to clear up so we could hike the active volcano Pacaya. Unfortunately we didn't have any clear days during this stay.
San Pedro La Laguna (elevation 1610 m) by Lago de Atitlán
6 - 25 June
This relaxed bohemian village, located just by a huge and beautiful lake (8 km x 18 km and averaging around 300 m deep) is known for its cheap but good Spanish schools. Lake Atitlán is surrounded by small traditional villages and dramatic mountains and volcanoes (San Pedro 3020 m, Tolimán 3158 m and Atitlán 3537 m). Our hotel was actually located by the foot of the San Pedro Volcano and on the 13th June there was an earthquake (4.7 on Richter's scale). Aneta didn't feel anything as she was sleeping, but Per-Ove did. Actually Guatemala has plenty of volcanoes and here is a good overview: http://www.mayaparadise.com/volcanos/volguatee.htm
The indigenous women and girls here were wearing traditional clothes called Maya traje. They also carried their babies in traditional weaved blankets on their backs. It's a colorful picture, but unfortunately taking picture of indigenous people is a sensitive issue. Thus here are some examples of textiles and background information: http://www.pbase.com/magpiejst/traje and http://www.rutahsa.com/traje.html .
It rained a lot the first days and streets turned into small rivers, but that didn't stop us from exploring the village since we equipped us with rubber boots.
A shortlist of what we did/experienced:
- Spanish lessons: 5 days, 4 hrs a day at San Pedro Spanish school with private teacher for only 90 USD. Professional staff and located just by the lake.
- Met up with some nice people we've also met in Flores and Antigua.
- Hang out with the Spanish owners of our hotel. This must be the one of few good places to stay where the owners treat you like family. Thanks Luis and Maria for memorable staying!
- Visited the nearby San Marco La Laguna, a pretty lakeside village with spiritual oriented activities.
- Locals taking a bath in the lake.
- Locals washing their clothes in the good old way in the lake and put them to dry on big rocks.
Antigua
25 - 27 June
This time we were lucky with the weather, thus we signed up for the longed hiking tour to the active volcano, Pacaya (2552 m). They say it's the only one accessible volcanoes in the Americas where you can walk on lava.
It was a tough 1,5 hr hike up the steep paths and it got really hot when we arrived to the beds of lava. While walking on the dry lava, you could see the floating lava through some cracks just a few centimeters below and our shoes smelled burned rubber. It was an interesting experience with beautiful views. More details on Pacaya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacaya
Guatemala video
The Guatemala photo collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/perove/collections/72157606638998033/
Map of Guatemala
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On 27 June we flew to Costa Rica...