| Guatemala
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In October - November 1998 we went for a trip to Guatemala, Belize and Mexico (Yucatan). This would turn out to be a perfect combination of culture, nature, history and perfect beaches. We started pretty bad, since our luggage did not arrive in Guatemala City. It was probably left in Houston. Even though there were daily flights from Houston to Guatemala, we only received our luggage back after one week. Fortunately we decided to move on after 2 days, so we bought a small bag and some (small) clothes and a toothbrush. We also met a group of Canadians who were in Guatemala for a school project. They helped us out with some medicines and other stuff (Fam. Falkner, thanks !!!).
In Guatemala City we stayed in the Spring Hotel, a very good place to start the trip even though it was $20 a night. The very first night we stayed in an other hotel, much more expensive and less comfortable. In the Spring Hotel is a small courtyard where you can relax and the rooms are very big. The big city is very nice, for example the Plaza Major and all the buildings around it like the Palacio Nacional, the Cathedral Metropolitana and the Parque Centenario. In the Parque people organise some streettheater. The Palacio Nacional seems closed for tourists, but you can enter the building and the guided tour is more interesting that we thought. On the plaza there is a small market, where you can sit down and have a small bite and a cold beer.
From Guatemala City we went for a daytrip to Antigua. Unfortunately we could not stay the night there, because at that moment we still had hopes for getting back our backpacks the next day on the airport.
It was only an 2 hours drive. Antigua is a very colourful, laidback little town where a lot of foreigners are studying Spanish. In Antigue it is just relaxed to walk around. There are no spectacular things to do or to see, but the village itself is very laidback. There is a small archeologic museum and a interesting market place.
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The American schoolbuses are used as trucks annex buses. You will find them in any colour (even complete yellow) |
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One of the remarkable things in Antigue (and other places in Guatemala) is the colourful villages. And Antigua is lying between a number of volcanos, which makes the villages extra pittoresk. |
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Having only 2 small bags turned out to be very convenient for traveling, because the local buses were loaded all the time and now we could sit in every bus without being a little worried about the bags on the roof. After we spent 3 nights in Guatemala City we took the bus to Panachachel. This is next to Lago de Atitlan, a very big and beautiful lake in the middle of Guatemala. Here we stayed in 'Casa de Huespedes Santander', not very special but cheap and in the middle of town. Panachachel is very touristic and there is a great number of bars and souvenirshops. But the view over the lake is absolutely worth going.
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This is the enormous lake of Atitlan. You cannot understand what this view did to me. This area is really great, you can sit here and watch the lake for hours. There is also a bar with a terrace, from where you can stare at the lake. |
From Panachachel you can go by boat to San Pablo la Laguna, a very small village on the East side of the lake. The boat stops at different small towns, like San Pablo and San Marcos. San Pablo is a traditional village with no influences of tourist at all. A very nice white church and lots of small streets. It is a great walk from San Pablo to San Marcos, only a few kilometers away; a 2 hours walk along the lake. From San Marcos you can get the boat to San Pedro (or back to Panachachel), it is the same boat you came with. We went further on to San Pedro. This is more or less a touristic centre. Some of them stay here for months to study Spanish.
