What else do you need in a country? (Guatemala)

Member Name: strangepower

Product:	Guatemala
Date:	09/06/00 (337 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Caters for every taste.

Disadvantages: You only booked a month.

Guatemala is every traveller's dream. Within its 100 000 or so square km, you are treated to almost every type of geographical zone imaginable, including volcanoes, tropical rain forest, lazy carribean coast, crashing pacific surf, massive river gorges and so on.

Culturally it is the heartland of Mayan Central America, and as such has a myriad of old temple sites, mostly situated in cloud covered tropical jungles, replete with howler monkeys, toucans and tree frogs to name but a few of the cool animals you might meet. This combination of awesome geographical features coupled with an ancient civilisation wandering around in their traditonal garb, makes for an extremely photogenic country, that has been used as a backdrop of a variety of screen action including Return of the Jedi (see below) and the odd Barclaycard ad.

I went there two years ago, only intending to stay there for a few weeks before I carried on down to Costa Rica and Panama. Five months later I was running a bar in its old capital - Antigua, with a beautiful old colonial house in the north of the city, complete with a courtyard filled with baby parrots and bougainvillaea. Somewhere in England there was an empty desk with my name on it.

It is difficult to know where to start with a country that has so much to offer, so what I'll do is suggest a 'five steps to heaven' itinerary which if you follow diligently, will mean that you will ascend from your current earthly existence to the pearly gates of heaven with as much adventure, relaxation, stimulation and high jinx as possible on the way.

Right your journey starts in Antigua Guatemala, some say the most beautiful city in the Americas. Cobbled streets lined with old colonial buildings whose colourful yet uniform exteriors belie the treasures that hide within their courtyards. The town always seems to be in bloom, testimony to the fertile soils and permanent late spring weather. The backdrop is awesome -
the perfect cone of Volcano Agua, which released a apocalyptic flood upon the residents of Antigua, when it erupted in the 18th century. Antigua is about acclimitisation. It has some great day trips, the best being the hour drive to Volcano Pacaya and the hairy ascent. Its best attributes however, are the people you'll meet, get pissed with, and who you'll bump into many times over the next month or so, and also the opportunity to take a couple of weeks of spanish classes to prepare you for your onward journey.

Unless you're poor student scum, then the best move now would be to get a $70 (approx) flight up to Flores, which is the disembarkation town for Tikal. This ancient Mayan city is probably better known to you Star Wars afficionados as the planet of Endor. It is absolutely spectacular. You'll be swamped with offers of tours to the site, they all offer pretty well the same thing, so don't get to hung up on the decision process. The minibus will pick you up from your hotel at 5 in the morning to get you to the site for sunrise. Once you're there head for Temple IV, or as I did to the Temple of Inscriptions. Climb up to the top, sit back and prepare to be blown away. Towering pyramids rise out of the dense forest canopy. Clouds enveloping the tops of the trees. The soundtrack is howler monkeys and parrots, with a little toucan thrown in for good measure. It is a religious experience.
Spend the rest of the days exploring the temple complex, and foraging into the jungle.

After a few days chilling in Tikal, its time to take a bus to Poptun, and the legendary Finca Isobel. The finca is located on the edge of the jungle and several miles from the nearest town. I have included it as it breaks up the journey from Flores to Rio Dulce (the next stop), and is a great place to chill out and pamper yourself. Saying that though, there is scope for all levels of physical exertion, you can either laze around the finca, playi
ng backgammon, reading and hanging out, or you can do excursions ranging from half a day to a whole week into the jungle, by foot, horse or 4WD. The finca staff will customise a package to your specifications.

Guatemala has a tiny little section of carribean coast, but what it has is very charismatic. Rio Dulce is the town from where you would explore it. It is situated, as the name suggest on the 'sweet' river, which flows into the Carribean and the town of Livingstone. This town is a bit of an acquired taste, for some people it is the entry point into Guatemala from Belize, for other it is a holiday destination in its own right. If I were you though, and don't get me wrong I did like Livingstone, I would go up the Rio Dulce, away from the sea, past the castillo San Felipe, and into the awesome Lake Izabal. Take a few good books and your suncream and don't plan on doing anything for a week or longer. Pure relaxation. I have a good recommendation for a lake side guesthouse, if you're interested get in touch.

Right we're almost in Heaven, one more bus journey to Panajachel on the shore of Lake Atilan. You can if you want choose to go via Antigua, to scrub up and get your laundry done, it's up to you, either way your eventual destination is Lago Atilan. Aldous Huxley came here in the 60's for a few days, ended up staying a few months and reckoned it was 'as close as you can get to Heaven'. It's easy to see why, whether you've had a wodge of the local psilocibin or not. It is awesome in every way. Three volcanoes surround an incredibly intense blue lake. If you're a trigger happy camera cowboy, then you'll be going mental for the first couple of days, before the tranquil ambience bewitches you and you start to chill like a resident. I have only visited a couple of the villages around the lake, San Pedro being one of my favourites. Whichever one you choose, get away from the comparatively busy tow
n of Panajachel, to one of the quieter villages that dot around the lake. When you get there, put your hammock in a strategic place, and feast your eyes upon the view - it's heaven.

These are but a few of the attractions the country has so much more to offer. Any type of traveller, with the exception of your polar explorer, will find something engaging. Whether your an anthropolgist, a beach bum, an adventure scout, or credit card hippy, they'll always be a place for you in Guate.

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