In the previous post I already started talking about Guatemala. Flores, Tikal were amazing, Antigua..super rich city with many fancy cars, lots of foreign people studying Spanish etc. After Antigua I went to one of my favourite places in Guatemala to Lake Atitlan.
In Guatemala the majority of tourists are travelling with shuttles (you don’t see locals in these) just because it does not cost much more than chicken buses and long destinations can be reached much easier with a direct shuttle rather than having to change 2-3 times. This is what I took for 80 quetzales (about £6) for a 3.5 hour journey. The shuttle took me to Panajachel which is the main town around the lake, then I took a ‘lancha’ (boat) to San Pedro which was meant to be the most lively part of the lake with the most backpackers on it. I found a hotel (Hotel Helen) with stunning views over the lake for about £3 a night..quite rare finding a place like this on these rates.
In San Pedro there are some cool restaurants and bars to hang out, there is always a party somewhere and it’s easy to meet people. One day I bumped into 4 Canadian girls with whom we were doing a free Salsa lesson when Richard was still with me. It was a great surprise to see them again so we started chatting and we bonded in the evening during one of the ‘Ladies’ nights’ parties!
One day I went to Chichi market..in Guatemala for some reason buses always broke down…this is what happened on this day as well, and one other thing topped the experience..there was a Swedish lady on the shuttle who like hearing her voice..so she was singing along the great 80’s songs during the 3 hour journey…NOT COOL!
The market itself was a little disappointing after the Bolivian La Paz market…and it was expensive..so i ended up buying almost nothing.
On the way back I took some nice pics of the lake:
After San Pedro and the parties we moved to a way more chilled place called Santa Cruz where we stayed in a home-style hostel called La Iguana Perdida. I did a dive here with ATI Divers (part of TrekCats- Association of Central and South American Divers)..you could see houses, swimming pools, saunas under water and volcanic sand where we poached an egg. The lake is growing due to past earth moves this is why some houses are already under water. The Iguana was nice, dinner together, activities. It’s a tab based system. I had a hair cut here too:) Was a great experience. A travel buddy cut it for me.
After the Iguana I was done with the lake. My Canadian friends went to Guatemala City to catch their flight home so I carried on alone. Next destination was Semuc Champey but I had to break the journey in Antigua, where I spent a lovely afternoon, stayed in the same hostel I stayed with Richard at (Hostel Jacarnda, lovely people and great place!), and had a nice pancake dinner in the ‘Luna de Miel’.(http://www.lunademielantigua.com/ )
Next morning I took the shuttle to Semuc Champey. The road is fine from Antigua until the last hour which is an 11 km dirt road…hence it takes an hour to get to the village of Lanquin. I decided to stay in El Retiro in Lanquin (http://www.elretirolanquin.com/ ), where I met a very nice group of people with whom we did the Semuc Champey tour the next day…well…it’s a beautiful place..
The tour was pretty hard core, we went to a cave first where all you need is a bikini and a candle and some courage:)
We climbed walls, swam through the cave, jumped off cliffs within the cave..so..it was a miracle if somebody finished the adventure without any injury. Then we hiked to the terrace pools, and spent the afternoon sliding down, diving in, having fun.
The day after I took it easy, just did some tubing on the river where i managed to hit a branch and go under my tube lol.
That evening I met an American man who was running a local NGO and explained me that he is recruiting volunteers who would be willing to donate 100 quetzal (around £8) meaning the volunteer would go to a pharmacy with a local doctor to buy medicine for people living in the mountains and walk with the local doctor to visit these families. I was very keen on doing something like this on my trip..well…I did it and i don’t regret it but it was a tough experience seeing some of those houses and generations living together along with the little pig…It put things in perspective and all of a sudden it won’t matter which brand of sunglasses shall i pick up next time when I’m in a department store..
After Semuc another 7 hour trip was coming up (originally 4 but because of the road closures it got extended:) to Rio Dulce. There is nothing in Rio Dulce just a river and a lovely hostel called Casa Perico where I made a new friend, a pet honey bear:)
Sadly During Semuc and Rio Dulce I was sick..(usual acid reflux) but after a few days I recovered and could continue to the last town in Guatemala to Livingston.
Livingston is influenced by Belize as it’s by the border and the people living there are much more Caribbean than the conservative Guatemalans. By the way in Guatemala I had to watch out for what I was wearing because sometimes I got some looks when I was wearing shorts..Very religious country, hence Easter (Or as they call it Semana Santa starting this year on the 14th April finishing on the 20th April) is the biggest celebration in Guatemala especially in Antigua.
The boat ride between Rio Dulce and Livingston is very nice..that was the reason I visited these places:
I stayed only one night in Livingston because I couldn’t wait to get to Utila and dive! The epic journey from Livingston to Utila in one day has already been posted previously, in my next post I’ll share my adventures in Honduras.
As an overall closing line I was expecting a little bit more from Guatemala. I heard many good things about it but the level of development in certain areas was surprising. Still liked it though and would go back at some point.
alizroundtheworld 