Glorious Guatemala

Last week I took a trip to the central American country of Guatemala.  I'd never been (even though I'd lived in neighhbouring Honduras!).

I was met by some family friends (a lovely Guatemalen family), who took me to their farm outside of Guatemala City (Santa Lucía Milpas Altas) on the first night.  

Ale, me, Ingrid, Jorge at their farm in Santa Lucía Milpas Altas

It was in a beautiful setting, overlooking 3 volcanos (one of which was active).

3 vocanoes visible from the garden (L-R: Volcán de Agua, Volcán de Fuego (continuously erupting - see the smoke) and Volcán de Acatenango

From there we went to Antigua, where they showed me around the gorgeous town full of old buildings (many churches) and cobbled streets.

Arco de Santa Catalina

La Merced church

facade of cathedral facing Parque Central

La Posada de don Rodrigo hotel

merging old and new walls

Parque Central

selling ice lollies at Parque Central

public water area

traditional washing basins (with Ingrid)

schoolkids by public washing basins

selling souvenirs

facade of the Church of the Campaña de Jesus

We had a lovely Guatemalen lunch at a place popular with locals as well as tourists.

I stayed in Antigua after they left. 

Hotel Casa del Cerro

Guatemalan breakfast: fruit, eggs, cheese, frijoles, tortilla

I did a cooking course to learn about some typical Guatemalen dishes (https://latortillacookingschool.com/).  We made Pepían Chicken and several side dishes.  It was a fun experience.

tortilla

Rellenitos - plantain filled with chocolate and frijoles (refried beans)

I had been the only student that day so I asked the chef and helper to join me for lunch

Pepían chicken, rice, radish salad and rellenitos

Tortilla Cooking School

Then it started to rain heavily so sightseeing was out.

I spent that rainy afternoon doing a chocolate workshop (https://chocomuseo.com/eng/guatemala/antigua/antigua-bean-to-bar/) at the ChocMuseo, learning about how chocolate is turned from the a cocoa bean to a bar or a drink.

I did this with a family from Honduras, a couple from Italy

a lot of work to get it to powder!

topping for the chocolate bar I made

I never actually ate it. 
I gave it to a kid that was also at the workshop.

preparing the chocolate drink

preparing the chocolate drink

Following Antigua I went to Chichicastenango, a Mayan town known for its open air market and church, which has been used for both Catholic worship and Mayan rituals.

Santo Tomás Apóstol church

Some ritual (possibly Mayan?)

selling flowers at the church steps

I did see a funeral procession go by but didn't think it was appropriate to take photos.  The whole area got really quiet as they passed.

market stand selling clothes

selling shrimps

there were tortillas everywhere.  I'd never tried the black ones (tastes pretty much the same)

Naturally I bought plenty of handicrafts there!

I finished up at Lake Atitlan where I spent the night in Panajachel (Pana).

It was evening so it looks a bit gloomy.

I stayed in Pana, at a basic hotel.  My objective for being here was to go to some of the lake towns.

Mario's Rooms garden

going down to the dock in Pana

From Pana I took one of the shuttle boats (making several stops en route, it was like a bus service) to San Juan de la Laguna.

Whilst this was very touristy, it was nice to wander around.

Calle de las Sombrillas

there were tuk tuks everywhere!

It was very colourul and arty.

public games area

even the vases were painted!

local ladies, wearing Mayan clothes
chatting/gossiping

Every opportunity was taken to sell!

There were pleny of art shops.

Showing the different colours of corn

I also went to the Casa de Tejidos (Fabric House) where they showed the difficent traditional methods used.

the pictures show which natural products they use to make different dyes

Finally, it was time to return.  It started to rain on the return but this created nice atmospheric views from the boat.

I spent the afternoon in Pana, avoiding the rain!

'local' restaurant

warming up with a hot chocolate (I loved the mug)

I enjoyed getting a sneak peek at Lake Atitlan.

After my visit to the lake, it was time to go to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.  I'd almost gone there about 30 years ago when I'd been travelling in Mexico and visiting the Aztec and Mayan ruins in the Yucatan but in the end we hadn't gone down to Tikal.  So I was excited to finally make it!

To get there I flew to Isla de Flores and took a day trip to the Tikal National Park, where the ruins were hidden in the rainforest.

Isla de Flores is about an hour and a half away so it was an early start (430am) to get there just after the sun rose.

about 5am

Once in Tikal we wandered around the pathways and enjoyed seeing the impressive temples.

We started with the central plaza for the main temple (Templo I or Temple of the Great Jaguar) with its surrounding 'city' 

Opposite this temple is Templo de las Máscaras (templo II) which had a viewing platform people could access.  So, I climbed the stairs (I'm told there are 78). 😫

There were some great views from the top.  I'm not sure of the exact height but according to google it's something like 36 metres high (10-12 stories).

The views of the Temple of the Great Jaguar were pretty amazing.

Proof I was there! 😄

You can see many hills that have not been excavated, and may have more pyramids!

There was also a 'bus' to pick up stragglers who werer too tired to walk back.

We also got to see and hear plenty of wildlife too.

Guess these Coatis are ignoring the sign!

We heard Howler Monkeys:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LcdurU2YBK30Tru2CEjV4MSrQJ2vllRF/view?usp=drive_link

And saw Spider Monkeys jumping amongst the trees.

The town of Isla de Flores was a colourful town on the lake. I didn't spend much time there but it felt very calm, safe and had a holiday vibe.

you could do 'lake tours'

'interesting' mooring!

nice open air restaurant

Casa Ramona lobby

So, I finally made it to Guatemala!  It was a great, whirlwind tour of some of the key sights of Guatemala.