Blogs from Capital Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 11

Antigua liegt in einem Tal, das umgeben ist von Vulkanen. Heute früh hat der eine gleich geraucht... sah sehr gut aus. Ausserdem war 1974 das letzte große Erdbeben, das nächste ist damit überfällig. Zudem ist September der Monat mit den höchsten Niederschlägen, die Folgen sind Bergrutsche (sehen wir jeden Tag beim Fahren), Überschwemmungen... Und vom Golf von Mexiko kommen die Ausläufer eines Sturmes zu uns... Also eine sehr gemütliche Umgebung. 10.03.1543 gründeten die Spanier hier ihre Hauptstadt "Ciudad de Santiago". Im 17. Und 18. Jh. war Antigua die mächtigste Stadt Mittelamerikas: 38 große Kirchen, Universität, Druckerei, Zeitung und ein blühendes kulturelles und politisches Leben, Aber am 29.07.17734 wurde die Stadt von einem Erdbeben fast völlig zerstört und so verlegte man 1776 die Hauptstadt nach Guatemala City (auch keine besonders gute Wahl, da diese Stadt auf einer ... read more

After hearing stories about Guatemala City and the lack of things to do there I decided to head straight to Antigua in Guatemala rather than staying a night in the capital. A few hours after we crossed the border (and I had my first attempted border scam - unluckily for them this wasn't my first border crossing!) and arrived in Guatemala City. In order to get out to Antigua we needed to catch a taxi from the bus terminal to a public bus stop. The taxi driver at the bus stop told us that it was super dangerous for us to go to the public terminal and if he dropped us off that someone would come up behind us with a gun and rob us - clearly he was trying to play on our fears and ... read more

I woke up fairly early as decided to visit a coffee plantation and the excursion included cycling there from Antigua. Fraser from the group also decided to do this trip and we both had to walk over to bicycle place to meet a guide and collect our bikes. The total cost of the trip that included a tour of the coffee plantation and the bike was about 360 quetzals, which sounds expensive but when converting it into British Pounds, It was only £30.00, so not too bad really. Once we had paid, we got onto our bikes and followed our guide to the coffee plantation. It took my a while to get used to the bike as I hadn't ridden one for about 10 years and it wasn't easy cycling over a coble street. After about ... read more

So after a short flight back to Mexico city then a short flight to Guatemala city then a private transfer we arrived in the cobbled town of Antigua. The town has a lovely feel, very small and colourful. We checked into our private room in a hostel called the Yellow house. Very friendly staff and looks a lovely clean hostal with a nice communal area, with phills favourite - hammocks. We spent the first night having a wonder round the small town, Looking at all the churches, and the clock tower over the road. Then went to a lebanese restaurant. Gorgeous food and place but they were playing disco music very loud which was a bit distracting from the lovely place and food. On the first day we woke up early and had the free breakfast, ... read more

I am loving being here. It felt like coming home... only better. I arrived I Guatemala City and collected the boxes of donated materials I brought from baggage, and sailed through customs in 10 minutes with only one box opened and a "Welcome to Guatemala". Rolling the boxes outside, I was met by two women from UPAVIM who treated me like a princess. They took me by the bank to get my money changed and stopped to get a drink... I was VERY thirsty. I really didn't expect anyone to notice that I was coming back. I certainly didn't expect the royal treatment! Arriving at UPAVIM, there were lots of hugs and kisses and "¡Bienvenidos!". Last year, I really should have paid attention to those around me, because I didn't remember some of the ... read more