Blogs from Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 365

Two and half hours chicken bus ride from Xela is one of the most beautiful spots in all Guatemala. Lago Atitlan, a huge lake surrounded by three huge volcanoes. Panajachel is small town on the shore of the lake. We arrived mid afternoon found a hotel and went to eat. Since I left England 6 weeks ago I haven't been to a place quite as set up for tourists as this, the town even had a multi-storey hotel. Throw in a large number of travellers, staying in the cheap hotels - as low as £3 per night, and there is a vibrant mix of people. Lots of small cafes and restaurants have appeared to cater for the demand of the tourists. After wandering the streets for a while we found a gallery slash café, the Café ... read more

A first class bus took us from San Cristobal to the Guatemalan border. No signs in English, Spanish and no indication of what to do. Taking a wild guess Reena and I wandered over to the Mexican migration office. I tried to ask the stern, and blatantly bored official behind the counter what I needed to do. One word was uttered, "passporte". Handed over the passport, lost my tourist card and received another stamp. After this a taxi was needed to get to the Guatemalan border. Walked through a gate, and over to the Guatemalan migration office, the guys in the this office were much more friendly, when I said that I was to learn Spanish in Quezaltenango and needed 60 days, they very kindly gave me ninety. Only 30 pesos in "fees". The buses in ... read more

We left the beautiful lakeside Panajachel on one of the beaten up chicken buses Guatamalan people have as public transport, over and through the many mountain ranges to Chichicastenengo, a small mountain town (2000 m above sea level) famous for it´s Sunday market. It was Easter Saturday when we arrived and the town was already putting on various colourful religious processions in its narrow streets. Quite a spectacle. Samana Santa was happening everywhere! On our last night in Panajachel, Dean hurt his neck a little while sleeping using the rock-hard pillows at the hotel. On our arrival in Chichi we did the usual orientation walk in the town centre when Dean slipped off the gutter and jarred his neck further, so bad he had pain all down his side and had to lay down the rest ... read more

Geo: 14.56, -90.74... read more

No, your eyes do not deceive you, it does say 1988. As my project here in Germany, I’ve begun to go over our travel journals started in 1988 when we left Alaska for our first long adventure. We went to Antigua, Guatemala first to study Spanish, then traveled through Central and South America for about a year and one-half. So as to have an accurate, historical record of our journals, I’m re-typing them “as is” so to speak. Therefore, the narrative might only be interesting to those of you who want to know what it was like in these places so many years ago. Important note: I do not have access to my original photos, so am using newer ones (from our visit in 08) or ones I've scanned - plan to put in the original ... read more