Fun things to do in Guatemala

Officialy the National Palace of Culture, the second floor hosts four galleries of paintings and drawings in addition to marvelous murals of Guatemalan history over the staircases. There are works by modern Mayan and Guatemalan artists including El Grupo Vertebra (Roberto Cabrera -see photo), Elmar Rene Rojas, and Marco A Quiroa) Other major artists:not all on display- Enrique Diaz, Effrain Racinos, Victor Vaskestler, Roberto Giron, Moises Barrios, Miguel Moreno, Alfredo Chanquin, Jorge Rosano, Edwardo Medici, Miguel Nigro, Maria Davola, Andrea Juan, Marina Mavarrette, Alva Armagni, Caesar Izquierdo, Guilberto Hernandez, Mario Mendez, Magna E Sanchez, Isabel Ruiz, Rudi Cotton, Otto Spinelli, Wilfreda Lopez, Rolando Sanchez, Mario Mendez, Rogelio Barillas, Henri Diaz, Mario Castillo, Caesar Esquierdo, Edwardo Medici and Fernando Minera. Sadly, on my last visit many works were not displayed. COMPLAIN!

An admission price has been imposed for the second floor gallery tour to pay for restoration of the Palace which is showing its age. TOURS ON IN SPANISH. You must stay with the group. PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED

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Sorry too lazy to count but there are several villages along the shore or in the hillsides around Lake Atitlan. If I came back with Kim I might do in sans guide book and just take our packs in to villages and ask the locals. Spanish helps but many speak broken English along with some local dialects. But that is just my preference...as there are some secluded private retreats that you might be able to discover with a bit of research..possibly that perfect honeymoon spot (not that I have any intention of ever getting married) or just place to read a book by the lake and drink a Gallo as I had first envisioned when I got a bug up my butt to come back down here again for a couple of days

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Lake Atitlàn was said by Aldous Huxley to be the most beautiful lake in the world. I doubt that he had seen all of them, any more than I have, but it certainly has to be in anyone’s Top Ten. Lying a mile above sea level and ringed by mountains and three perfect volcanoes (Atitlàn , San Pedro and Toliman), its silvery blue waters are a photographer’s dream, especially in the early morning when they are at their most reflective.

The lake was formed in an immense volcanic explosion 85,000 years ago. As with Pompeii and Mount St. Helen, volcanic pressure built up and was released with devastating results. However the explosion here was much more destructive. The explosion at Mt. St. Helen released 2 cubic kilometres of rock and ash, Pompeii blew out 6 cubic kilometres. Atitlàn discharged over 180 cubic kilometres of hot ash and rock. An immense hole was left in the earth's crust, and everything died for thousands of kilometres around. One of the more interesting effects of the explosion is that large fissures were formed in the depths of the crater, out of which the water flows. Atitlàn is unique in that it is a fresh water lake with no river outlet.

Out of such devastation came beauty: the word "Atitlàn" is a Mayan word that translates as "the place where the rainbow gets its colours". Today the lake is high on the must-see list for visitors to the country, and is home to a largely Mayan population (over 90%) – some Cachikel, some Tz'utujil. We stayed at Panajachel, the largest town on the lake, where most visitors base themselves – a lively town with a main street (Calle Santander) lined with craft shops and restaurants, hotels to suit most budgets, and easy access by boat to the other villages around the shores. We also visited two of these, San Antonio Polopo and Santaigo Atitlàn. See my Panajachel page for more about this scenic and fascinating part of Guatemala.

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Having spent our first week in Guatemala in the south west, in the highland areas around Antigua and Lake Atitlàn, we flew north to see Tikal, one of the greatest sites of the ancient Mayan World. It contains the the tallest pre-Columbian structure now standing in the Americas, Temple IV, and many others besides, all scattered across a wide area, and many still hidden by jungle growth and the accumulation of centuries of earth. Those that have been excavated and (in some cases) restored tower above the tree tops, giving rise to the nickname that was quoted to us several times by locals: the “New York of Guatemala”. Well, New York it isn’t, but it is all the more amazing for that. To consider that these massive structures were built so long ago (between the late 7th and early 9th centuries), and without the use of technology, is truly awesome.

Like Antigua, this has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and forms a protected National Park. Admission is necessarily tightly controlled, to protect the monuments, and tickets sold on a day permit basis. Most tourists, like ourselves, spend only a day or two here, but the site is so extensive that anyone with more than a passing interest in Mayan history would need at least a little longer to explore it properly, and a serious scholar could be kept happy for weeks!

In our one day in the park we covered an amazing 6.5 miles, according to our excellent guide Miguel (amazing because I was still not 100% recovered from last year’s broken foot and had done very little walking) – and yet we still didn’t see anything like all the monuments and pyramids. We did however see all the main sights – the tallest and most impressive of the temples (I – VI), a number of other pyramids, several palaces, the Grand Plaza, the Central Acropolis complex, the so-called El Mundo Perdido (The Lost World) and the Plaza of Seven Temples, as well as the park’s two small museums.

To read about our visit to Parque Tikal, check out my separate page.

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Antigua was our base for the first few days in Guatemala, and although I loved everywhere that we visited in the country, it was probably my favourite. I imagine that must be true of many visitors to the country. Anyone with even a passing interest in history will be happy to spend a few days poking around its photogenic ruined churches, and photographers will also enjoy the colourful small houses (especially when lit by early morning or late afternoon sun), the views of distant volcanoes and the lively local market. When the sun goes down the air cools (we are quite high up in the Guatemalan Highlands here), and there are bars, cafés and restaurants to suit every budget – although this not a place to come for boisterous nightlife.

Antigua, or Antigua Guatemala to give it its full name, was the country’s third capital. It was founded in 1543 when an eruption of the Vulcan Agua (Water Volcano) destroyed the second capital in the valley of Almononga. In 1566 the city was given the name of “Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala” (Very Noble and Very Loyal City of Santiago of the Caballeros of Guatemala) by the King of Spain, or Santiago de Guatemala for short (you can see a cross dedicated to the eponymous saint in the Parque La Union, donated to the city by the Spanish Santiago de Compostela). Despite the ravages of several earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the city was for ovder 200 years the capital and economic centre of the whole Kingdom of Guatemala (today’s southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.). But in 1773 came the most destructive of all the earthquakes, the Santa Marta, and much of the city’s political and religious infrastructure was destroyed. A proposal was drawn up to move the capital for a third time, and despite some opposition, in 1775, a royal letter was written to order the foundation of a new capital.

Left largely in ruins the city might perhaps have crumbled away completely, but enough fabric and people remained to keep it alive. Today’s Santiago de Guatemala, Antigua, is a National Monument and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. At its heart is an almost perfect grid of streets and avenues, each of them a gem, lined with picturesque houses (many single storey because of the constant threat from the forces of nature) and dotted with the skeletons of those ruined colonial churches.

Antigua might strike you at first, as it did me, as something of a museum piece: a colonial city preserved in aspic, its ruined churches frozen at the moment of destruction, its once grand houses turned into posadas and restaurants to cater to the whims of tourists. But you only have to walk a few blocks from the centre to discover that “real” life happens here too. Visit the locals’ market; sit for a while in the Playa Union; pause for a while in one of those same churches to watch local women take a moment from their day to light a candle. This too is Antigua.

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Place names in Guatemala can be confusing! The capital city is known by the same name as the country itself, and although it is most properly known as Guatemala de la Asunción, it is usually called simply “Guatemala City”, while many locals will refer to it just as “Guatemala”, "Guate", or even “The City”.

In fact, Guatemala City is the country’s fourth capital, having been established after the 1773 earthquake drove the Spanish colonialists out of Antigua (the first was on the site of present-day Iximche, and the second in the valley of Almononga, known today as Ciudad Vieja, the Old City).

Although the capital was not on our planned itinerary, we were very pleased to agree to the suggestion of our driver, Xavier, that he give us whistle stop tour en route to the airport. This is his home town and he was clearly very proud to show it to us, while not trying to hide its downsides. He took us first to a high point (actually a petrol station forecourt!) from where we could get a view of the city, including on the hillside below us one of its large shanty-town slums (very like the favellas of Rio de Janeiro – see photos 4 & 5).

Then we drove into the city, which is laid out in a grid pattern and divided into numbered zones which spiral outwards from the centre (rather like Paris arrondisements). In the heart of the city is historic Zone 1, where we stopped briefly in the Parque Central (also often referred to as the Plaza Mayor) to pop inside the impressive Metropolitan Cathedral, the “Catedral Santiago de Guatemala”, and admire the Presidential Palace (photo 3). These buildings date from the city’s earliest times (late 18th century) although they have been added to over the years. Near the cathedral we also caught a glimpse of the Archbishop’s Palace, before leaving the square to drive through the commercial districts, passing the large covered market. It was interesting to watch people going about their daily lives and peer into shop windows, although of course it would have been even better to have time for a proper look around. Likewise in the museum district which we again were only able to drive through – I would especially have liked to visit the Ixchel Museum of traditional costumes as I’d so much enjoyed seeing them wherever we travelled. Another time maybe.

All too soon it was time to check in for our flight to Flores, so we headed to the airport via broad Avenida La Reforma and through a modern business district – such a contrast to the slums we had looked down onto on our approach to the city.

(KEER e gwa)
Pronounced KEER e gwa (say it quickly). Fantastic, fabulous and extravagant Maya stone stella are the largest ever made - over 10 meters- with exactingly carved figures and glyphs. Don't miss the zoomorphs (see photo).

You can do this site in a day trip from Guatemala City

or spend the night at the Hotel Royal (basic) in the nearby village of Quirigua.

Park admission is about $3. There is a shortcut from the village along some railroad tracks but I would not recommend it - mud, insects etc. I saw the trail at it's termination outside the park and they looked unkempt and rough. The local people told me, however, they were passable....

By vehicle use any bus or van running the main Highway aka El ATLANTICO. They will drop you off at the entrance road and there are vans and pickups running to the ruins from the highway.

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You can take a day trip or over night trip to Tikal from Antigua. We did the over night trip.

Basically, you leave Antigua around 4am and drive to Guatemala City. There you take a plane to Tikal. You get to the hotel very early and head straight into the jungle to see the pyramids. Then you go back to the hotel, have lunch and you leave the next afternoon. There isn't much to do there once you have seen the pyramids. You can go for a hike.

If we had more time, I would have taken a bus so we could stop in some of the other cities. If I didn't have a lot of time, I would opt to fly back the same day.

Also, the planes we flew up there on were very small.