Travelling in Guatemala

A small island in the middle of the lake and the mysterious Tikal ruins

Our first stop in Guatemala was a little village called Flores in the northern part of the country. The part of Flores where we lived is actually located on a small island in the middle of Lake Petén Itzá and is connected to land by a single road. Charming colourful houses are huddled together in lines and on top of the hill is the main square with a church. Flores is a popular holiday destination for the locals, which is why it was quite crowded during our visit and parties went on until morning. But it didn’t matter, the atmosphere was festive and restaurant were filled with locals for a change, something we really liked.

But when New Year’s shindigs finally finished in the morning on 1 January, we were already on our way to the famous Tikal Maya ruins. The sounds of the rainforest waking up, the strange mist surrounding the pyramids and monkeys wandering around, minding their own business, there couldn’t have been a better start of a new year. They say how you start off your 1 January sets the tone for the rest of the year, right? This was certainly true for us in 2019.

Charming Antigua

After spending a few days in Flores, we took the night bus to Antigua. The journey was quite an adventure as we ended up at the wrong bus station in the “middle of nowhere” near the capital, Guatemala City, in the middle of the night. After a series of fortunate events, we managed to find a taxi driver, whom we actually overpaid but was our only solution at the time.

And in Antigua... We immediately fell in love with the town. Antigua is situated in a valley that is almost entirely surrounded by silhouettes of mighty volcanoes. Colourful houses, cobbled roads and many magnificent, though slightly dilapidated, colonial buildings give the place a special charm. But colours don’t end with the houses; you can find many markets with handcrafted items of all sizes and colours, and women walk by wearing colourful wide skirts.

We liked Antigua so much that we later went back once more and spent more than ten days there. We stayed in a small house that was managed by a young and talkative couple, so Spanish lessons were part of the daily schedule. At dawn, we took a walk down the streets and explored the town, stopped at a local market where we bought fruit and vegetables for lunch, and spent mornings – partly on the computer writing an article or two – but mostly trying this or that coffee in numerous cafés. We climbed on top of Pacaya, an active volcano, where you can roast marshmallows in lava that’s few weeks old, and usually waited for sunrise on top of a hill above the town – to add in some extra daily workout. Or, even better, on a terrace of a brewery while sipping some great craft beer and enjoying the view of the Fuego volcano blowing smoke.

The magical Lake Atitlán

They say Lake Atitlán has magical properties. I can’t say that for sure, but it’s true that we felt some special energy right after we got there. And so, we went into relax mode as well. We put up at one of the many lake villages, San Pedro de Atitlán, usually thought to be quite lively and full of backpackers, but we stayed outside the centre. We did have an amazing terrace with a 360-degree view over the lake and the surrounding volcanoes, though, and the terrace served us well during morning when we pampered ourselves with freshly ground Guatemalan coffee. The owners, who lived one floor below us, were extremely friendly and their two puppies gladly let us cuddle them.

Oh, if you’re ever in Guatemala, you must visit the local markets – we have never eaten fruit that fresh! Smoothies made from papaya, watermelon and mango were part of our daily menu. We weren’t particularly active, apart from rowing in the lake, but we did visit a spa where you can bathe in very hot stone pools, and walked throughout the villages. There are a few hills and volcanoes around the lake where you can climb to the top, as well as many language schools where you can learn Spanish, and yoga studios plus meditation centres where various spiritual ritual often take place. Surely there must be some truth in the magical properties of the lake.

We were mesmerised by Guatemala’s unique character and kind people. It’s definitely one of our favourite countries we’ve visited so far. It’s quite possible we’ll be returning there some day.

What about you? Do you want to travel to Guatemala, too?

You can take a peek at our BlueMarble Vagabonds blog for more information on travel, costs and our itinerary, and we would also like to invite you to join us on Facebook or Instagram where you can follow our past and current adventures.

We wish you happy travels!

Pssst, don’t forget – as a member of Hostelling International, you get 10% off all activities mentioned above if you book at Get Your Guide.