Guatemala

Guatemala is every backpacker's dream. The food is delicious, the people are friendly and transportation is efficient. It's also where we found some of the best coffee we've had since the start of the trip. We started our time in Guatemala on the island of Flores. We quickly realized that we couldn't get away with knowing only a few Spanish words for our next 4 months in Latin America. We decided to enrol in a much needed Spanish class. We booked 7 nights at a hostel in Flores and opted for an intensive 30 hour course. It was kind of nice to have a little routine for a while. Every morning we walked to the school and had 3 sessions of about 2 hours each. For lunch we walked up a hill and ate at a local restaurant that served huge portions for half the price of the tourist restaurants. There are no grocery stores on the island, so every night we walked across the bridge to buy fruit and jugs of water. 

The small town just across the bridge from Flores where we got our food and water supplies.

Daily food market just outside of Flores. 

 One of the main reasons to visit Flores is because of its proximity to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. They are one of the most important of the many ancient Mayan ruins in Central America. We found them much more impressive than the more popular ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico. The temples and spread across a huge forest that takes about 3 hours to cross. We decided to save money and not go with a guide. We were happy with our decision when we saw that the guided groups only visited a fraction of the site. We also later heard that the guides have no training and often make up the information they give. 

Mayan glyphs in the ancient city of Tikal.

The impressive ruins of the Gran Plaza in Tikal. 

Beautiful ruins hiding among the trees. 

Visiting ruins

After our week-long stay in Flores we took an overnight bus all the way to the colonial city of Antigua. We heard that these buses could get pretty cold so we wore all of our warmest clothes. We still froze. The worst part is that there was a temperature gauge at the front of the bus, constantly reminding us that it was 11 degrees on board. We arrived to Antigua completely exhausted, but of course we couldn't check in to our room since it was 8am. We found a communal living room in the hostel and passed out until it was a more appropriate time to walk around the city. Unfortunately it rained almost the whole time we were in Antigua. Strangely enough it was the first time in 9 months that we were really rained in. We decided to take it easy went out for only a couple hours a day when there was a break in the rain. 

A short break in the rain. 

One of the many church ruins in Antigua. 

Antigua's food market, where we spent a couple hours waiting out the heavy rain. 

Our pupusa addiction started in Guatemala and continued into El Salvador. They are tortilla dough stuffed with cheese, beans or meat. 

One of the many churches in Antigua, also home to a small food market. 

Irresistible tostadas sold at a small market in front of the church.

From Antigua we took a small shuttle van to the lakeside town of Panajachel. Most people just stop here to get on a boat to the more popular lake towns, but we decided to stay the night. It was raining and we were feeling a bit drained from all the bad weather and long bus rides. On the way in, Aaran spotted a cafe with a very hipster looking barista sitting out front. As soon as we checked in to our hostel and dropped off our bags we headed to the coffee shop. The cafe is run by a group of young Koreans who roast their own coffee and are clearly very passionate about what they do. It was delicious. It was so delicious that we went there 3 times during our 16 hour stay in Panajachel. We even went back 4 days later after spending time in another small town on the lake. When we walked in the barista looked at us and said "One cappuccino, one double espresso?". He remembered our order, which is impressive considering the place is always packed. 

Cafe loco in Panajachel

                                      

There are a few towns on the lake where you can choose to hide out for a while on lake Atitlan. We decided on the small town of Santa Cruz, mainly because they have the only dive shop in the area. The lake sits at an elevation of over 1,500 meters which makes the dive a bit trickier than usual. Aaran decided to take the opportunity to take an altitude diving course. Another amazing thing about the lake is that it's framed by two volcanoes. While Aaran was out diving I sat around ready and enjoying the amazing view. 

The town of Santa Cruz can only be reached by boat. 

Our cabin on the lake. 

Heading our for a dive on Lake Atitlan.

Hostel dog. 

Amazing view of the lake from a hill in Santa Cruz. 

Before heading out to Honduras we had to spend another night in Antigua. Normally they have direct shuttles but we were there during the low season. We got lucky and the rain stopped while we were there. It gave us the chance to visit the places we didn't get to see the first time. We happily would have spent another few weeks in Guatemala, especially once we started feeling more comfortable to the Spanish. The great thing about this trip is that it's giving us good ideas for future vacations. By vacation I mean spending 3 weeks in one country, not what we're doing now.