We chugged into the pretty, colonial Antigua at around 3.30pm meaning that the whole journey had taken us around 8 hours. Considering we had waited for over an hour for a new tyre to be delivered and then changed, and we had successfully avoided Guatemala City, this meant we were feeling tired but pretty good. Unfortunately our hostel turned out to be on the other side of Antigua resulting in a pretty unwelcome 2km/45minute walk in the sun with our bags! The hostel that had been recommended by our friend Megan turned out to be absolutely perfect after such a long journey. Best of all…hot showers and a hot tub! (Hostel Matiox (75Q/$13.65 AUD/10.50 USD) in a 6 bed female only dorm per person) We dumped our bags, walked 20 meters down the road to the nearest local place for food, ate and then collapsed into bed. Day one in Antigua and we knew that we would be meeting our friends Camilla and Matt after their volcano trek in the afternoon and also that David (a friend we met on a previous trip) would be around too. We had already arranged with Camilla and Matt that we would all be leaving the next day together to go to Lake Atitlan, which gave us 1 full day to explore. Our hostel offered a free walking tour that sounded like a good option to learn about the city (in hindsight the guide was a fellow backpacker that knew nothing about Antigua and this was a complete waste of time) so we signed up and arranged to meet Camilla, Matt and David at a bar later in the afternoon. Antigua is beautiful and Guatemala has done well to preserve it the way they have but it is very heavily tourist orientated and does not really feel like Guatemala at all. After a lovely few hours wandering around we met up with the others to discuss the plan for the next day. David helpfully shared with us that when he had been to Lake Atitlan he had ended up taking 4 buses when the journey only required 2. Armed with this knowledge we also got the woman who worked at our hostel to write down where we needed to change and what we needed to look out for. In the morning we arrived at Camilla and Matt’s guesthouse and set off together to the bus station. The first stage was fairly simple. We got on to the bus that had Chimaltenango (where we needed to change) written on the front and confirmed with the driver that we wanted to transfer to Panajachel. He kindly stopped in Chimaltenango where we needed to get off and change (not the end of the line). When we got off we confirmed with a local that this is where we could catch the bus and then sure enough a bus stopped about 10 minutes later asking us where we were going. Now, it didn’t have Panajachel on the front (mistake) but the bus conductor insisted that that was where this bus was heading. It wasn’t until the four of us were unceremoniously dumped off the bus at a non descript crossroads about an hour and a half later that we realised he had completely lied. We certainly weren’t anywhere we were supposed to be (or even anywhere close for that matter) and we now had to find another bus to take us where we originally wanted to go. It turned out that now we needed another 2 to get to the port to take our ferry to San Pedro…not ideal and certainly not the plan! Luckily this whole process only took 3 1/2hrs (and cost 34Q/$6.20 AUD/4.80 USD) and we were soon happily skimming across the sparkling waters of Lake Atitlan towards our final destination (25Q/$4.60 AUD/3.55 USD). Unfortunately for Camilla and Matt this was the second journey in a row where they had been outright lied to and ended up not taking the desired route. Luckily on this journey this had not put them in any danger unlike the last one that had diverted them through Guatemala City. On arrival in San Pedro Matt and I were put in charge of finding the accommodation for the group. A tout at the port was offering a good rate on rooms at Hotel Rolando, which had the most beautiful views of the lake and really decent double rooms with hot showers (again!) for only 100Q ($18.40 AUD/14.20 USD). After settling in we headed out for some food. In San Pedro, there are an abundance of tourist restaurants down on the water but we headed up the hill to near the local market where we stumbled upon a little comida (food house) where the loveliest old woman cooked us up a feast for 20Q ($3.65 AUD/2.80 USD) each which included rice, beans, salad, chicken for the 3 meat eaters and eggs for me and an endless stream of freshly made tortillas. It only took that one meal to ensure we would be returning every day for both breakfast and dinner! Stuffed full and ready for a beer we picked up a few bottles of Brahva (12Q/$2.20 AUD/1.70 USD each for 1 litre) and utilised our stunning balcony view and hammocks. We wanted to visit 2 other villages while we were on the lake so first we decided to check out the nearby San Juan (20Q/$3.65 AUD/2.80 USD return in a small commuter boat). San Juan is smaller than San Pedro and has a more chilled out vibe. It wouldn’t be difficult to see multiple villages on the lake in one day as after about 2 hours we had explored every street and every art gallery and shop San Juan had to offer. Matt wasn’t feeling well so we decided to take it easy in the afternoon and Dani and I being creatures of habit we headed back up the hill for dinner. San Marcos was on the schedule for our last day on the lake, which is slightly further away than San Juan but no more expensive to get to. San Marcos is quite different from the other villages we saw. Definitely the least Guatemalan of the 3, but the prettiest to wander around and look at. It has a very distinct western hippy vibe (read yoga classes, silent retreats, vegan restaurants and organic health food stores) but does feel like the gringos have taken over which is quite sad. Feeling refreshed from our 3 days at the lake it was time for the 4 of us to brave the long journey to Semuc Champey. As no local would ever feel the need to go from Lake Atitlan to Semuc, the only way to get between the 2 within a single day is to book a tourist shuttle (190Q/$34.90 AUD/26.90 USD), which is supposed to take around 8hrs. There are a couple of things that we learnt about this journey that in hindsight we would like to share! At all of the tourist agencies in town it is cheaper to book the shuttle to Lanquin (160Q/$29.40/22.65 USD), which is the nearest town to Semuc rather than all the way. Regardless of your decision to book to Lanquin or Semuc, your journey will be terminated in Lanquin as the road between the two is basically impassable in anything other than a 4x4. We were told we would go all the way to Semuc (just another little lie) but that was not the case and we were all told to alight in Lanquin. Save yourself the money and just book through to Lanquin. If you (like we were) are planning on staying in Semuc then all the hotels will have sent out pick up trucks to meet the shuttles and they are free for guests (including those who don’t have a reservation like us). Also, when they stop at McDonalds on the way in Coban it’s a good idea to grab food there or at the supermarket or across the road at the snack shacks, as we didn’t end up getting in to Semuc until 8.30pm having left our hotel at 6.30am. In Semuc Champey we stayed at El Portal, right at the entrance of the park and it is incredibly good value at 50Q ($9.20 AUD/7.10 USD)pp in the 6 bed dorm. There was a driver to meet the shuttle and we were able to negotiate this rate at the station. The ecolodge don’t allow any outside food so if you don’t want to pay the expensive hotel prices there are food stalls at the entrance of the park as well as a small local restaurant on the corner about 50m to the left of the entrance to El Portal which we can highly recommend at 20Q ($3.65 AUD/2.80 USD) a plate. Semuc Champey itself is absolutely beautiful and despite the 14hour journey there it felt worth it. Most people you meet along the gringo trail in Central America will tell you the same. This area seems to hold some kind of magic and within minutes of being there the stress of the long (frustrating) journey seems to melt away. For us it was being in the back of the pickup and looking up to see the clear night sky that took me right back to my childhood. It was also waking up and walking out onto the balcony of our dorm room to see the most stunning aquamarine coloured water rushing around the limestone boulders. This was before we’d even reached the park to be treated to the impressive sight that was the limestone bridge and pools we had actually come to see. We spent a few hours diving in and out of stunning pools and taking endless pictures. We didn’t really have any interest in caving while we were there, which is the other major draw of the area for tourists. On that basis we didn’t go on a tour or visit independently (both of which are options) but all hostels and hotels in both Lanquin and Semuc can organise tours (although these seemed pretty over priced to us). We knew that the next journey to Flores for the Mayan ruins in Tikal was going to be equally as long as the one from Atitlan to Semuc, so thought it best to head to Lanquin for the night to catch a shuttle from there for our onward journey. This is also a good way to save a bit of money, as the shuttles directly from Semuc are a lot more expensive than those from Lanquin. To get from Semuc back to Lanquin we all jumped in the back of one of the many pick ups doing the back and forth journey between the two places (20Q/$3.65AUD/$2.80USD per person). In Lanquin we managed to arrange a shuttle for 90Q ($16.65 AUD/12.85 USD) leaving the next morning at 8am. The journey started off really well with a friendly driver who spoke pretty good English. He asked us if we wanted to stop at the McDonalds in Coban that we had stopped in on the way in. As Camilla was starting to have some serious withdrawals from western food we agreed to a 20minute stop. It turned out that all shuttles seem to stop here as we watched people we recognised from our hostel in Lanquin pile off others that arrived. True to form we were back at the stop in 20 minutes ready to resume the ride. We watched as all the other groups piled in to their shuttles and took off with still no sign of our van or our driver. We stood there getting increasingly worried, then frustrated and finally angry as an hour passed with no sign of our driver or our luggage that was still in the shuttle. After 1 hour and 20 minutes later our driver rocked up told us he’d be leaving us there and handed us over to a new driver in the same van. No explanation about where he had been, no apology for being late or for worrying us, nothing. Guatemala was really starting to get under my skin and not in a good way. The journey continued towards Flores at a good pace and just when it looked as though we may be making up some time we came to a halt in to road. The queue we could see snaking around the corner was for a boat across the river we had reached. There is only one ‘boat’ powered by 4 speed boat engines to push a wooden platform loaded with cars and trucks across the river and it turned out we would be waiting for about an hour to get across. Had we not had such a long and painful time up until this point this may have been amusing but tired and hungry we just wanted to get to our final destination which was still 60 km from the other side of the river. We didn’t arrive in to Flores until after dark and this time, the reputed 7hour trip had taken us 10! Dani and Matt went in search of lodgings this time and managed to find us some simple yet acceptable double rooms at a place called La Canoa for 100Q ($18.40 AUD/14.20 USD) for a double, which had lake views from the terrace and was close to everything. We had factored in a day off the next day before heading off to camp in Tikal which we spent finding a decent supermarket, eating and organising the camping trip and transport to the site. There are almost endless options in relation to the times you can go and what you want included in terms of guides and added extras. It’s definitely worth shopping around though as fundamentally they are all offering the same services and the range in prices is vast! Having discussed it as a group, we decided that we didn’t actually need a guide and as we were going to be staying by the entrance to the park we didn’t need to pay the extra for early entrance at 4am instead of 6am when the gates officially open. Dani and I had agreed we only needed a single day in Tikal but Matt and Camilla wanted two, so we arranged that they would head out in the morning the next day and we would leave on the 12.00pm shuttle and meet them at the campsite. The shuttle to Tikal was late but did finally arrive at 12.30pm and took us to the park. We were camping at Jaguar Inn for 100Q ($18.40 AUD/14.20 USD) per person, which included the tent and all the camping gear. This was the most expensive place we had stayed in all of Guatemala so when the woman placed us in the tent with holes in it and no rain cover we weren’t particularly happy and quickly christened the tent El Crapo! We asked to move but they refused, until the tent started to fill with ants, at which point we demanded a better tent. Begrudgingly the manager moved us in to one of the nicer/newer tents that had been pitched, while telling us it was our fault as we must have left the tent flaps open…never mind the gaping holes in the mosquito netting as well as the wear marks that meant the grass poked through the floor of the tent! We met Matt and Camilla once they were done and we all hung out and chatted about their experience that day before an early night ready to explore the next morning. The whole point of sleeping there was to be able to get in to Tikal early to be able to spot the wildlife and we were not disappointed. Minutes after we woke up the howler monkeys started giving you the sense that you had awoken in Jurassic Park. The thunderous boom of their calls echoed through the surroundings in a way that truly let you know you were in nature! The park opens to general public at 6am so we were there ready to go then. Tikal is a pretty magical ruins and the deep jungle setting does give it something different to other Mayan Ruins. I would recommend heading to Temple 4 first to get a sense of the scale and beauty of Tikal first because we kind of felt like we were missing something until we gazed upon the complex from above the trees and were struck by the sheer scale and beauty of the place. It is also teeming with wildlife and if you pay attention you’ll also see the spider monkeys in the trees and the toucans fly past. You can easily spend 2 days wandering around but we found 6 hours a pretty good amount of time to spend to see the main highlights (this covers about 10km of walking) and by 12pm we were ready to head back to Flores. This timing worked out perfectly as there was a shuttle at 12.30pm to take us back…or so we thought. It turns out that although we had originally been told there was a shuttle at 12.30pm and it was written on our ticket, we had booked the only company that didn’t have a shuttle at 12.30pm that day and we would have to wait until 2pm. It was a little bit of the last straw with Guatemala for me really. We had been tossing up between heading straight to Belize from Flores, as it was so easy or taking the longer route via Rio Dulce and Livingston. Until that moment I had been leaning more towards Rio Dulce as we had met a couple during our travels in the Galapagos that had made it sound so wonderful but something snapped and I could not face having to travel through a country that so often lied to you to get your money and made things more difficult when you paid more money to go the easy route (just catch the chicken buses it’s less stressful). By 2pm I’d calmed down but we had made our decision to give ourselves another day in Flores to sort out ‘house-keeping’ things and then to head straight to San Ignacio in Belize. We got back to Flores around 3.30pm, spent one final night with Matt and Camilla before they moved on to Belize the next day and then carried out our day of banal organisation. Long term travel is rarely as glamorous as it seems! Ready to bid farewell to Guatemala we packed up and grabbed a mototaxi to the bus station (5Q/$0.90 AUD/0.70 USD) to catch a bus to the border. We were already aware that this should cost us about 30Q ($5.40 AUD/$4.15 USD) and after a little haggling we were able to get this price. The border crossing here is relatively straightforward and we were through within 15 minutes, having also changed money for a really good rate with the money-changers. There was a taxi waiting outside customs to take people to the bus station and as with most things we discovered in Belize had a set price of 15BZD ($9.90 AUD/7.50 USD). Looking back on Guatemala I/we’ve realised that it had some pretty wonderful things to offer. I can’t speak for Dani but I know while we were there I found it difficult to understand having just come from El Salvador (where most travellers skip) why people got stuck in Guatemala instead of carrying on. I think this may be because we are doing the trail backwards but if you are coming from Mexico, Guatemala somehow feels more “authentic” as well as cheap and accessible in comparison. Because we were travelling up, I think we found more authentic experiences in El Salvador and Honduras which were also cheaper and easier to get around and therefore did not feel the same warmth towards Guatemala as others do. I know I certainly found the people to be a lot less friendly or helpful but in saying that it really does have some wonderful experiences to offer. The volcanos, and lakes, limestone structures and Mayan ruins are all incredible and well worth visiting. LGBT: I felt the least comfortable in Guatemala when it came to being a couple. This wasn't due to any particular incident it was more a general feeling of conservatism in Guatemala that we hadn't felt in other parts of Latin America. There are no legal protections for the LGBT community however homoxsexuality was decriminalised in 1871 which is extremely progressive for such a religous country. There is still targeted violence in Guatemala and due to no anti-discrimination protection violence towards members of the LGBT community but especially the trans community violence is not considered a hate crime. Budget Time $$$In terms of budgeting, Guatemala was one of very few places in Latin America where we actually over spent slightly. Granted it really wasn’t by very much, but it was an overspend. Looking back on it this is likely to have been for a couple of reasons. Number one being that this was one of the only countries where taking money out of an ATM was not free anywhere! Before leaving to embark on this epic trip I spent months looking at all the different cards and accounts that we could get in Australia that would be beneficial for our travels (being the budgeter and money person in this travel partnership my role involves a lot more work before we actually get on the road). Unlike the USA there isn’t a huge amount of reward based variety and being a non-resident of Australia I was unable to apply for a credit card so this limited us even further. After extensive research I discovered that Citibank AU had an account that offered almost market level exchange rates at point of sale and ATMs and no ATM fee with any of their affiliate banks of which there are literally thousands all over the world. This meant that in the first 18 months of our travels we had paid about $10USD in total for all of our bank transactions across the world.
When we arrived in Guatemala, after trying literally EVERY ATM in Antigua, I discovered that this banking network had two main players and neither of them were affiliates of Citibank. This meant that it was going to cost 30Q ($4.30USD/$5.40AUD) every time I wanted to take out money…AND, to add insult to injury, there was a limit of 2000Q ($285USD/$360AUD) per withdrawal. On a $25USDpp/day budget, this would mean a minimum of three ATM transactions while in Guatemala. This might not seem like big deal given that totals less than $15USD, but it frustrated me massively as it was for this exact reason that I spent literally DAYS in Australia trawling the internet and various banking forums trying to find the best option! What I think made it feel worse as well was that from the very beginning Guatemala felt like a country that was going to be a bit of an unnecessary but unavoidable money pit and I did not appreciate the idea that not only would we have to pay over the odds for things, but we were going to have to pay for access to the money for the privilege of doing that! Anyway, apologies, I digress, that was financial issue number one. Financial issue number two was the necessity of utilizing massively over priced tourist shuttles in order to move ‘efficiently’ between locations. Unfortunately, because Guatemala is quite a large country and all of the places of interest as a visitor a fairly spread out, getting between them either has to be done on a shuttle or needs to be done in a sequence of days. While we were there we chose the former as the preferred option, in hindsight, given the inefficiency of most of these journeys, we probably would have chosen the latter. So, in Guatemala, it cost money to spend money and long distance transport was uncomfortably expensive, not a great combination. However, in general accommodation and food were not overpriced. On average we spent about 100Q ($15USD/$19.50AUD) per night on accommodation for both of us and food came in at about 20Q ($2.85/$3.60) per person per meal. Entrance to national parks and landmarks was reasonable but we did note that a lot of the organised tours seemed shockingly overpriced. This may have been due to us travelling at that start of the peak season but we did notice that the price quoted was rarely the final offer and there was quite a lot of negotiating room in most cases. Shopping around for shuttle tickets and excursions/tours is definitely worth the time and effort as you have the power to play all of the different companies off against each other! What it actually cost:$981.25 Accommodation: $293.52 Food: $224.36 Transport: $202.24 Drinks: $96.88 Entertainment: $73.53 Miscellaneous: $62.42 Souvenirs: $28.31 This works out at $37.71 AUD per person per day
1 Comment
Matt “fingers” Kitching
24/2/2018 09:54:50 am
Well, hello from Colombia my good friends. Firstly you were both right, we absolutely love Colombia! Even though now after losing fingers phone and bankcard in less than two weeks we feel doomed!
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