Trip to Guatemala - Travel journal in the Mayan land

Antigua is one of the main tourist destinations in Guatemala - an almost inevitable stop on your ways east or north. We enjoyed this little sleepy town full of old churches ruins, paved alleys and a volcano at each street corner. But be prepared to see more tourists than locals when rain season is over …

Where from: Guatemala Ciuada
How: tourist shuttle from the airport, $10 for a 45mn ride. Quite (very!) expensive, but a good way to quickly get out of Guatemala city without even passing by the city center. Otherwise, chicken bus for less than $1.

• Antigua

We spent in Antigua our first and last days in Guatemala - and they were very different. The raining season wasn’t officially finished when we arrived, and the quiet city wasn’t full of tourists - a few backpackers, a live market, school boys and girls in the central park, this little town is charming. You evolve in paved streets, you cross old ruined churches, streets are lined with colorful colonial houses.

When we came back to Antigua, the raining season was over - and the peace with it ! Cars of tourists, not backpackers, but the other ones. Entire families cruising down the streets, crowds storming down in the charming restaurants, …. A less enjoyable experience.

• Pacaya

We booked a trip to a local volcano, the Pacaya, still active. I tried a few travel agencies, looking for the tour with the less registered tourists. It’s THE volcano to see around Antigua, as it’s easy to access, doesn’t require trekking skills, and can be done in a day - sure enough: it’s crowded. Early morning, we wake up and go wait in front of the agency, as instructed. A cab is supposed to pick up our small group (we are 5) and bring us to the volcano. We wait, and wait, and wait. The cab finally shows up, we hop in, the cab starts up, drives 50m to the end of the street, turns left, makes another 50m and stops in front of a chicken bus full of tourists. Oh crap.
1 hour driving south to the volcano where we arrive around 9am. The group, around 50 people, start trekking up the mountain for the 2 to 3 hours walk. It quickly splits into two smaller groups, and we take the lead. We arrive at the crest and discover a breathtaking view of the Pacaya, as well as other surrounding volcanoes. Amazing. We stumble down to the crater to see live magma, and it’s impressive: from 10 feet away, after a few seconds, your skin start burning like hell, your eyes dry, and you have to retreat.
We have lunch in the crater, beautiful landscape, and then head back to the town, where we arrive at 3pm. We’ve seen the volcano, we’ve seen the city extensively, let’s leave ! We hesitate between various destinations, and finally settle on Chichicastenango. If we make it this afternoon, we’ll see the market tomorrow !

Where to next: Chichicastenango

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