seekingmygreaterperhaps

Well, I almost made it with keeping up with my travel blog whilst traveling, until I didn’t. So alas, this post comes months after I visited, but let that not stop me from telling you about the rest of my time in Guatemala!

Antigua is high up on the bucket list for most travelers visiting Guatemala, and with good reason. It is a stunning colonial city with a lot of food options. When originally doing my research, everyone seems to climb Mt. Acatenango. It’s a grueling hike, you sleep at the top, and then see the sunrise from above the clouds, and it looks beautiful. I… didn’t do it. I’m still fighting a lingering foot injury, and in recent history when I have done a really hard hike by myself, I didn’t enjoy it. I love traveling solo for the most part, but when I’m uncomfortable physically, I’m not at my best form to make new friends. When I went to Peru last year and hiked at altitude, I remember it being really challenging. I’d like to think I’m growing in my interests and am proud for not falling into the internet/ travel blogger pressure of doing it. I talked with other people who did it, and (remember, I traveled in the rainy season) said it was cloudy and they couldn’t see anything the entire time. The bed at the hostel I stayed in was easily the most comfortable hostel bed I have ever slept it, so I’ll take that over a tent on a high altitude mountain. (Shout out to Casi Casa!).

Of course, I did a free walking tour in Antigua, and loved wandering about the colonial streets and seeing the old buildings. Everything is relatively low to the ground because of possible earthquakes, or volcano eruptions! In the top left picture, you’ll see Guatemala’s first public laundry! We also stopped at the Jade museum because Jade is harvested in Guatemala. Guatemala also have a “lilac jade” that is only found here.

I had lunch at ^ this restaurant, and it was my favorite meal in Antigua. The restaurant is called “La Cuevita de Los Urquizu” and you get to pick your main and sides- everything was so tasty!

Speaking of food- I also did a food walking tour, and it ended up being just me! I love when this happens because I still get to support a local tour guide, and get to have personalized food recommendations. (I hope the guides like it too….) It is so helpful to have someone to point out exactly what things are in a street market, and help me identify which stalls are good vs which ones to skip.

My Central American tour was essentially a long food tour, and I have no regrets. My last day in Guatemala, I did a “DIY Chocolate Bar” experience at the ChocoMuseum. I had a feeling I would be utterly exhausted after my day at Tikal and booked something easy. It was a delightful experience and it went through the stages from bean to bar, and I made my own chocolate bar to take home. Unfortunately, my Willy Wonka fantasies turned out to be just that… I am terrible at combining flavors into a chocolate bar. I’ll leave it to the experts and buy theirs, but it was a fun afternoon!

These ice cream “trucks” really delighted me. Many people take “chicken buses” as a form of travel between cities, and the ice cream carts are modeled after them.

Now, why am I putting Antigua and Tikal in the same blog post? They are quite far away from each other. It goes back to when I was sitting in Brasilia doing my research. I had booked a flight and a hostel in Flores, ready to spend 2 nights so I could spend 1 day in Tikal. The next morning I woke up and my flight was cancelled. Hmm. Odd. So I go to buy another ticket, and the prices are 3x as much. The flight I had booked? Still available, just much more expensive. My idea of going to Tikal was getting a little bit more complicated. So I cancelled my hostel and thought I would save it for something to come back for. Or so I thought- but then I found a company called TikalGo that would organize everything straight from Antigua. Did it seem just a little too good to be true? Yes. Was I willing to give it a shot? Also yes. I paid the money and let them take care of it, and was SO happy that I did! It made for a very long day of being awake for about 22 hours, but Tikal is incredible. TikalGo drove me from my hostel in Antigua, booked a flight for me in Guatemala City > Flores and back. Included the tour of Tikal and the lunch at the restaurant inside the park. Drove me back from the airport and delivered back to my comfy hostel bed. It was definitely worth it, and I highly recommend them.

Now, let’s see what the hype is:

Standing in front of the Jaguar Temple, the most famous landmark from Tikal. Tikal was one of the most powerful cities during the Classic Maya period, spanning over 575 square kilometers, with thousands of structures, including some of the tallest pre-Columbian buildings in the Americas. It is located in the legitimate middle of the jungle, and it is sweaty walking around.

When we had free time, I roamed around the area and found myself surprisingly alone for how busy it was in front of the Jaguar Temple. If you ever find yourself in Tikal, definitely explore some of the surrounding buildings. It was like something from a storybook.

Tikal was mysteriously abandoned around the 9th century AD, likely due to environmental factors, warfare, or political collapse. It was rediscovered by explorers in the 19th century, largely hidden by the dense Guatemalan jungle. Our guide said that the Mayans at Tikal had found themselves changing the climate. You can see it when you visit that the jungle had been taking over the structures. When it was discovered, they had to literally dig out the structures and temples. But restoration has been slow because the more they dig up, the more the climate changes and the temperature increases. It was reminiscent of my trip to Easter Island. Y’all we have historic examples of what happens when people don’t respect the geography of a place. We should learn a little bit before our earth becomes inhabitable.

This was a sport field. This would come back up when I went to a museum in Mexico City and I got to watch a video re-enactment of people playing either this game or one similar to it.

Something to note- you CAN climb up many of the temples. You’re not climbing on the actual ancient stones, but they’ve built wooden structures around them to protect the buildings. It is a LOT of steps. My legs were jello after a day at Tikal, but I’m also not going to not climb up to the top?

Fun fact: Tikal’s iconic Temple IV appeared as a Rebel base in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope in 1977. (Click the link and you’ll see the exact spot I’m standing in!)

The top of the Temple IV was the highest one that we climbed, and it was worth the view at the top. When I made it to the bottom, there was a guy selling ice cold coca-cola in a glass bottle. That’s the best $1 I spent in Guatemala.

I loved all the colors of Guatemala. I know I didn’t even scratch the surface of what this magnificent country has to offer, but I’m happy with what I did explore. 🙂