Antigua Guatemala and beyond

On July 23rd we arrived in Antigua Guatemala, considered one of the most beautiful colonial cities in Latin America. Despite the many well-preserved colonial vestiges, what is immediately noticeable as a disturbing effect here is the unusually high number of tourists. There are tourists everywhere, of all kinds, from baby boomers staying in luxury hotels, to traditional backpackers, girls dressed in tights no matter the situation, or even strange looking people in search of spiritual enlightenment. The entire city lives off tourism and, unfortunately, from our point of view, the wonderful colonial city has lost its authenticity despite the monuments and history it has. The prices charged in the shops and restaurants in the city have nothing to do with Guatemala, in the bars or terrace cafes you can barely see locals, because they cannot afford to pay more for a coffee than in Italy. After two nights spent at a campsite we decided to move on...

The road from Antigua to the famous archaeological site of Tikal, located in northern Guatemala, although on Google Maps it is given as 579 km/12 hours, cannot be covered faster than in two days of continuous driving. The road crosses the capital of the country, Ciudad de Guatemala, a city whose dense traffic keeps you busy for about three hours. But further, the road that connects the south to the north of the country is represented by a road with only two lanes of traffic, a road that winds through the mountains. We spent the night twice on the way and finally we reached Flores (an important tourist town located about 30 km from Tikal) and then to Tikal...Baca lagi