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Guatemala
  • Brian Schild
  • Dilay Türe
Jan – Feb 2023

Guatemala

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  • Trip start
    January 31, 2023
  • Guatemala

    Guatemala City Scooter ride

    February 2, 2023 in Guatemala

    Jarrimg ride hrough the cobble streets of Antigua ... little stop by the traffic police ... a bit of haggling about the penalty for not wearing helmets... no penalties... back to Antigua... getting helmets and off to Guatemala City ...

    Stopping at Decathlon X what is NOT Decathlon and nothing about cheap and good quality but rather just expansive ...

    In Guatemala City we finally found an area that seems worth and save enough to park and walk around. First district... shopping street...food market - very big food market ...and down the noisy road to the coffee district (4th district) ... having a nice black coffee and finally after 24hours fasting first food at the market - fantastic tacos with Guacamole and fajitas 🥑🌮🫘 + some fresh fruits and berries from the market...

    At the right back another short chat with the traffic police for driving into a one way street and than up the mountain to Hobbington, where they built a lovely retreat in Hobbit style.

    Last ride down the steep slopes and dinner at the food market in Antigua...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Acatenango trial

    February 3, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Toury tour to the Vulcano "Acatenango" - what could possibly go wrong? 🤪
    Tour start: 9am ... in theory... we leave around 10:30 with a dozen other tourists to stop somewhere to get equipped with "suitable" hiking clothes... continuing to the starting point of the hike where already 50 other tourists waiting to accompany us in a long and slow line up the Vulcano...
    weather was cloudy with continuous rain ... we stopped every 30min to "recover" till we had a lunch pause at around 3260m after an 816m ascent but Dilay didn't feel very well and with the prospective of no view at all and a night at the rainy top in the clouds with the only attraction around being hundreds of other tourists we decided to go back and get a crep instead 🤪 ...
    ... and we got a couple of creps 😜 ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Antigua to El Paredón

    February 4, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    A bit of Goliaz in the morning ... coffee and tacos for lunch and off with the Shuttle to the beach "vamos a la playa" ⛱️🐚🦀🩴🏖️

    Right to the beach for some Goliaz 💚😜 and Spanish tapas dinner and beers at the hotel bar 🍻Read more

  • Guatemala
    1

    El Paredón01

    February 5, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    First thing first jogging in the morning along the shoreline... exploring the village... actually a very short trip 😜 ... not to much to see though... a coffee at a super small café and some local fruit shopping...

    ... a bit of more sport in the evening and dinner time ☺️ ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    El Paredón to San Pedro

    February 7, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    The sunny weather, waves and chilled vibes makes you lazy... schedule is breakfast, coffee and shuttle to San Pedro... little stroll into town ... actually not to much to see but the smell of Tuktuks and garbage and the noisy choreography of engines, dog barking and backpackers partying doesn't make a good composition for a silent night 🤪Read more

  • Guatemala

    Lake Atitlán - San Pedro to San Marcos

    February 8, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    First thing I the morning ... scorpion in the bed ...

    After checking the internet for toxicity and getting rid of the little fella a slow run was on the schedule ... there was probably some contaminated food, which the stomach doesn't like to much ...

    .... we got a "scooter" from the hostel ... no mirrows, no helmets, no light but one of the breaks did work a bit 😅 ... we mad it to San Marcos, which is a little retreat village for Yohi- hugging-hippies - no disrespect here friends 🤪. The ride was short and after about 10km we walked through the narrow alleys getting spoiled with touristy/hippie/guatemalian souvenirs...what was actually kind of nice ...

    ... really exceptional was the food - fantastic veggie stuff with loads of avocado and unknown stuff in it but taste was fantastic - so were the coffee/chai/cappuccino mixes 😍 ...

    ... ad the scooter didn't want to restart we decided to go for a little concert connecting ourselves to water and mother BUT to be honest the music was good - even though we felt a bit in a kind of Woodstock for pseudo hippies ✌️ ....

    ... back by Tuktuk, got chased by a pack of hounds and forgot that we don't have enough cash to pay the driver...did a transaction to his banc account though the next morning....    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Atitlan - San Pedro-San Juan-Panajachel

    February 9, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    ... checking the connection to the next destination in the morning makes own thing clear ... there is non today... after paying our debts to the Tuktuk driver we decided to do a tour to a coffee collective... that was actually pretty nice ... we asked through the coffee plants, learned about the different types they are growing, the procedure of coffee making and the work of the collective....

    ... and since that was so nice we took our chance for a little stroll through San Juan, where we came across a honey bee collective which invited us for another tour 😊 ... after more knowledge and some honey tasting (and some honey for journey) we continued to the colourful markets down to the docks where we got some guatemalian souvenirs and the boat back to San Pedro...

    ... right in time for lunch in an Israeli restaurant... apparently there are quite a lot of Jews in San Pedro ... what adds even more nice food to the already wide possibilities ☺️ ...

    ... and at 4pm a boat to the other side of the lake to Panajachel, where we found ... More Markets and more souvenirs 😅 ... after we are now culturally camouflaged in ponchos we got some cocktails at the lake side and tacos, plátanos, a hot banana drink and a couple of cakes at the street... gratis stories in half Mayan/half Spanish included ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Panjachal - Lanquin

    February 10, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    at 7:15 we were supposed to be at the bus station, at 8:30 the bus finally arrived and around 9am we were back at our hostel which we left at 7am to pick up the last tourists 👍...

    ...2 stops on the way and an ATM didn't spit out our money so maybe we just lost a bunch ...

    ... arriving at Lanquin hostel "El retiro Lodge" was nice though... we checked in for dinner, did some workout before and had a good night of sleep 😴    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Semuc Champey

    February 11, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    ... 11km to the pools was a good opportunity to go for a run ... the pools itself were amazing, very beautiful for a swim and a walk around the natural bassins, around 1pm it started to rain heavily and the way back on the ramp of a pick-up was semi exciting in the rain while we were waiting around an hour for the construction workers to let us pass through...

    ... we had some workouts left, which was perfect to get warm again after the wet ride ... tacos, with loads of Guacamole and salad as a reward and the rest of the evening just chilling, chatting and waiting for dinner 😁, which was very good again ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Lanquin to Flores

    February 12, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    ... waking up and right to the last Goliaz workouts of the week ... it was horrible 🤣 ... but in expectance of the 10 hours bus ride ahead acceptable ...

    ... food at the bus stops are wrapped tremendously in plastic ... nothing one would normally buy ... we got a bad coffee instead 😂 ... still had bananas and a white chocolate from the day before 😁 ...

    ... a little run around the island ... it's actually very small and bigger parts of the outer layer are already under water ...

    ... dinner in an interesting environment at "Bistro Puertas del Cielo" ... it's not often that you don't get a menu offered but the waiter akses you instead for your name and where are you from and tells you what they have ... but the food was actually amazing ... to round it up we got some crepes on the way back 🤪 ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Flores

    February 13, 2023 in Guatemala

    ... another morning another run ... still trying to get a car I made my way through the city and the park ... both not worse it ... city itself is loud and dirty ... same accounts for the park - less loud though ... dogs are always a problem ... some of them are just chilling at the sidewalk but as soon as they are I packs they are getting cocky ... one encounter with two mongrels was enough but the 5 bulldogs in the recreation area were a bit over the top ... ah yeah and we still couldn't rent a car because it was not available and I some lost my credit card somewhere 😅 ...

    ... ok lunch than at "Maracuja" restaurante was fantastic ... I enjoyed another coffee while Dilay explored the island and surroundings via Kayak ...

    ... a little stroll in the evening and back to Maracuja for dinner with some company we met already in Semuc Champey ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Flores to Rio Dulce

    February 14, 2023 in Guatemala

    ... first thing in the morning - pharmacy and antibiotics ... the stomach problems I had for now around one week got worse and I felt miserabel ... Dilay had a meeting and at 11am we catched the bus to Rio Dulce ...

    ... I kept on sleeping what was a pity since the place in the mangroves seemed very lovely ...
    ...

    ... and I missed a splendid zucchini soup accompanied with a blackout and candle light 🤪 ...    Read more

  • Guatemala
    1

    Rio Dulce to Livingston

    February 15, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Dilay started the day diligently working while I took a longer rest ... felt better though after 15h sleeping ...

    ... around 10am we catched the boat to Livingston with some lagoon stops with beautiful water lilies, birds and guanas ...

    .... after check-in we went to the "beach" which was basically a landfill for the next 5km ... shops at the were half closed because of the heat - kind of siesta manner - at least what we thought. ... so we decided to go back to the hostel and do our workout in the tropical heat ...

    ... as we went for another stroll to the market around 8pm we figured that everything was closed ... we weren't able to riddle the circumstances of closed shops during daytime and barricaded shops during night time - what are the shops for? 🧐 ...

    ... on the way back we stopped at a little African style restaurant with some life drum beats and dance interludes ...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Livingston to Rio Dulce

    February 16, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    ... uncertainty in the morning but after a coffee in the hammock - the way every day actually should start 😁 - we decided to go for a chocolate tour, which was definitely the right decision ... IF you ever go to Livingston do the cacao tour with Ninet - you need to understand Spanish though or at least one of you ...

    ... we got an extended tour through the garden with plenty of different fruit trees, which was already nice by its own ... and than straight into chocolate making - a skill every human being should possess 🤪 -
    We checked the different trees, got the beans, skipped the fermentation since we didn't have 2 weeks to stay and went straight to the roasting and grinding - well and eating and drinking 😁 - after we squeezed the chocolate paste a couple of times through the press we got a nice sick paste which would go to the fridge and become a chocolate bar ...

    ... after that successful morning we took our boat back in direction to Rio Dulce and spend another night in the mangroves surrounded by the sounds of nature and boat engines roaring all night long as if we were sleeping just next to a highway ...

    ... but food and accommodation was nice and we managed to finish another strenuous workout session ...    Read more

  • Guatemala
    Go Beyond CoWor-Kafé ... if you ever pass by Rio Dulce pay a visit to that Café 🙏

    Rio Dulce - El Paraíso - Flores

    February 17, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    ... coffee in the morning ☕ ....
    ... boat to Rio Dulce at 9am ...
    ... chicken bus to "El boquerón" canyon ... a silent boatsman shipped as the 200m through the canyon were we stranded due to a language misunderstanding of "you can spend there 20min and you can go and walk for 20min" so we ended up having enough time for our daily workout and a swim ...

    ... back on the chicken bus and just 10min later into the hot springs of "El paraíso" ... perfectly temperatured waterfalls of around 40°C flushing from the rocks into the river ... a natural spa a la carte ... after a mud therapy and a short ride back we got some food in the " Go Beyond CoWor-Kafé" and ...

    ... waited ... bus was supposed to come at 4:30pm but wouldn't show up before 7:30pm ... the ride was incredible uncomfortable ... the AC was set on freezer, every hour a stop and a visit from the police, lights on/off all the time ... we arrived at 0:30am in Flores and prepared our backpacks for the jungle...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    El Mirador - no Mirador - Tikal

    February 18, 2023 in Guatemala

    ... wake-up after 3 hours of non consistent sleep, giving a hug to Daniel who came down from Mexico to join for our great adventure to El Mirador. Jungle, animals, adventure and no lack of maladies were in the frame of our expectations ...

    ... leaving Flores into the north around 4:30pm we just arrived at a military checkpoint on the road ... while the commander had no issue to let us continue the elderly ranger in charge proclaimed religiously that we need a packe but it's no problem we can just go back to Flores buy a package for 400€/person and come back for a full 5 days trip another time and like that we don't need to go so fast and get a chef and some horses to carry out stuff ... after 10-15min trying to explain that there really exists a world outside of these packages I understood ... I could as well talk to a tree ... after we did some rounds in our merry-go-round game of "you just buy a package and get carriers, a chef, a guide and can walk slow" and "I don't won't horses carrying my stuff a cook preparing my meals and a guide leading me through the only and very obvious path and I really really don't have 5 days!" - I just ... gave up ...

    ... we turned the car and drove back into the sunrise ... after Daniel raised our mood with toast and marmelade we decided to make the best out of it and headed to TIKAL ...

    ... right at the entrance we encountered a group of coaty mundis ... payed our entrance fee and explored the excavation sides ... for an hour at least ... till we recognised the oppressive heat, lack of food and water and the rare sleep from last night made it not very enjoyable to work through piles of stones...

    ... we fell asleep in the gras after some tee surrounded by tourists and ancient pyramids...

    ... after our little nappy we decided to get a guide - what is a very good idea if you want to learn something about sone piles ... after some walky walky and a bunch of explanation we had another tee right at the top of the biggest pyramid while everyone else gathered at another pyramid to watch the sunset we had the rest of the park for ourselves...

    ... after we spotted some howler monkeys we got some local food and pitched our tent at the camp side next to TIKAL ...
    .    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Yaxhá

    February 19, 2023 in Guatemala

    ... after the diesel engine of the camping ground started its music around 6:30 we slowly and uncomfortably packed our stuff together and made our way out to the entrance to buy another ticket for Uaxactún, which is another excavation side in the north. Important you don't buy the ticket there or on the intersection to it ... you buy it 15km down the road ... arriving at the ticket counter we got some known marmelade toast with tortillas and avocado plus coffee and chocolate ... stomachs filled and brains fueled we decided to don't drive back for 2 hours but go directly to Yaxhá, which is another excavation side - apparently the Maya have been very diligent here ...

    ... we arrived around noon and enjoyed an almost empty park like area with pyramids digged out, birds and howler monkeys orchestrating in the covering canopies ... fantastic ... relaxing ...

    ... dinner at a restaurant close to the entrance ... a nice good night tee and we stayed at the campsite next to the neighbouring lake without the canopy of the tent under a beautiful firmament of infinity...    Read more

  • Guatemala

    Day of Desastres

    February 20, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    ... after a little run around the pyramids with Daniel and some walls in-between we started our morning together with Capser🇵🇱 who needed a ride to Tikal ... we stopped somewhere - really just randomly somewhere and got an instant coffee and some tortillas in a shop ... we left Casper at the intersection to Tikal and continued to Crater Azul ...

    ... where we never arrived ... on one of the curves to Las Cruzes, just 15km before our goal the fulminating rain converted the dirt road into a slide and loosing control over the vehicle a solitary tree stopped our departure sideways down and probably even our tendency for a flip over ... would is apparently very hard compared to the vehicle body ...

    ... after we checked that nobody was hurt we called the car rental with the help of many locals who stopped by and decided to drive the car back to the office ... the engine worked fine - the major damage was at the body ...

    ... little problem we booked the full cover insurance via Expedia so we needed to pay in advance ... around 18.000€ 🥴 ... but non of our credit cards was suitable to pay those large amounts at ones so we left our passports with the car rental and went back to Flores, while Daniel mobilised his family to extend his credit card limits we sent him some grants 🤪 ...

    ... after the shock and some hours at the car rental we got a bit more relaxed over tacos, burgers and cocktails ... we let the day end on a terrace in our accommodation accompanied by some nice tee 💚    Read more

  • Guatemala

    San Miguel I

    February 21, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    ... ok last days in Guatemala ... we decided to book a flight back to Guatemala City instead of spending 12h+ in a night bus ... so we had time to checkout relaxed, spoiled us with breakfast and cappuccinos and booked our last night on the opposite side of Flores on the peninsula of San Miguel ...

    ... one of the nicest hostels of the trip because it was calm 🤪 ... we chilled either at the pool or having a siesta or running through the jungle - guess who did what 😁 ... met again for dinner which was very good as well ... fish with veggies, salad and fruits and a nice restful night ...    Read more

  • Guatemala
    1

    San Miguel II

    February 22, 2023 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    .... relaxed coffee in the morning, some hours at the beach of the lake ⛱️ a bit of sport, a short hike and packing our stuff and we went again for a blowout to Maracujas restaurant ... after a bowl, salad and smoothies we were ready to get rid of all the money on our bank accounts and went to the car rental to pay for the damage ... let's hope Expedia doesn't cause us any problems ... a last hug for Daniel, who has some more month to spend... and finally starting the journey home ...Read more

  • Guatemala

    Houston 🤠

    February 23, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    ... first three hours of the night on a chair or floor ... than security control a macha latte and some gate changing later we were in our airplane to Houston ...

    ... with a 6 hours stopover in Houston we decided to go and get a once-over of Texas. "Old Town Spring" was the suggested places after we got free water and an explanation how Google works - one helpful guy even checked the weather forecast for us so we were sure to be save from hurricanes or/and overheating ...

    ... after a short Uber ride we rocked up at a pretty nice place with different stores and shops from countries all over the world ... Turkish, German, Dutch, English, Brazilian and Co were all right at the spot mixed in between the local Texan stores ... after a lemon cake and some fudge for the way - and a joss stick chimney 🤪 - we got back to the airport right in time to get a Texan burger 🍔 and to get our seats in the next plane ...

    ... after we left Flores at 8pm/22.02 we arrived after 3 flights, a train, a Blabla car and another train back home 🏠 8pm/24.02 ... long trip but worth it ☺️😉 ...

    ... and still ... to short 😜 ...    Read more

    Trip end
    February 23, 2023
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