Surfcrest
February 14th, 2014, 13:52
Guatemala Travelogue, Part 3 тАЬGuateтАЭ Guatemala City
Guatemala тАУ Land of Eternal Spring
A six part travel article on Guatemala, Central America
Part 1 The Peten and Tikal
Part 2 Livingston and the Rio Dulce
Part 3 GuateтАж.Guatemala City
Part 4 Lake Atitlan & The Highlands
Part 5 La Antigua
Part 6 Monterrico and the black sand beaches of Pacific Coast
The boat back to the mainland took us to Puerto Barrios, the main artery from the Caribbean port to Guatemala City. Our original plan was to stop a third of the way down the highway, get off the bus and cross the border into Honduras to see the magnificent Mayan site of Copan. The great Hieroglyphic stairway tells the story, block by block of the history of the Copan dynasties and their role in the complete chronicles of the once great Mayan empire. Unfortunately my partner is under the weather from some Tapado he may have eaten back in Livingston and now only wants to get back to the city. It isnтАЩt an easy climb out of the hot Caribbean basin into the mountains of the Central Highlands. The massive Volcan Agua is just off from the city to the south and right next door to that and closer to the city is the active Volcan Pacaya.
[attachment=12:qxejivwo]Copan.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
You have to climb over the mountain ridge to begin descending into the valley where the central zones of the city are crammed in around the more affluent zones near the airport. This is where cityтАЩs small Zona Rosa begins and where the middle to upper class of the city live. ThereтАЩs a lot of city crammed in the valley here, including the airport that is built on the only flat spot on the top of a mountain ridge, well within the city limits. One of the thrills is coming in by air and seeing how close we come to the tops of buildings, gliding just above 5a Avenida and La Reforma or from the other direction, how close we come to the edge of the mountain with the end of runway.
[attachment=0:qxejivwo]guatemalteco (1).jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The neighborhood around La Aurora airport is fairly safe these days and this is where most of the middle to upper class live, including the Zona Rosa, the shopping districts including a few gay or open minded establishments in the area. ItтАЩs a neighborhood of old outdated 70тАЩs malls and strip malls. All the big hotel chains are there as well as some American chain restaurants, side by side with GuatemalaтАЩs champion of fast food chicken; тАЬPollo CamperoтАЭ. IтАЩve stayed there when IтАЩve had an early flight out the next day, but I definitely prefer the feel of the downtownтАжdespite it being quite a bit more edgy. I'll come out this way if I need to buy something, a nice gift, furniture or supplies for the house, to visit the museum or to have dinner with local friends. I lived in Antigua for the better part of a year back in the early 90тАЩs and I've since bought a house in Antigua and so have collected a lot of friends from the city that I know from Antigua. IтАЩve also adapted a bit of a тАЬchapinтАЭ dialect that allows me to fit in easily enough here without drawing any attention, without too many strangers asking where I'm from and allows me to blend in inconspicuously which has come in quite handy, especially during the dangerous and tricky exploits my Swedish friend and I took into El Salvador during their war.
[attachment=14:qxejivwo]Zone10 InGuatemalaCityF.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
But on this trip we are coming into the city by bus from the Caribbean and Puerto Barrios. ItтАЩs a blistering hot day outside and we are on a coach that had been climbing out of the humid Caribbean region into the Highlands for the past two hours. The bus had to shut the air con down to just conserve enough power for the steep climb up, as the bus winds it's way into the mountains. The outer barrios of the city are draped like a giant throw rug over the upper slopes of the city sprawl. Some of these are cheap shanty towns made of plywood and tin and no match for the brutally cold night winds they get way up here. The bus takes us down into the valley, right into Zona 4, one of the last few dangerous parts of the city. I move us quickly from the bus into a cab and away we go on a short trip to the city center, Zona 1. My partner suggested while we are here that we check out a famous sink hole in the area until people start punching the windows of the cabтАжand he thinks twice about the idea.
[attachment=13:qxejivwo]guatemala-city-sinkhole.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
We are staying in an old favorite of mine the Pan American Hotel. I love hotel for being traditionally authentic in a Guatemalan way, the Mayan staff and most of all the Guatemalan menu, such as chiles rellenos, black beans and real corn tortillas served steamed under towels. There arenтАЩt many cattle in Guatemala and so beef, if itтАЩs any good is probably going to be imported and expensive compared to the usual fare. The Guatemalans do great things with chicken and fish, especially along the lakes and by the Pacific Coast. Rice and pasta, mixed in a Central American way, like in a Ceviche sauce and remotely Thai. I love Guatemalan food, especially some of the national Mayan dishes. Out in the streets, fires in barrels cook up Quesadillas for about a dime each and Tacos, while not as spicy as those from their northern neighbor are also delicious and cheap. Now a day, modern hip restaurants are springing up everywhere as the cityтАжmixed in with the traditional places that have never changed with white shirts and black bow tie service.
[attachment=2:qxejivwo]a020.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo] [attachment=1:qxejivwo]a021.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
By the time we got to the hotel, I decided to call down for the house doctor to come up and prescribe something for my partner. The cost was cheap and so rather than venture out into the more interesting parts of the city with me and my camera, he decided to stay home with the fine comforts of the hotel.
[attachment=10:qxejivwo]rsz_160.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Our hotel and the Plaza Mayor is right in the center of Zone 1, with the Government buildings, the Cathedral. A few blocks down from the square Police Station..a building too that has seen its share of bullets coming out of its windows at the тАЬenemies of the stateтАЭ. In the early nineties, death squads would emerge at night and murder any of the hundreds of street kids that were visible to their guns. It was a violent city back then, I canтАЩt begin to explain all of the crazy things I saw back thenтАжbut the country has matured and in all fairness the violence is relatively isolated now. ThereтАЩs an annual demonstration happening in the streets along 5a Avenida to Plaza Mayor and back along 7a Avenida to La Reforma. I stop to take a few photos, which has a few people excited at first until I begin to cheer along with their cause and walk with them for a bit.
[attachment=11:qxejivwo]rsz_559.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The youth in the city are just finding themselves now and more and more Guatemala is sheding its machisimo attitudes and allowing homosexuality to slowly edge its way into the modern social fabric. There have always been gay saloons or pubs in Zona 1 and I believe there may still even be an old bathhouse or two still functioning. When I lived down here many years ago, this is what attracted me to the city on weekendsтАжwhere IтАЩd stay at the Swiss Hotel for a few bucks a night and hope to meet some hot Mayan boy.
[attachment=7:qxejivwo]rsz_1maya_man.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Like any Latin American city, the Plaza Mayor is the central focal point to Zona 1. With the beautiful Cathedral to one side and the government buildings directly in front, facing the square. I take a break from the parade to sit in the park and to take a few photos. There are a few snipers on the roof of the Presidential offices besides the Government buildings and a herder takes his small herd of goats between the two buildings, despite the lack of nay green space in this area. The city down here has always had that charm.
Guatemala City is so very different today. I great deal of the architecture that made this City happened in the 70тАЩs and the 80тАЩs in the downtown zones and is continuing today as the City spreads into zones 10 and beyond. It can only spread so much further, limited by the mountains, the volcanos and the steep slope to the Pacific.
[attachment=9:qxejivwo]rsz_162.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
There are beautiful old parks in the city center. The botanical gardens near the natural history museum and the La Torre del Reformador is popular with the young student crowd, especially in the afternoon. The older expat community you are more likely to see up town at Condordia Park and like any Latin American City, Sunday Night is the night to come out and see the peopleтАж.and hanging out at the park is the thing to do. I was surprised to see young kids openly smoking pot now in the parks and the streetsтАжagain a sharp contrast to the days when the police made kinds vanish for fun.
[attachment=3:qxejivwo]146.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo] [attachment=4:qxejivwo]154.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The economy is still struggling down here. The main streets close down at night at street markets selling junk plastic, junk bootleg stuff, crappy clothes, cheap underware..but itтАЩs fun to walk out at night to see the young street gangs roaming up and down the streets showing off how cute they must think they look in nearly plastic like clothing. The military passes by from time to time, walking the beat in groups of 4, automatic weapons to their chest. Occasionally they exchange words with the gangs or street shop ownersтАжsome pushing happens, the military make their point.
[attachment=8:qxejivwo]rsz_158.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The Popul Vuh Museum in the south of the city is an interesting visit to see what Mayan artifacts havenтАЩt been carted way to New York, Washington and Europe already. Guatemala, of course is the heart of the ancient Mayan world and the heart of where the last greatest concentration of Mayan people still exist. Every Mayan person in Guatemala is identified by where they come from by how they dress and Guatemala City being a melting pot for those without work is a collage of peoples of different colors, some seasoned and miserable from being away from their homelands and others wide eyed as they enter the city for the first time.
[attachment=6:qxejivwo]256New.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Guatemala City is the third capital city for the country, the first тАЬViejoтАЭ was built at the base of Volcan Agua by the Spanish in the time of the Conquest and one day the volcano belched and flooded the city, destroying it. Then came La Antigua, one of the most beautiful cities not far from Viejo but was a terrible location for earthquakes and volcanos at the time and so the city was moved to the next valleyтАжwhere it is today.
[attachment=5:qxejivwo]map_4-05.png[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Guatemala City is a good base to start out with, if you are flying into or out of the country and are looking for a good value, good quality hotel. It is the cross roads back to the Caribbean, up to Coban, down to EscuintlaтАжthe hot springs and the Pacific Coast, or the highway that takes you along the spine of a ridge into the fascinating Mayan Highlands...where I'll take you next...
Surfcrest
Guatemala тАУ Land of Eternal Spring
A six part travel article on Guatemala, Central America
Part 1 The Peten and Tikal
Part 2 Livingston and the Rio Dulce
Part 3 GuateтАж.Guatemala City
Part 4 Lake Atitlan & The Highlands
Part 5 La Antigua
Part 6 Monterrico and the black sand beaches of Pacific Coast
The boat back to the mainland took us to Puerto Barrios, the main artery from the Caribbean port to Guatemala City. Our original plan was to stop a third of the way down the highway, get off the bus and cross the border into Honduras to see the magnificent Mayan site of Copan. The great Hieroglyphic stairway tells the story, block by block of the history of the Copan dynasties and their role in the complete chronicles of the once great Mayan empire. Unfortunately my partner is under the weather from some Tapado he may have eaten back in Livingston and now only wants to get back to the city. It isnтАЩt an easy climb out of the hot Caribbean basin into the mountains of the Central Highlands. The massive Volcan Agua is just off from the city to the south and right next door to that and closer to the city is the active Volcan Pacaya.
[attachment=12:qxejivwo]Copan.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
You have to climb over the mountain ridge to begin descending into the valley where the central zones of the city are crammed in around the more affluent zones near the airport. This is where cityтАЩs small Zona Rosa begins and where the middle to upper class of the city live. ThereтАЩs a lot of city crammed in the valley here, including the airport that is built on the only flat spot on the top of a mountain ridge, well within the city limits. One of the thrills is coming in by air and seeing how close we come to the tops of buildings, gliding just above 5a Avenida and La Reforma or from the other direction, how close we come to the edge of the mountain with the end of runway.
[attachment=0:qxejivwo]guatemalteco (1).jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The neighborhood around La Aurora airport is fairly safe these days and this is where most of the middle to upper class live, including the Zona Rosa, the shopping districts including a few gay or open minded establishments in the area. ItтАЩs a neighborhood of old outdated 70тАЩs malls and strip malls. All the big hotel chains are there as well as some American chain restaurants, side by side with GuatemalaтАЩs champion of fast food chicken; тАЬPollo CamperoтАЭ. IтАЩve stayed there when IтАЩve had an early flight out the next day, but I definitely prefer the feel of the downtownтАжdespite it being quite a bit more edgy. I'll come out this way if I need to buy something, a nice gift, furniture or supplies for the house, to visit the museum or to have dinner with local friends. I lived in Antigua for the better part of a year back in the early 90тАЩs and I've since bought a house in Antigua and so have collected a lot of friends from the city that I know from Antigua. IтАЩve also adapted a bit of a тАЬchapinтАЭ dialect that allows me to fit in easily enough here without drawing any attention, without too many strangers asking where I'm from and allows me to blend in inconspicuously which has come in quite handy, especially during the dangerous and tricky exploits my Swedish friend and I took into El Salvador during their war.
[attachment=14:qxejivwo]Zone10 InGuatemalaCityF.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
But on this trip we are coming into the city by bus from the Caribbean and Puerto Barrios. ItтАЩs a blistering hot day outside and we are on a coach that had been climbing out of the humid Caribbean region into the Highlands for the past two hours. The bus had to shut the air con down to just conserve enough power for the steep climb up, as the bus winds it's way into the mountains. The outer barrios of the city are draped like a giant throw rug over the upper slopes of the city sprawl. Some of these are cheap shanty towns made of plywood and tin and no match for the brutally cold night winds they get way up here. The bus takes us down into the valley, right into Zona 4, one of the last few dangerous parts of the city. I move us quickly from the bus into a cab and away we go on a short trip to the city center, Zona 1. My partner suggested while we are here that we check out a famous sink hole in the area until people start punching the windows of the cabтАжand he thinks twice about the idea.
[attachment=13:qxejivwo]guatemala-city-sinkhole.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
We are staying in an old favorite of mine the Pan American Hotel. I love hotel for being traditionally authentic in a Guatemalan way, the Mayan staff and most of all the Guatemalan menu, such as chiles rellenos, black beans and real corn tortillas served steamed under towels. There arenтАЩt many cattle in Guatemala and so beef, if itтАЩs any good is probably going to be imported and expensive compared to the usual fare. The Guatemalans do great things with chicken and fish, especially along the lakes and by the Pacific Coast. Rice and pasta, mixed in a Central American way, like in a Ceviche sauce and remotely Thai. I love Guatemalan food, especially some of the national Mayan dishes. Out in the streets, fires in barrels cook up Quesadillas for about a dime each and Tacos, while not as spicy as those from their northern neighbor are also delicious and cheap. Now a day, modern hip restaurants are springing up everywhere as the cityтАжmixed in with the traditional places that have never changed with white shirts and black bow tie service.
[attachment=2:qxejivwo]a020.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo] [attachment=1:qxejivwo]a021.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
By the time we got to the hotel, I decided to call down for the house doctor to come up and prescribe something for my partner. The cost was cheap and so rather than venture out into the more interesting parts of the city with me and my camera, he decided to stay home with the fine comforts of the hotel.
[attachment=10:qxejivwo]rsz_160.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Our hotel and the Plaza Mayor is right in the center of Zone 1, with the Government buildings, the Cathedral. A few blocks down from the square Police Station..a building too that has seen its share of bullets coming out of its windows at the тАЬenemies of the stateтАЭ. In the early nineties, death squads would emerge at night and murder any of the hundreds of street kids that were visible to their guns. It was a violent city back then, I canтАЩt begin to explain all of the crazy things I saw back thenтАжbut the country has matured and in all fairness the violence is relatively isolated now. ThereтАЩs an annual demonstration happening in the streets along 5a Avenida to Plaza Mayor and back along 7a Avenida to La Reforma. I stop to take a few photos, which has a few people excited at first until I begin to cheer along with their cause and walk with them for a bit.
[attachment=11:qxejivwo]rsz_559.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The youth in the city are just finding themselves now and more and more Guatemala is sheding its machisimo attitudes and allowing homosexuality to slowly edge its way into the modern social fabric. There have always been gay saloons or pubs in Zona 1 and I believe there may still even be an old bathhouse or two still functioning. When I lived down here many years ago, this is what attracted me to the city on weekendsтАжwhere IтАЩd stay at the Swiss Hotel for a few bucks a night and hope to meet some hot Mayan boy.
[attachment=7:qxejivwo]rsz_1maya_man.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Like any Latin American city, the Plaza Mayor is the central focal point to Zona 1. With the beautiful Cathedral to one side and the government buildings directly in front, facing the square. I take a break from the parade to sit in the park and to take a few photos. There are a few snipers on the roof of the Presidential offices besides the Government buildings and a herder takes his small herd of goats between the two buildings, despite the lack of nay green space in this area. The city down here has always had that charm.
Guatemala City is so very different today. I great deal of the architecture that made this City happened in the 70тАЩs and the 80тАЩs in the downtown zones and is continuing today as the City spreads into zones 10 and beyond. It can only spread so much further, limited by the mountains, the volcanos and the steep slope to the Pacific.
[attachment=9:qxejivwo]rsz_162.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
There are beautiful old parks in the city center. The botanical gardens near the natural history museum and the La Torre del Reformador is popular with the young student crowd, especially in the afternoon. The older expat community you are more likely to see up town at Condordia Park and like any Latin American City, Sunday Night is the night to come out and see the peopleтАж.and hanging out at the park is the thing to do. I was surprised to see young kids openly smoking pot now in the parks and the streetsтАжagain a sharp contrast to the days when the police made kinds vanish for fun.
[attachment=3:qxejivwo]146.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo] [attachment=4:qxejivwo]154.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The economy is still struggling down here. The main streets close down at night at street markets selling junk plastic, junk bootleg stuff, crappy clothes, cheap underware..but itтАЩs fun to walk out at night to see the young street gangs roaming up and down the streets showing off how cute they must think they look in nearly plastic like clothing. The military passes by from time to time, walking the beat in groups of 4, automatic weapons to their chest. Occasionally they exchange words with the gangs or street shop ownersтАжsome pushing happens, the military make their point.
[attachment=8:qxejivwo]rsz_158.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
The Popul Vuh Museum in the south of the city is an interesting visit to see what Mayan artifacts havenтАЩt been carted way to New York, Washington and Europe already. Guatemala, of course is the heart of the ancient Mayan world and the heart of where the last greatest concentration of Mayan people still exist. Every Mayan person in Guatemala is identified by where they come from by how they dress and Guatemala City being a melting pot for those without work is a collage of peoples of different colors, some seasoned and miserable from being away from their homelands and others wide eyed as they enter the city for the first time.
[attachment=6:qxejivwo]256New.jpg[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Guatemala City is the third capital city for the country, the first тАЬViejoтАЭ was built at the base of Volcan Agua by the Spanish in the time of the Conquest and one day the volcano belched and flooded the city, destroying it. Then came La Antigua, one of the most beautiful cities not far from Viejo but was a terrible location for earthquakes and volcanos at the time and so the city was moved to the next valleyтАжwhere it is today.
[attachment=5:qxejivwo]map_4-05.png[/attachment:qxejivwo]
Guatemala City is a good base to start out with, if you are flying into or out of the country and are looking for a good value, good quality hotel. It is the cross roads back to the Caribbean, up to Coban, down to EscuintlaтАжthe hot springs and the Pacific Coast, or the highway that takes you along the spine of a ridge into the fascinating Mayan Highlands...where I'll take you next...
Surfcrest