Tag: central america

The Pros and Cons of Visiting Tikal

M's Adventures
I was alone with this majestic sight.

Tikal is a World Heritage Site. It was used for a Star Wars movie. It is majestic. But HOT. Here are my pros and cons of visiting Tikal.

This was used in a Star Wars movie (think ending of the movie).

The pros:

It is only a 90 minute drive from Isla de Flores. But 30 of those minutes are at the main gate while those that didn’t buy their tickets online go to the ticket office (my advice is get a coffee at the stand where the driver is getting his cup of joe).

On the way, you can see the alligator island.
See monkey do.

The tourist museum and vendors are all at the entrance of the archeological park.

No one dresses up like a Maya.

There are lots of birds (peacock like birds and others).

There are howler monkeys that will spook you making you think some monster is coming to rip out your lungs…

You can still climb some of the original structures.

It’s fairly unvisited.

The main plaza.

There are bathrooms in the park. But you won’t need them as you will sweat out all the liquid in your body (or at least whatever is not blood).

Another pyramid.

The park is clean.

The guides are good. You must hire a guide (around 500-600 quetzal) for a sunrise or sunset tour, separate from your extra ticket.

More.

The cons:

Other ruins.

Too much walking on boring dirt roads wide enough for trucks. In fact, a dump truck takes stragglers out of the park at 3 pm every day. The walk in is over two kilometers (over a mile) to the rest station/toilets at the base of the main plaza (for the love of all that is right, put in a transport system! I’ll pay for it!)

The Jungle Lodge has cobble stones (why break our already shattered feet?) and costs $375 per night.

The Ceiba tree.

A sunrise tour from Isla de Flores starts at 2 am. I still recommend doing it so that you are not walking in the heat.

This is a huge site.

The sunset tour ends up with that two kilometer death march in the pitch dark.

Walking in the dark down stairs and over tree roots…

The mosquitoes leave puncture wounds that last for weeks.

A storage hole.

I can’t decide if the ticket price is a pro or a con. Things were in general more expensive than I thought they should be. But, maybe it’s a way to keep the place intact.

Another thing that may be a pro and a con — it’s not so easy to get to Tikal. An eight hour bus ride or a one hour flight from Guatemala City. Then the smaller bus. Then the walk in to the jungle. I guess it’s pro if you like excursions. It’s a con if you would like a pleasant air conditioned minivan.

To wipe some of the salt rime off your face.

I’m sorry Tikal, but I’m not coming back. You are just too hot, hot, hot for me.

Tamarind juice, water, and hibiscus (flor de jamaica) juice to replenish the five liters I lost in sweat.

Visit Lovely Antigua In the Off Season

M's Adventures
The main plaza in Antigua.

When you mention Guatemala, people tell you to visit La Antigua Guatemala (old Guatemala) or Antigua. It was the capital from 1543 through 1773. For a while it was the capital of much of the region including Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Chiapas in Mexico. Antigua was moved several times due to uprisings and volcanic activity, and finally in 1773, it was abandoned as the capital city.

It is a 90-minute drive from Guatemala City. I recommend staying for at least two nights in Antigua (maybe like what this blog article recommends). We didn’t.

The advice was to take an Uber. Around 290 Quetzal each way (at the time of travel that was equal to $38). We were about to do that when the hotel owner recommended her driver for just another 100 quetzal. We figured that we might be better with someone we “knew” so we did. The driver came to get us on time. She spoke no English despite having studied English correspondence… I suspect that her English was okay but as we spoke Spanish with her, she made no effort in English. So, we set off. In rush hour. 90 minutes later, we arrived at the base of a hill and our driver recommended that we go up and view Antigua from the overlook.

View of the chapel with a view of the city.

The overlook is an outdoor chapel with lots of benches along the sloping hill and walkways down to a large cross. The view of Antigua with the mountainous background is a lovely place to sit and reflect. I was more into the people-watching.

When we got down to the town of Antigua, we saw construction on a large bus station and parking lot on the outskirts of the city. Our driver/guide told us that it was for Semana Santa (holy week/Easter week). We remarked that they should do it permanently and make the town pedestrian. After some cavity loosening driving around the town, I asked why were were driving around. It turned out that our driver was looking for parking. She did not know of any public parking places.

The streets are cobblestone which makes them difficult to walk on.

That was followed on by another surprise. We thought we had merely hired a driver. It turned out that we had hired a guide. As she was a guide, she tried to get us to go to the museum and the church in the center of town. We were not interested in either. Then we separated so my friend could take photos and I could sit and people watch. Now the guide didn’t know who to stay with so she ended up with my friend most of the day.

Although we were in Antigua during the cool season, the weather was still hot. Not hot like in the jungle, but still up around 89 F (31 C) in the sun. I don’t like it.

One of the cute things about Antigua is that the ice cream ‘trucks’ are miniature vehicles. The most popular ice cream seemed to be a sunset flame array of oranges and yellows. Our guide offered to treat us to ice cream but then it turned out that she forgot her cash in the car. It turned out that we were not interested in ice cream so it all worked out.

Ice cream truck at the Central Park.

While I was people watching, while sitting on a bench in the main plaza, moving to the half shaded end of a bench, I could hear the two senior gentlemen next to me talking about how they were set up with their wives in America. I didn’t listen in so I can’t tell you more than that.

Also while people watching, I saw a devilishly handsome young man, tall and bronzed, with long lush hair in a man-bun, stretching himself in the sun. He was accompanied by an equally attractive female. They had that look like straight out of a casting call — international travelers making their way around the world, last stop Thailand.

Speaking of height, I felt a bit of a giant in Guatemala as the locals are not so tall. People like to photograph the ones who wear native dress. (Did you see the lady wearing a blouse to match the flag?).

Local ladies enjoying ice cream.

In Antigua, the classic photo is of the arch, the Arco de Santa Catalina, which is was built in the 17th century as a bridge allowing the nuns to pass from the convent to the school without anyone on the street seeing them. Today, it is a highly touristy spot and it is hard to get a photo alone with the arch.

Vendors taking a break under the famous arch.

There is a large outdoor market behind La Merced church. I didn’t make it there. Maybe next time.