GUatemala
Let’s step into the heart of Mayan culture. While the very southern tip of Mexico, bits of El Salvador and Honduras also have remnants of the Mayan influence, Guatemala has kept it the most alive. Fun fact: they have 20+ Mayan dialects spread throughout their territory!
Landing in Guatemala City feels very familiar to me, because of its similarity to my hometown, Tegucigalpa. The trip started with a transfer to the magical little town of Antigua ($45 private car). Meaning ancient, this town was once the capital of the country until a massive earthquake struck. There are so many beautiful buildings still standing from this time period which is insane! Missing chunks and all, the architecture is awesome and you really can get lost just walking around.
One of the best parts of this town are the volcanoes looming in the background and luckily it was rainy season so we were greeted by a few thunderstorms on our days there which make for an incredible backdrop. It’s impossible to talk about Antigua and not mention the Acatenango hike. Guatemala has 37 volcanoes and the most active is volcán de fuego which is directly next to Acatenango. For the hike you leave super early and not to sugar coat it, the hike is intense. You’re walking an at extremely steep angle for about 5 hours with some breaks, but your legs will definitely hate you for a few days. HOWEVER, you are hiking what feels like through the clouds and once you make it to the top, it is fucking magical. We immediately saw the volcano erupting and later saw the most INSANE lightning striking the erupting volcano! Literally out of a movie (think like….Thor or the battle of Hogwarts). The next morning we hiked down which in comparison to going up, is pretty easy(lol). The company that we used, Soy tours, was awesome. They will carry your bag up for you for a small fee, give you 3 meals, hot chocolate, a little booze and keep the morale high. The tour costs about $60 and you’re definitely getting your moneys worth.
Okay now that I geeked out about history and volcanoes, let’s talk food. I had been so interested in coming just because I’ve heard so much about the food. Starting in Antigua, we had lunch at a pretty popular local spot called La Cuevita de los Urquizu. You walk in and they have like a dozen different braised and stews to pick from with maybe another dozen sides. I rocked with some pepian (Guates very famous spiced chicken stew) and revolcado (braised pigs head…insanely good). Highly recommend this spot. We also found a street vendor near parque de la Merced, Donde Mimi Antojitos, where he hooked it up with these “shuco” chicken sandwiches brushed with a garlic butter and then toasted on the plancha. Crazy. Also tried: chuchitos (Guatemalan style tamales), dobladas, tostadas, and plátanos en mole. Very successful find.
Moving on from Antigua, we hopped on a shuttle over to Lake Atitlan to Panajachel ($40 shuttle). From here you have a good variety of small towns to pick from, each with its own aesthetic. We stayed at San Pedro which had a good mix of locals + tourists as well as restaurants and bars. Next to San Pedro is San Juan, which had one of my favorite activities on the trip which was a bee farm, Mundo de Abejas Maya. For approx. $5 you get a super informative lesson, tour, and tasting of about 10 different honeys. You can see the bees that produce these honeys and the product is just…WOW. Another must.
The food around Atitlan also did not disappoint. We stumbled on two street carts in San Pedro about a 5 min walk from the main boat area that had more shuco sandwiches filled with chorizo, chicken and steak as well as guacamole, cilantro, onions, and brushed with a chimichurri. He offered this as a burrito as well. Directly in front is a pupusa stand. Grab one thing from each for around $10 and you have a solid dinner. San Juan had some cool surprises in terms of food. We were walking, smelled some bread and walked into El Artesano quesos y jamones, an Italian style salumi and cheese restaurant that has really awesome salumi boards with everything being made in Guatemala. Another notable and random find was pollo super rápidito. A small local chain of fried chicken which was sooo good as a walking snack. For $2 you can get a little box of popcorn chicken and walk around this cool little town.
All in all, this was an awesome trip. I’d definitely come back to explore more of the Mayan ruins or some of the beach towns, but please…do yourself a favor and go hike that volcano!!
