I had about 10 days in Guatemala split between the southern highlands and the northern…jungle? Let’s call it that. The first stop was Antigua, a short 10-hour shuttle ride from Copan.

Side note on overland transport

I didn’t realize how spoiled I was in South America with the long-distance buses. Those seats give you about the same amount of space as a business-class seat on a long-haul flight, they’re like lounge chairs. While virtually no long-distance transport option is comfortable in the absolute sense, in the relative sense these buses were top of the pops.

The buses and shuttles in Central America are, by comparison, awful. I’m obviously not a tall person, and they’re even cramped for me. And they rarely have functioning AC, so you’re packed into an overcrowded, broken down, sweaty oven on the ‘convection bake’ setting, the 37 degree air swirling about to at least keep the stench at bay. And then you add drivers who seem to want to qualify for Formula 1, and the long journeys become a little more adventurous. The cherry on the cake is the religious stenciling on the front & rear windshields. “Jesus guide me,” “Lord protect me,” and “Jesus is coming soon” are all innocuous enough, and you probably wouldn’t notice if they were on a poster in an office, but on a windshield of a driver who seems to be more concerned with texting his girlfriend and setting speed records than watching the road, they take on a vaguely ominous, fatalistic vibe. Still, at least at this point of writing, no accidents, so maybe it’s working.

Antigua, Acatenango, & Atitlan

The “highlands” are basically in the Sierra Madre mountain range and are a lovely way to escape the worst of the heat while also getting some of the best that Guatemala has to offer.

Antigua

Antigua is yet another colonial city that is so well-preserved that it has received UNESCO world heritage status. And it is indeed lovely, sitting in a basin surrounded by three volcanos and offering plenty of cultural and culinary delights to warrant at least a few days exploring.

 

Of course, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t do some biking, and I was lucky enough to find a tour operator that did some reasonably ambitious mountain bike rides, so I joined one of them and had an absolute blast.

If you’re wondering how I looked, just remove all of my guide’s elements of style and in their place add fear and hesitation, and you’ll have an idea.

Acatenango (& Fuego)

Antigua is a jumping-off spot for both Lake Atitlan and the volcanos Fuego & Acatenango. Most people, myself included, do a two-day tour, hiking about 1000m up Acatenango to “base camp” at 3700m or so, staying the night, then summiting the next morning starting at 4am to enjoy Fuego’s spectacular lava flows in the dark before reaching the summit of Acatenango for sunrise. Fuego is one of the most active volcanos in the world, erupting pretty powerfully multiple times per hour. I got pretty unlucky in that it rained until I went to bed, and then when I woke up at 4am, it only erupted one more time before sunrise, and I could only glimpse the brilliant cloud of red through trees.

This gives quite a good idea of the full tour:

This of what it usually looks and sounds like at night:

Despite missing out on the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see fiery eruptions, I still loved the experience. The shock waves from the eruptions were powerful enough to rattle my rib cage and shake the lean-tos we were sleeping under, an experience I don’t imagine I’ll have again, or if so, hopefully only under similarly safe and voluntary circumstances.

Atitlan

After the volcano hike, it was straight in the shuttle for a few hours to Lake Atitlan, another one of the many lakes which claims to be “one of the world’s most beautiful”. I get it. Biking around the lake led me to a few spectacular viewpoints. Everything is more dramatic with a volcano or two in the background, and Guatemala has volcanoes to spare. For a country the size of Ohio, it has 53 volcanos. I think even 53 volcanos couldn’t make Ohio interesting. I jest, I jest, I can’t imagine a reason to ever go to Ohio, so I’ll never be able to say definitively!

Atitlan is also home to a high population of indigenous folks who still wear traditional clothing, much like in Bolivia & Peru. The garments here were my favorite. The dyes are all natural and the colors are absolutely gorgeous, particularly the more vibrant blues and greens.

Tikal & the jungle

After the very pleasant time spent in the cooler temperatures at higher elevations, it was another 4am, 10-hour bus trip back down into the inferno to visit some more Mayan ruins. I had been counseled by fellow travelers to stay in the national park, go visit the ruins first thing in the morning, take a break during the day when it’s hottest, and then go back towards sundown when temps start to sink. So that’s what I did, and it was fantastic advice. Despite the previous morning’s miserably early wake up call and the complete lack of enthusiasm for another early morning, I managed to get to the ruins at 6.30am, which was worth it, because for the next two hours or so, I only saw six other people. This was my Machu Picchu moment. The magic of walking through the jungle alone on a misty morning, only the sounds of howler monkeys and birds to accompany me, arriving at clearings with 1200-1700 year old ruins rising above the tree line, being able to take my time and connect with the place, imagine life there at its peak in the 9th century when 100,000 people would have been animating the streets, undisturbed by guides catering to the photo-obsessed, no one yelling at me to keep moving. Was incredible.

Loved it.

After Tikal it was back to Flores, a town on a lake, and with the sweltering 39 degree heat, I basically just lazed around on the docks, swimming to keep myself cool, chatting to the twenty-somethings I met at my hostel and being thankful that the days of all you can drink party boats are behind me. Fun while they lasted, unthinkable now, the hangovers last way too long!

Next stop (and last stop before the US): Belize, meeting up with Dylan and doing some more diving in the second largest coral reef in the world!