Some thoughts on Guatemala visit.
I did a road trip. South with Antigua and Atitlan main goals. Then drove around the sierras and eventually up north to Semuc Champey and eventually up to Tikal.
Unless you have a long time, do either north or south. Journey times are long and frustratingly stop/start.
Antigua and the volcanoes are a phenomenal experience and if you enjoy beer, go to Cerveceria 14 for live music in the evening and keep eye out for eruptions in the background. Steak houses definitely worth eating at but there’s also some excellent local food. Enjoy it, outside of the touristy areas, food quality isn’t that great and carnivore diet is commonly old boot diet.
Atitlan is an amazing lake with wonderful scenery. Tendency for people to go to San Pedro or San Marcos. They’re kinda ok to meet people but slightly fake spiritualism and over selling by street vendors. Still definitely worth visiting but if looking for magnificent views, I found the other side of the lake more spectacular.
The drive. Hmm what to say. Stunning scenery but feels like driving through a landfill. The entire country needs a dedicated clean up campaign. Then there’s the road system which I’ll comment on in another post.
Semuc Champey is a beautiful area. Make sure to research place to stay. There’s some pretty ropey options. Good rule of thumb is probably to just ask if they have hot water. Seemed to be a good rule of thumb. Spent 2 days there but consider the area worth while for a full week of exploring the rivers, caves and karst scenery.
Flores and Tikal i will definitely visit again. But worth just flying straight in on a domestic flight and hiring car there. Between the national park hikes, Mayan ruins, stunning lake and places to visit, this area is a full vacation in itself.
The people here have all been really friendly and welcoming and had zero issues. One thing I did find odd coming from Costa Rica is it feels dead. There just doesn’t seem to be much wildlife. Had to wait to Tikal area too see anything but the spider monkeys around the temples were a treat!