By the end of 2018, I have already set my travel plans for this year. One of them was a wildcard – I promised myself a celebratory trip should I get promoted and once that was clear (thank God!), I only had a few weeks to plan it ahead of my May trip to Egypt.
I was faced with a dilemma. I wanted to go outside the country where it is relatively cheap (so Europe is out!), no more than 6 hours of flight away (Asia and Africa are out!), and one I have never been before. In the end, it was a toss between Guatemala and Belize. While Belize is probably amazing too, the historical and cultural appeal of Guatemala eventually won out!
A land of volcanoes, fertile plains and valleys, high mountain ranges, lakes, bay and the ocean… if you need a place to commune with nature, Guatemala is the place to be. The indigenous Mayan culture is rich, the people warm and friendly and the views are just magnificent. Guatemala exudes a vibe of calmness and serenity that it was no surprise to see a lot of travelers deciding to stay longer, if not permanently, in this charming Central American country.
We had 4 days – incredibly short given how much there is to explore in Guatemala so we decided to focus on two towns (Antigua and Lake Atitlan) and avoid the major cities.
Antigua (not the Caribbean island!) is a charming, quiet town with its cobblestone streets, colorful low-slung buildings interspersed with beautiful ruins and old churches. We spent our first day exploring the town and I think its enough to be honest because its a pretty small town. My instagram-obsessed self was so happy with all the colorful walls where I could take photos (my poor boyfriend/photographer was dragged several times to yet another wall for a photo session! Haha!)
We stayed at an Airbnb outsite town so after catching the sunset at the rooftop of Cafe Sky and a couple of drinks, we headed back to change clothes for a dinner at the top of the hill – El Tenedor del Cerro . This is on the higher end of the price scale and not exactly accessible from town. Thankfully, there is Uber in Antigua!
The views from here are amazing and the ambiance and service first class. From the parking lot, you will be walking through floral gardens, sculptures and paintings from various artists. I heard the brunch here is good as well but we didn’t have time to personally try it.
Photo taken from their website
The next day, we continued our HHWW (holding hands while walking lol) around Antigua and discovered yet another nook, another ruin, another beautiful street, and another tasty, hidden cafe. Every corner in this town is truly a wonderful surprise!
In the afternoon, we made our way to Finca Filadelfia for a professional coffee-tasting session. The resort offers lodging and a variety of activities – bird watching, camping, mountain biking and of course the traditional coffee plantation tour. Me and Christian are both coffee fanatics (me more than him probably!) and were very interested to experience a professional tasting. I always try the coffee beans of each country I visit and let me tell you, Guatemalan coffee beans is way up there on my rankings!
The coffee-tasting ended around 1pm and we had to rush to eat lunch to make it to the van taking us to Lake Atitlan. The other good thing about Antigua is you literally can go to any hostel and ask for information about vans or buses going ANYWHERE and they almost always have the contact information AND will help you get tickets!
We had a nice, hearty lunch at one of the best restaurants in town, Angie Angie (love that name!) and then we’re headed to our next (and last) stop.
The van from Antigua to Lake Atitlan took 4.5 hours for roughly $12 per person. You can also rent a private van if you are feeling fancy or take the public transportation to Panajachel and then take a tuk-tuk or another bus to San Marcos if you are on a budget and are not in a hurry.
From the main town, we took a tuk-tuk to one of the most beautiful Airbnb’s I have ever been on.
This is the view from our Airbnb’s balcony.
Surrounded by three volcanoes towering over the lake dotted with traditional Mayan villages, Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.
There are about 11 towns and villages around Lake Atitlan. 5 of these are very popular tourist destinations – Panajachel, San Pedro, San Marcos, Santa Cruz, and Jaibalito.
When planning this trip, I decided to stick to just one town given our limited time in the Lake and settled into San Marcos (the hippy town!). Everywhere in this town is about healthy, natural foods, yoga, psychedelics, reiki, massages, and lucid dreaming (!!!). However, if you have more than 2 days to spare, I highly recommend taking a boat to visit the rest of the villages surrounding the Lake!
This town is also home to Lake Atitlan’s iconic 8 meter high cliff jump (which we obviously did!). The diving ledge is inside Cerro Tzankujil Nature Reserve. For a small fee (15Q per person) you can rent a kayak, find a swimming spot, relax and/or take the plunge to the lake! Its not exactly a ‘reserve’ but more of a preserved pathway around the lake so manage your expectations accordingly!
Christian is definitely a much stronger swimmer than I am so he did this so casually and calmly whereas I had to literally run towards the cliff before I change my mind and once I hit the water, had a mild panic attack! Hah! Sometimes I don’t understand why I do crazy stints like this but then I remember the adrenaline rush and pure joy after the jump and it makes me smile and think, ‘well, that was worth it!’
The next morning, our Airbnb host arranged for us to do the Indian Nose’ sunrise hike. You can easily do this hike for free but with all the news about ‘bandits’ asking for money (and other belongings) we figured its safer to just go with a local. After all, its only about $20 for both of us.
We were picked up around 4am and driven to the entrance of the hike at San Pedro La Laguna. There is another entrance from the town of Santa Cruz too but we were closer to San Pedro. From there, its a vertical hike of about 30 minutes to the first level of the hill (the mouth). From the side, the hill does look like someone’s head lying down hence the name.
The view from the ‘mouth’ of Indian Nose
The local guides prepare coffee at the top so if you have some bread with you, you get breakfast with a view! There’s always a large crowd here so it might be useful to be up early to secure your spot before the rest show up. As the sun rises, we decided to go up the actual nose – a mere 10-15 minutes of additional hiking. Most rewarding 15-minute hike ever! Look at this view!
We had an early afternoon flight home the next day and instead of boarding a bus and then transferring several times to get to the airport, we rented a private van for only $90 through our host’ connections. The van picked us up from our Airbnb straight to the airport which allowed us to get some more sleep along the way and stop for bathroom breaks anytime.
This was definitely a tighter schedule and a lot shorter than I would’ve liked. The 4 days we were there provided us a taste of Guatemala and frankly as far as first impressions go, it commands a very strong one. There’s a lot more places and towns to explore! I want to go back to hike one of its ~37 volcanoes, explore the ruins of Tikal (one of the largest archaeological sites of the Maya civilation, swim in Semuc Champey, and so much more.
I always wondered why the few backpackers I know stay at this place for so long (because when you have that much free time, what’s the point of staying in one place?) but now having a taste of the country, I can understand why.
(All pics courtesy of this handsome fella 😍)
The Travelling Accountant 