Tell me about Guatemala; also, general travel-related topics

You can get to Tikal from here (and don't miss it), either overland by bus or (more relaxing) fly. Flights are about $100 return (check this) and there are endless companies organising structured and independent trips from Antigua.

Other destinations I would recommend are Lago Atitlan. Base yourself in one of the villages and catch the ferries around the lake. You'll meet the modern day Maya here. The mix of Mayan traditions blended with Christianity is fascinating. The village of Chicicastenango is also worth a visit on market day. All the colour and bustle of Latin America.

Guatemala isn't huge and if you get time, try side trips out to Belize or the Yucatan in Mexico or down to Honduras. If you're basing your trip on Mayan history and wish to see the main sites, e-mail me and I'll let you know some more details.

As for your comment about chicken buses. A chicken bus is simply an old American school bus painted in lurid colours and used by locals until it becomes a wreck. There are no toilets on board, obviously. If you're used to luxurious travel, I suggest Guatemala isn't for you.

If you want more details, e-mail me. I don't want to clog the boards up. As a guidebook, the Rough Guide to the Mayan Countries was pretty good and Lonely Planet is also useful. For background reading of Mayan history (but written with a travellers eye), try Among the Maya by Ronald Wright. One final tip, if you want to see modern day anarchy, get out to Todos Santos.

Mikey, you mention that Antigua has some of the best language schools, but it also has tons of tourists/backpackers. I've heard this too, and that's why I've chosen to go to Xela. Xela apparently has great schools and fewer tourists. I really want to learn Spanish (I already have a basic understanding. I've taken Spanish courses up through Level 6, so now I want to practice practice practice), and the fewer English-speakers there are around, the less I'll be tempted to get lazy and speak English. Has anyone been to Xela?

Also, Mikey, re: chicken buses, my concern isn't luxury, my concern is shitting my pants! I have no problem sharing a bus with livestock. But I have this paranoid fear of coming down with diarrhea on a long bus ride with no bathroom in site. As long as the bus makes multiple stops, I should be fine. I haven't seen anything written about lack of bathrooms being a problem on the buses, so it must not be a big deal.

I'd really like to climb a volcano or two. I hear/read that you should go in a group and/or with a guide if you plan to go volcano climbing because otherwise there's a much greater chance you'll get robbed once you're in a more remote area. I've read about the tourist police, who's sole function is to protect tourists. I guess you can actually request that one of them come along with you at certain tourist areas. Kind of a bizarre thing, though understandable considering all the tourist dollars that come in. Has anyone dealt with/used them? How different are they than actual policemen?

Also, disease. I've just spent a shitload of money getting vaccinations, so I think I'm pretty much covered on that front. I just need to get some mosquito repellant and malaria pills. Though a friend of mine just came back from Guatemala, and she said she didn't really bother with malaria pills and most vaccinations and never got sick.

I'm going to buy a guide book this weekend. Probably the Rough Guide. I've already gotten the Lonely Planet guide from the library, but it'd be nice to have my own book.

tremendoid, i'd love to see some pics. also, Mikey, I wouldn't worry about clogging the board up. I don't think anyone is going to come down on you for writing a lot. Clog away!

I was sick about half the time I was traveling. Not sure you can avoid it. I also stayed/traveled in Mexico and I was sick for a lot of that time. Then I didn't really take many protective measures. Have fun! This lovely wuy with a Guatemalan passport came into the library today and he wasn't speaking any English and I could barely talk to him in Spanish. I was so ashamed. Might have to take up studying again.

However, I was with a group of students from the US so not sure I got the 'real' Guatemala. However, on the way to Flores from Belize at our hotel we were up on the roof smoking weed and a guy from the hotel came up with a gun and scared the wits out of us. Oh well.

Just as a headsup: developing nations don't typically have drivers of the same caliber of those in the Western World (and even then, there's still Portugal). I wouldn't too heavily rely on these as a mode of transportation.

I've been telling myself that I'm going to stay in Guatemala the entire time. There's so much stuff I'd want to see, and I don't want to spread myself too thin over too many places. When I was in Europe like 7 years (!) ago, I did a whirlwind tour through several countries over the span of two weeks at one point. And yeah, i saw some cool stuff, but I feel I got only the most superficial idea of the places I went to. I don't want to do that again. Like Mikey said, Guatemala isn't a huge country, but I can't imagine I'll be able to see everything in a month, especially since I'll be at a school for the first two weeks. that said, I'm not totally against going outside the country. Just depends on what happens, I guess.

Alan, I'm thinking that I might have to rely on the chicken buses due to budgetary constraints. But if they're too awful, the buses that are one step up in quality (can't remeber what they're called) don't seem to be that much more expensive. We shall see. Thanks for the heads up though.

I found the Mexican police to be a lot more corrupt toward visitors than the Guatemalan police. I can't ever remember the hint of even being bothered in Guatemala. Perhaps they same intimidation for their own citizens? I found Guatemala to be an extremely gentle place--this was about 10 years ago. Perhaps the country was still shell-shocked? Mexico, on the other hand, I got harassed a lot, payed bribes at a check point in the middle of the night--not sure to whom. Corruption seemed far more institionalized in Mexico.

A large one looms over Antigua. You can arrange tours in the town itself. A few years back, a lot of tourists were being robbed in Antigua, so the government installed 'tourist police' to shield foreignors from locals. I'm sorry, I'm being cynical, they installed them to protect them against robbery. I walked up to the cross with a tourist policeman and chatted on the way. He was interesting and when one of the tourists tried to tip him, he waved it away saying he was paid by the government. I'm not saying that is typical, but it was my experience. Anyway, the point of this ramble is to say that the tourist police also accompanied climbers to the first point on the volcano climb. I didn't do it myself (adventure travel does nothing for me), but others did and appeared to enjoy the experience.

Chicken buses are fine, and you have little other option if you want to get around. Actaully you do have another option; sanitised tourist minibuses. But you might as well be in Ohio. Just clench your buttocks.

it was fun, and i didn't shit in my pants.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/angels-watch-over-memories-of-war/

linbert i am going to guatemala soon!

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Fuego goin fiery