Late in the update
Regarding my Wednesday post... the answer is Antigua, Guatemala. A gorgeous, gorgeous city which has been justly designated as a World Heritage City.
I was there in August of 2003 visiting a friend who had gone there to learn Spanish. It's a beautiful, beautiful city and country. I followed the "gringo trail" from Antigua to Lake Atitlan (where we stayed for several days) and ventured to the highlands. We went to both market cities of Chichicastenago (very colorful and a tourist's delight) and Solola (we were the only gringos in sight). My friend and I also took a quick (in days, not in hours on the bus!) side-trip to Honduras to visit the Mayan ruins there before she had to head home.
On my own, I ventured back up into the highlands to see Todos Santos (the infamous little mountain village where a Japanese photographer was killed because the locals thought he was trying to steal a child's soul with the camera) and then to Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins in Guate(mala). I still remember the thorough kindness of the people who helped me on my journey into the rural areas en route to and from Todos Santos. I still remember the number of rude and unpleasant encounters I had in Flores, the town near Tikal, which all but ruined that leg of my trip. But all in all, certainly the warmth, kindness and humor of the Guatemalan people was a treasure -- and a pleasure.
Below are a few more of -- a mere smattering -- my pictures from my Guate adventure.
Lake Atitlan.
Market at Chichicastenango.
By contrast, the market at Solola.
Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras.
Todos Santos: traditional clothes, traditional industry, traditional laundry?
And Tikal.
Yes, I climbed them all (the ones we were allowed to, anyway). And yes, going down was so very much worse than going up.
Star Wars fans should recognize this shot, taken by yours truly...
As you might imagine, I have many, many more pictures, but these give you a flavor of my trip despite the fact that I didn't include any shots of our modes of transportation (which were often and quite literally old American school buses, even more uncomfortable when you're no longer child-sized but still have to sit three abreast...) or the roads or, even worse, the bald tires we rode on. Pretty scary.
But an excellent adventure!
I was there in August of 2003 visiting a friend who had gone there to learn Spanish. It's a beautiful, beautiful city and country. I followed the "gringo trail" from Antigua to Lake Atitlan (where we stayed for several days) and ventured to the highlands. We went to both market cities of Chichicastenago (very colorful and a tourist's delight) and Solola (we were the only gringos in sight). My friend and I also took a quick (in days, not in hours on the bus!) side-trip to Honduras to visit the Mayan ruins there before she had to head home.
On my own, I ventured back up into the highlands to see Todos Santos (the infamous little mountain village where a Japanese photographer was killed because the locals thought he was trying to steal a child's soul with the camera) and then to Tikal, the largest Mayan ruins in Guate(mala). I still remember the thorough kindness of the people who helped me on my journey into the rural areas en route to and from Todos Santos. I still remember the number of rude and unpleasant encounters I had in Flores, the town near Tikal, which all but ruined that leg of my trip. But all in all, certainly the warmth, kindness and humor of the Guatemalan people was a treasure -- and a pleasure.
Below are a few more of -- a mere smattering -- my pictures from my Guate adventure.
Lake Atitlan.
Market at Chichicastenango.
By contrast, the market at Solola.
Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras.
Todos Santos: traditional clothes, traditional industry, traditional laundry?
And Tikal.
Yes, I climbed them all (the ones we were allowed to, anyway). And yes, going down was so very much worse than going up.
Star Wars fans should recognize this shot, taken by yours truly...
As you might imagine, I have many, many more pictures, but these give you a flavor of my trip despite the fact that I didn't include any shots of our modes of transportation (which were often and quite literally old American school buses, even more uncomfortable when you're no longer child-sized but still have to sit three abreast...) or the roads or, even worse, the bald tires we rode on. Pretty scary.
But an excellent adventure!
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