I recently attended a wedding for a friend in Guatemala. Let me first say, I was prepared and concerned by several blogs painting the the country and region as somewhat squalid, crime infested, and generally unsafe. To those bloggers, I want to say thank you for so negatively affecting my expectations. Thanks to those who had bad things to say about Guatemala, I was prepared for the worst and was treated to one of teh better times away from home I have had.
First, Guatemala is not for those seeking white sand beaches, hyper active night life and semi nude people cavorting in the streets...but if anyone has a reccomendation for those things I am willing to listen. Guatemala, first and foremost, have some of the warmest, friendliest people, I have met. They are like the Philadelphia of central America..The Country of Brotherly Love. Second, much like any country of the third world, there is poverty, and people just trying to get their hustle on. Lots of street vendors, lots of arts and craftts, lots of street salespeople attemtping to sell everything they can to anyone that looks like a tourist and trust me, it ain't easy to NOT look like a tourist in Guatemala. Third, Guatemala is a doorway back in time. There is a lot of history in Guatemala. It was a part of the Mayan civilization. There are volcanoes(one or two still considered active). There are a lot of the creature comforts of home. The essentials can be found anywhere(booze, food and toiletries).
I stayed at the hotel Casa Santo Domingo in Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua is definitely like stepping back in time. There are cobblestone streets(narrow ones too), Hotels that look more like museums than hotels. In fact Casa Santo Domingo has two museums on the property. One is an archaeolgical museum and the other an art museum. There are a lot of hand made items to be purchased in Antigua. Musical instruments to table cloths are available for "a special price for you". All of the street sales people will start off with " a special price for you". Don't fall for it, spend what you want and learn to say No Gracias a lot.
I hope whoever reads this takes my advice and tries to visit Guatemala, it is a nice country with nice people and the bars in the hotels make a great Caipirinha.
