2013 Guatemala Trip Day Two - Antigua

Unlike many tourists to Guatemala, I did not stay in Antigua, so my tour there was the first time I saw the colonial city.  While Guatemalan Adventures did accomodate me as a single traveler and gave me all English-speaking guides, on this particular day the rest of the tour was Spanish-speaking.  Fortunately I speak quite a bit of Spanish, so instead of having the tour guide repeat everything, I just had him clarify when I didn't understand.  Focusing on translating what was said meant I missed some photo ops though . . . like the apparently famous arch in town!

Typical colorful Antigua buildings with the Cerro de la Cruz in the background:

One of my favorite stories in the city was about this fountain that was put in, but was so shocking that the native people hid their eyes when they passed it!  

Antigua was a fascinating city with a mix of buildings still in use and many ruins from the numerous earthquakes that destroyed parts of the city.  In fact, Antigua was the third capital before Guatemala City, but most of the city was destroyed by earthquakes in 1773.  While there were famous sites, like "La Merced" in good condition . . . 

there were many that were still in ruins.  The ruins of Convento Santa Clara was one of my favorites - the purple flowers growing in the ruins around the fountain was very peaceful and the contrast of the new growing out of the old was symbolic to me.  There were virtually no other people here outside of our group, which added to the tranquil feeling.

The Cathedral de Santiago was also fascinating.  There is an area in good repair that is still in use, which is attached to sprawling ruins that were part of the original cathedral built in 1543!  While I didn't feel comfortable taking my DSLR with me to Guatemala, the ruins here made me wish I had - my old camera didn't really do them justice.

What a view!

 The eye in the sky!

The plants here are HUGE!

The rest of the day was spent seeing the Ciudad Vieja (literally, "old city") and another local market.  A few highlights:

It's very common here to see barbwire along the tops of homes, the top of gates, etc - in case you needed any reminders that the country isn't the safest place in the world.  Having said that, I again felt very safe on my tour.  At one point we were free to walk around a handicrafts market and I left to walk to a small market for an item I needed without feeling in any danger at all.  You do need to watch out for cars though - the cars do not yield to pedestrians.

Yellow is popular cathedral color - the cathedral in Ciudad Vieja.  I liked how the fountain, cross & church lined up visually.

I absolutely LOVE the beautiful, bright colors of the local Mayan clothing!

Guatemala Trip Day One - Chichi Market and Lake Atitlan

I'm preparing for my second trip to Guatemala in 2015 and realized I never finished my first blog for a variety of reasons.  Fortunately, I kept a very good journal when I went!

My first full day was spent on a tour around Lake Atitlan and the Chichi market on a tour through Guatemalan Adventures.  The drive to the Chichi market was really interesting and the driver explained about the local transportation - you can take a tuk tuk (the small red vehicle) or a retired school bus, referred to as "chicken buses" because, well, you might be sharing it with a chicken or two.  Both modes of transportation are definitely for those more adventurous than me - the buses especially pass other vehicles at high rates of speed around blind corners . . . just riding on the roads was quite an adventure since the buses could be coming AT you as well.

Despite the chicken buses, I survived the trip to Lake Atitlan and found the views beautiful.  Looking at it from the view below, I was really enthusiastic about swimming; however, our guide told us that the lake is very polluted and raw sewage is dumped into it.  I was slightly less enthusiastic then, although it was a very hot day . . . 

The Chichi market was unlike anything I had seen or experienced, even in Mexico markets.  There were constantly people, mostly children, who followed us trying to sell us things even after we said, "no gracias" and our guide tried to chase them off.  It was challenging not to buy things from ALL the kids though as most of them were wearing old shoes that were falling apart or no shoes at all with sores on their feet, but they had beautiful Mayan traditional clothing on often (although clearly not new).  Many of the children also appeared not to be in good health.

While wandering through the market, we came across people practicing for a show, which was a lot of fun to watch.  Everything at the Chichi market is so colorful!  Even though the relentless sales attempts and children in poverty were hard to see, the market really can't be missed.  Every craft, food, flower, etc. that you could want to buy from Guatemala seems to be at this market.  Fair warning that every market you see after will not be terribly impressive though!

On our way back, a pair of enterprising young ladies bartered a quetzal out of me in exchange for their photo.  Our guide explained that traditionally each village had their own patterns and colors for the traditional Mayan clothing.  In the more rural areas, groups of women were often still dressed in the colors of their village and these girls were a lovely example of the beautiful clothing!  It was one of my favorite parts of the trip to see people still dressed in traditional outfits during their normal daily lives and I made the decision that when I branch out to sponsor in a new Guatemalan family next, I will be looking for a child who is wearing traditional clothing.

I felt very comfortable and safe on the tour . . . other than the near misses with traffic that are just part of the Guatemalan experience!  The agency does accomodate small groups (or singles), so the vehicle you're in could be a car, van, etc.; however, I felt like we stood out less that way.

Leaving this weekend!

I'm so excited that I'm leaving soon to finally meet my sponsored kids!  I confirmed my plans with the Guatemalan CI agency, my tour group and the B&B I'm staying at.

I'll have more details about the B&B after the trip, but I found it based on TripAdvisor reviews:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g292006-d1573201-Reviews-Dai_Nonni_Hotel-Guatemala_City_Guatemala_Department.html

The reviews were largely positive, so hopefully it works out well!

Photos borrowed from their website :-)

UPDATE: Typhoid Vaccine & Dairy/Casein Allergy

Apparently, my travel clinic didn't look closely enough at contraindications for the oral typhoid vaccine. I am allergic to dairy and casein. Casein is used to make the vaccine and an allergy to it is a contraindication. I learned all of this after the symptoms grew progressively worse - severe stomach cramps, upset stomach, nausea, fever, worsening asthma symptoms, etc. I consumed an allergen into my system in a capsule that ensures it made through my stomach and directly into my intestines to be absorbed.  People who are lactose intolerant are also more prone to issues with the oral vaccine, which only causes ~6% of people (per manufacturer) or ~25% of people (per my clinic) to have side effects. So, if you have any issues with dairy, you may want to stick with the typhoid injection vaccine, even with the shorter immunity period!

Guatemalan Tours, Typhoid Vaccine Choices & Sudden Fears

Due to safety issues in Guatemala, I decided that taking all tours would be best.  Unfortunately, most companies will not book a tour for one person.  On the up side, Guatemalan Adventure worked with me and offered me tours that were the closest to the ones I was interested in.  So, very excited that I will be seeing all of the places that I want to!  This is something for single travelers to keep in mind though - this was the only tour group I found who would accommodate a single traveler at all.

I have traveled alone before, but never to a "third world country."  For some reason, I've suddenly gotten very nervous about the trip.  Maybe it was a novel I'm reading where they described how truly AWFUL Malaria is.  I also decided to take typhoid pills instead of the shot (I'll get into that below) and it can have some unpleasant side effects.  I've never been a "nervous" person about travel, but the combination of exposure to illnesses unlike anything I've ever experienced and the crime rate in Guatemala had me suddenly thinking that this trip wasn't such a great idea!

Of course, I'm still going and the opportunity to meet my sponsored kids outweighs the above, but I did have second thoughts, which I'm sure is normal.

As for typhoid, my health insurance doesn't cover travel immunizations and the oral vaccine is cheaper.  It also lasts for 5 years instead of 2 years.  This turned out to be a great idea because the shot was over $100.  The pills would have been ~$75, but my prescription insurance DOES cover travel medication and so I only paid $25.  Much better!  My fears about the side effects were based in reality.  I didn't have any serious issues, but I definitely did not feel 100%.  I've had some unpleasant stomach pain and a strange taste in my mouth (not really nausea, just weird taste).  Overall though, it hasn't been super terrible.  I'd recommend taking the first on a weekend so you know how it will affect you.  I'd still recommend the oral vaccine for the longer immunization period, but also if prescription coverage will cover it and your medical won't cover the shot.

The Dominican Republic and Why I Buy Travel Insurance

So, most of the posts about the DR will be under my regular travel blog since the trip is largely for fun.  Between work travel, opening a travel credit card (hello 45,000 miles!) and using said card for every expense under the sun since opening it, I had enough miles for a trip to the Dominican Republic.  While I'm there, I will be visiting the only sponsored child I have in that country, so there will be a few mentions about the DR on this blog. :-)

Fortunately, I will not need any additional medications!

On the off chance I get sick IN another country, I always buy travel insurance.  While there are policies that cover just medical costs if you get sick (and potentially medical evacuation if you need or want to return home for treatment), I pay slightly more for a full coverage package.  Having flown enough to know that you can be delayed for weather (major problem in the winter), computer glitches, etc. I know that a single night, last-minute at a hotel near the airport can easily run $100, which is more than a full policy will cost.  Add in the benefit of the policy covering change or cancellation fees for illness or a death in the family and for me it just makes sense.  I've never spent more than $80 on a policy that could easily save me a $100 to tens of thousands for a serious overseas illness or injury.  I personally use the meta-site insuremytrip.com to compare policies for a given trip and to ensure I have the coverage I need.

Holy Hepatitis A Shot!

So, this post is a bit dated because I had my Hepatitis A shot awhile ago, but let's just say that it was a memorable event.  The first thing that registered was how freakishly LARGE the thing was.  It looked like something you'd inject into a horse, not a human!  After double-checking that they were sure this was the right injection, they gave it to me.

As it turns out, having THAT MUCH pumped into your arm doesn't feel so hot.  Not surprisingly, pain at the injection site is extremely common with this shot.  Many people also get headaches and I was one of the "lucky" ones there to experience that as well.  Nothing long lasting though and I felt better by the next day.

Despite the CDC warnings, I admit that I debated how many of these vaccines I really needed.  When I read that if I did get Hepatitis A, I could be sick enough to miss a month of work . . . well, a shot didn't seem like that big of a deal!

Since I had the HepA shot at my regular doctor, I am still slated to go in for Typhoid and Malaria prescriptions.  The malaria isn't for Guatemala though.  I'll be in a malarial area for such a short time that taking pills 2 days before and 7 days after for ONE day doesn't seem worth it.  The malaria pills are actually for the Dominican Republic!  I will be in a malaria zone for 3 days on that trip, which I've decided is too long.  All three are such nasty illnesses that protecting myself seems like a high priority.