2015 Guatemala Trip Day Two - Miraflores Museum (Museo Miraflores) and Miraflores Mall

I had decided I'd try venturing out and around the city on my own instead of taking tours this time.  So, after sleeping in for a bit, I caught a taxi to the Museo Miraflores, which is about the Mayan ruins they found in Guatemala City called Kaminaljuyu.  Kaminaljuyu was one of the first important Mayan cities (peak 400 BC to 100 AD) and had the first literate upper class of all the Mayans cities.

Sadly, most of the ruins have been covered by the city itself.  The original city was abandoned when the lake it was built on dried up - archaelogists believe this occurred due to overusage for agricultural purposes.

The museum cost Q40 (about $5) for foreigners.  That is one thing that is very common in Guatemala - there is often a much cheaper rate for locals than tourists.  If you read all of the signs, this museum will take you about an hour.  Compared to Popol Vuh and Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, what this museum offers that is unique is the integration of the items you're seeing into how the people lived.  It was here that they noted it is possible to tell if a bowl was used for cooking or not by whether the bottom is blackened and where they had examples of the typical foods Mayans ate.  They also had a display talking about burial rituals and the division of labor between men and women.  If you skip it and see the others, you won't miss much in terms of the actual types of artifacts, but I did like the focus on the lifestyle that was given here.

This guy was found in Escuintla on the South Coast and would have been one of a pair of statues guarding the entrance to an important building.  He's from 700-900 AD.  This guy is unusual because he still shows signs of having red, black and yellow painting.

























I also found it interesting here how many items were out where somebody could touch them (I didn't), which is somewhat uncommon in the US.  Again, the stories here made the items interesting, such as learning that the statutes with big rounded bellies were made to represent obese men who made up a "cult" from Monte Alto, Escuintla that spread to other parts of Guatemala.  These statues were from 400 BC-250 AD.  You can see how intricate the carving is and how detailed given the limited tools they had.

There was a nice display of different items made using obsidian as well:

I found the mushroom carvings to be interesting.  At Museo Miraflores, it was noted that they are frequently found in agricultural fields and are thought to possibly be property boundary markers; however, there are other possibilities, including that they represent hallucinogenic mushrooms that the Maya are known to have eaten.

There were also example of ceramics from later periods with elaborate and colorful depictions on them:

If you're interested in reading more about how these items were used and the cultural significance, then visiting Museo Miraflores is a great idea!

Since the museum only took an hour and I'd asked the cab driver to come back in two hours, I went next door to the Miraflores Mall.  It was obvious pretty quickly that the mall was upscale, although largely full of Guatemalan people.  I don't know if it was the places I visited or that I just wasn't paying attention, but one of the first things I noticed was that the women were largely wearing skinny jeans and sweaters (low to mid 70s is sweater and coat weather here).  I also saw many women in traditional Mayan clothing even in a modern mall, which I thought was fantastic!  There were a small number of women wearing skirts at the knee or below, so short skirts are still not found here.  Neither are super tight or low-cut tops.  I saw them sold in the mall, but not a single person wearing them.

This mall was also extremely expensive compared to what I've seen other places in Guate - $15 for a basic baby outfit, $40 for jeans, $15 for a paperback book and $35 for a soccer ball.  Of course, I also had the $100 soccer ball fiasco.  There was a bin marked with items on sale, so I grabbed two soccer balls from it, even though the price was still around $20 each.  As it turned out, that price was "starting at" and I had selected a $100 Nike soccer ball.  When the clerk told me the price, there was fortunately a very nice bilingual lady nearby who was able to tell them to cancel the sale!  I'd read ahead that Q50-60 for taxi rides in the city was standard, but the driver charged me Q75 - apparently, you're supposed to barter with the white taxis, but that really isn't something I enjoy.

When I got back to the hotel, I decided that for the last two days after visiting my sponsored kids that I'd take tours after all.  I contacted the tour group inside the hotel and the group I went with before, Guatemalan Adventures,  The prices were better with Guatemalan Adventures, so I booked the tours with them again!

2013 Guatemala Trip Day Six - Tikal

Out of all of the sites I saw in Guatemala, by far the one that was most memorable was the trip to Tikal.  The morning was off to an interesting start when I was led past one airplane and toward the smallest commercial plane I’d ever seen.  The seats on it looked like something off a US school bus and nothing about it screamed safety, so I was really happy to have an engaging Spanish-speaking passenger sharing my “bench” as keeping up with a Spanish-language conversation kept my mind occupied.

The tour bus picked people up from a hotel near the park, which provided gorgeous views of a lake and then we were off to the ruins!  The bus was largely Spanish-speaking, so the guide provided a lot of information in Spanish.  Most of it was repeated in English, but understanding a lot of Spanish was helpful.  Once we reached Tikal, the English-speaking group separated off, which was nice as there were only 6 of us.  During our walk through the jungle, we heard animals, but I only caught a quick glimpse of a monkey.  We did see plenty of leafcutter ants, which are fascinating as they’re the only animal that grows their own food besides humans.

We were able to climb one of the uncovered ruins, but we also saw some of the mounds covering ruins that haven’t been excavated yet – hard to believe they were ALL covered at first.

(Covered)

(Uncovered)













It was fascinating to see all of the different structures that were built.  This central area wasn’t where farmers would have lived, but more likely where the administrators and wealthy individuals would have been.  There were buildings that people would have lived in, including niches where people slept near windows for cool, fresh air.

We were also able to see how the Mayans had built layer over layer over layer in the construction of their buildings.  And then we saw one of the main temple buildings in the distance.  I will note that this was about the time that the heat led to me taking my jacket off, which was when the mosquitoes REALLY decended despite 100% DEET.  My experience with that in a malarial area was enough to convince me that anti-malarials really are a good idea no matter how many precautions I plan to take.  It's such a serious disease that it simply isn't worth the risk if mosquitoes love you (they LOVE me)!

One of the largest ruins has a separate set of stairs so you can climb switchbacks to the top, but this is not an adventure for the faint of heart or those in poor health!  It was extremely humid and warm, even on an overcast day, and very strenuous; however, if you can manage it, the view was incredible.  The Mayans had built this structure above the jungle canopy!  And from the top, which was on the small side for the number of people up there (especially if you have any fear of heights, which I do!) you could see the temples facing each other at the ceremonial center in the distance.

Toward the end of our tour, we came upon the ceremonial center - yes, you WALK that far.  As luck would have it, we were there on a day when modern Mayans were performing a ceremony.  It was a fascinating place to look around and try to picture what it would have looked like at its peak.  Many of the structures were still standing and one of the main temples was being restored at the time; however, they were in surprisingly good condition given how old they are.  

It was really an amazing glimpse into the life style, from ball courts to remaining irrigation structures.  Tikal is rare for an ancient city because it was not built near a source of fresh water, but rather the Mayans built an elaborate system to capture and store rain water instead.

If you’re ever in Guatemala, it’s well worth the expense to take a trip to Tikal!

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!

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.