This weekend was a long weekend in Mexico, and I didn’t want to stay home. Also, since I only had three days off, I needed a destination that’s close by and cheap to get to while still being different than Mexico City – and Guatemala fit the bill perfectly.
Only about 1½ hours by plane from Mexico City, Guatemala is Meixco’s southern neighbor, and the entryway to Central America. With a population of only around 17 million, the whole country combined has less inhabitants than Mexico City! Accordingly, “Why are you going there, it’s the same as here, only smaller!” was the reaction of my Mexican colleagues. And indeed, Mexico and Guatemala are quite similar in Geography and Culture. The latter one is no wonder, since Guatemala was part of Mexico until they finally gained independence in 1821.
I was pleasantly surprised that, while similar, Guatemala had a quite distinct feeling when compared to Mexico.
Arriving at La Aurora International Aiport (GUA) is pretty spectacular. From the plane, you can see mountains and canyons with wild moutain streams, small winding roads and vulcanos. After the landing, there’s also a lot of interesting small planes and helicopters to see on the airfield (that are for sure not narco planes!). So I definitely recommend grabbing a window seat.
The airport itself is small, and including immigrations, I was out in maybe 30 minutes. Remember to bring a pen, since all arriving passengers need to fill out an immigration form.
Outside of the airport, you will be able to take either a Taxi or an Uber to get to Guatemala City or Antigua, the main tourist destinations.
Note that you will find a lot of “travel blogs” when researching to get around – and they will all say the same thing: Don’t take a Taxi (because it might be “dangerous”), don’t take an Uber (“it will be uncomfortable”), but there’s this great travel company that will take you there, and then they’ll all have an affiliate link to the same travel company. Don’t listen to them. It’s super easy to get an Uber, it’s comfortable, safe and pretty cheap. You don’t even need a SIM, a fellow traveler was just fine booking one using the Airport Wifi (although admittedly, having an eSIM prepared made things a lot easier). Additionally, there were a lot of Backpackers looking for shared rides to Antigua, if you want to save some bucks.
Since I didn’t have any time to lose, I took an Uber directly from the Airport to “La Sexta”, the central pedestrian and shopping district in the Centro Historico of Guatemala City. There was a lot of traffic at the time, but still it took us less than 30 minutes. The Uber cost about 40 Quetzales or about 5 $US.
Walking up and down “La Sexta”, you will see most of the sights that Guatemala City has to offer, including the central square (photo above), the history Government palace, the Art-Deco “Edificio La Perla” as well as the beautiful Post Office Building.
A word on safety – again on many “travel blogs”, you will read that you should avoid the center (or Guatemala City in general for that matter). That was not my experience. As it was a Saturday afternoon, “La Sexta” felt extremely lively, there was music playing everywhere and families going shopping or just eating ice cream and enjoying the sun. Also there was Police and Security Guards everywhere. While you should be concerned about pick-pockets at any time, it felt very safe in general. Still I would not advise to go after dark (as for every Downtown in Latin America).
If you are in the area, make sure you visit the “Mercado Central”, the central market. If it’s your first time in Latin America, you will be impressed by the many smells, sounds and sights. You should definitely try some of the exotic fruits and some of the food prepared in the many food stalls. Also have some of the fresh fruit juice if you can, chances are it will be some of the best you tried in your life.
When it started to get dark, I took an Uber to the “Zona 10”, the quater were you will find most of the more upscale hotels. The ride took about 20 min and cost 30 quetzales (3.80 $US).
The “Zona 10” is pretty convenient: It’s only about 10 min from the Airport, there’s lots of chain restaurants for late dining (McDonalds, Applebees, Papa Johns, Starbucks) and it’s reasonable safe. But it’s also extremely boring, there’s nothing to do except visiting some expensive Malls, and it’s very modern and anonymous. While it’s fine for a night, I wouldn’t stay there any longer than required.
Continued in Part 2.
The Guerito 