GUATEMALA REPORT TRAVEL.

  

After the Customs of El Salvador you have to cross the bridge over Rio Paz, where a terrible wind usually blows and then travel 300 meters. approximately uphill before reaching the Guatemala Customs Office in Valle Nuevo. Here, too, customs operations are quick and easy. My passport is stamped upon entry. You pay nothing to enter the country. Unofficial money changers are present on both sides of the border and offer slightly disadvantageous exchange rates compared to the money changers you can find in various cities.

 

Just beyond the border, the bus to the capital Guatemala City is stationed and leaves approximately every 30 'and takes 3 hours and 30' to reach it. The fare is 30 GTQ. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

On the bus I know a boy from Guatemala who accompanies me to visit Guatemala City. To begin with, he drops me off in zone 9, one of the areas not highly recommended, where we walk a few hundred meters to the Reformador tower, where the Transmetro stop is. The cost of the ride is 1 GTQ, of coin though, because you have to enter it to get through the turnstile. It also leaves you in the center where at least during the day there are many people and therefore you can walk without too much anguish, logically without having valuables and cameras in sight.

 

Visited the center on foot, I take an urban bus in the company of a friend who lives in Guatemala City (at a cost of 2 GTQ on Sunday, while on weekdays the cost is halved), which takes me a few hundred meters from the state road to Antigua where many buses pass for the latter, at the price of 10 GTQ. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

In about 1 hour I arrive at the Antigua bus station, located less than 1 km west of Parque central, near the Handicraft Market.

 

In Antigua there are a myriad of Hostels and Cheap Hotels, but the most convenient accommodation could be the Hotel Dionisi, located in the historic center that asks for a night in a dormitory, 65 GTQ. The view from the terrace is stunning and allows you to see the daily eruption of the Acatenango Volcano.

 

The historic center of Antigua, a World Heritage Site, is terrifyingly touristy and you can walk around safely both during the day and in the evening.

 

To reach Lago de Atitlàn from Antigua, without resorting to intermediaries and therefore low cost, there is only one direct daily bus to the city of Panajachel, departing at 7.00 at a cost of 45 GTQ, but it must be booked at least the day before , or you can change several buses like I did.

 

It is therefore necessary to take one of the frequent buses to Chimaltenango departing from the Antigua bus station, located less than 1 km south of Parque Central, adjacent to the Artisan Market, which leaves every 10 minutes from 5.00 to 18.30. The cost of the ticket is 5 GTQ. The journey takes less than an hour. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers. Remember to ask the driver to be dropped off on the Panamericana, otherwise you have to walk for about 600 meters from the end of the bus.

 

From the Panamericana in Chimaltenango there are frequent buses, often crowded, coming from Guatemala City and heading north - west which also stop in Los Encuentros. The cost of the ticket for the aforementioned location is 15 GTQ. The journey takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

From the Panamericana in Los Encuentros frequent buses pass directly to the Parque Central of Sololà. The cost of the ticket for the aforementioned location is 3 GTQ. The journey takes about 30 '. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

From the Parque Central of Sololà, numerous buses leave for Panajachel, the capital of the fantastic Lago de Atitlàn, surrounded by volcanoes. The cost of the ticket for the aforementioned location is 3 GTQ. The journey takes less than half an hour. The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers.

 

In Panajachel the bus leaves you in Av Los Arboles, not far from the intersection with Calle Santander, the tourist street full of shops, clubs and banks, which you have to walk entirely for about 1 km before reaching Lago de Atitlàn, where many tourist boats leave for the visit of the aforementioned lake.

 

I return to Antigua with the same methods and costs described above.

 

In Antigua, through the intermediary of the Hotel Dionisi, where I stayed the previous night, I buy a night bus ticket to Flores, at a cost of 250 GTQ, departing at 18.30 from Antigua. By paying this sum, you are entitled to transport by minibus from the aforementioned Hotel in Antigua to the Terminal de Autobuses Fuente del Norte in Guatemala City where the bus to Santa Elena (Flores) leaves at 10.30 pm. Keep in mind that if I had purchased the aforementioned ticket on my own I would have spent less than 150 GTQ. The bus of the aforementioned company is the cheapest and therefore less comfortable and safe than the other 2 companies that operate this route. So much so that there were people traveling standing and also my seat was broken and therefore not reclining.

 

I arrive at the S Elena Bus Terminal (near Flores) at 7.00 am, where there are several Minuibus companies offering transport to the Tikal Archaeological Site. I took the Company "Tikal Remate" at the price of 50 GTQ, one way, taking a thrust because the right price is 30 GTQ. The journey takes about 1 hour.

 

For entry into the Tikal Archaeological Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site, it is necessary to pay 150 GTQ to be paid at the Desk located 1 km before the actual entrance. The minibus stops on purpose to let the tourists get off to get the ticket which are taken to the actual entrance where there is the ticket control.

 

To visit the Archaeological Park of Tikal, you need to have at least half a day, preferably early in the morning when there are fewer people and less hot. The site is open every day from Monday to Sunday from 6.00 to 18.00. It is fantastically nestled in the forest where you can admire howler monkeys. For the complete visit it is necessary to walk for at least 4 km and face many steps, especially if you want to climb Temple n. II and n. IV, which offer wonderful views.

 

If you are interested in reaching Belize from Tikal you have to take one of the minivans to Flores (there is one at 12.15 for example), paying 30 GTQ and asking the driver to stop, after about half an hour, in Puente Ixlù where frequent minivans pass, coming from Flores and direct to the bus station of Melchor de Mencos (1 hour and 15 'approximately, 25 GTQ). The clerk passes by to collect the money after departure. The bus stops often and willingly to pick up and drop off passengers. The last 13 km are not asphalted.

 

At the Estacio de Autobuses de Melchor de Mencos there is an unofficial money changer looking for customers who intends to change money. Euros are not accepted. The Belize dollar is traded at a fixed rate on the dollar of 2 to 1.

 

From there you have to cross the Mopan River thanks to the Puente Mopan before arriving at the Guatemala Customs Office. In theory, it is not necessary to pay anything to leave the country even if tourists are asked for an unofficial rate of 16 GTQ. I was only 10 but they let me pass by putting the exit stamp on my passport. I got away with a smile.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

http://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2016/04/traversata-del-centro-america-da-panama.htm