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| Central America - The Journal |
Arriving in a Beautiful City
Day 29, Copan Ruinas (Honduras) to Antigua (Guatemala)
The cheap tourist shuttle made the border crossing the easiest I've ever done, the minibus took us right to the small window where we signed out of the country and paid the standard "fee" (institutionalised bribe of a few dollars) and were on our way again in minutes.
The journey to Antigua took us through Guatemala's sprawling and ugly capital Guatemala City. Guatemala City is often a necessary evil for tourists, being a transport hub but basically having nothing else to offer tourists. The city itself is a mass of slums and ghettos, with a few nice neighbourhoods thrown in for good effect. For decades the capital has been basically left to rot and most of the place, particularly the centre, is a poor, dirty and very dangerous place. Luckily, with the multitude of tourist shuttles available and Antigua only being an hour from the capital it has become easy to completely avoid the place.
It's a shame that the city has been left to rot in such a way because I'd heard reports about beautiful Guatemala is a whole. Guatemala has a long list of natural and man made sights and is the highlight of many people's visit to Central America.
Anyhow, after a fairly long journey we pulled up in the beautiful cobbled streets of Antigua. Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its magnificent colonial architecture being carefully maintained. The city was actually the third capital of Guatemala until it was largely destroyed by earthquake (it's surrounded be volcanoes and seismic activity is frequent) in 1773 and Guatemala City was made into the capital. The government tried, unsuccessfully, to force the city to be abandoned, but luckily many refused to leave and today it is one of the most beautiful and most visited cities in Central America.
As we wound through the streets (cobbles being picturesque but not very comfortable to drive on) the city's peaceful, civilised and comfortable atmosphere seeped through the windows. It seemed a thousand miles away from the hectic and challenging life in the rest of the country and it was easy to see why gringos and affluent locals alike come and stay indefinitely.
We checked into the promisingly named Jungle Party Hostal, having been tempted by their promises of free beer, free breakfast, free Internet and hot water and a fun sounding place. It was a comfortable and fun place...but not really a true jungle party as the whole place shut down by 10am! Nevertheless, it made a great base for exploring the area...
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To know the road ahead, ask those coming back
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