2007 Guatemala Christmas Textile Trip

updated 09/21/2008

      My mother's passing a year and a half before meant no more alternating between her and my mother-in-law at  Christmas, so eventually I wanted to do something different - just one time- before heading to my mother-in-law's every year while she is still around. I am quite fond of the dear lady, but something different called out to me this one year.  Slowly the idea evolved of a Highland trip along with my wife, Carol, the avid knitter along with me and both of us looking at textiles.  This staying in the highlands and out of malarial areas would allow me to still give blood before my next serious trip to Guatemala and to see some of an area that I had given short shrift to in earlier visits.

       We would be able to visit a friend of mine who had finally retired to a village on Lake Atitlan. In addition, a pleasant and knowledgeable person I knew online from the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree was going to be having a Christmas get together near Antigua and I would finally get to meet her.  My wife was very supportive and so we went to Guatemala. Later it turned out that we could also spend time with another friend of mine who would be flying into Guatemala City near the end of our journey, and this was icing on the cake.

      We flew from Philly on 18 December 2007. Our original flight departure time was reasonable enough, but when the connector got bumped back and gave us just a 5 minute layover, our only option was to instead fly out on the 6:00 am flight. My passport was in bad shape and would not scan at the self-serve boarding pass kiosk, so we had to wait in a line that fortunately only got bad after we got into it. Then we finally got to security, which had an even longer line.  Fortunately, we had arrived plenty early.

      The Delta Atlanta to Guatemala City segment differed from the first in that the crew provided the regular passengers with hot meals. They also encouraged people to keep the earphones for use on later flights. I ordered a beer and discovered that my first and only one would be free.

       We disembarked in Guate and had an unusually long time getting through Guatemalan Customs, although good conversations with fellow travelers made it pass quickly. The airport was just finishing serious renovations and now had the look of a modern one. There were even two ATMs and a Banrural kiosk, where we changed money. The only things looking even vaguely old were the "fuera de servicio" signs on both of the ATMs.

       Once through and after finally getting outside around 2 PM, we got a cab for 35Q to the nearby Zona Viva, where we put our things in our room at Xamanek Student Inn.  Had I dickered more, I probably could have paid 5-10 less for the taxi, because the minimum in Guate for a cab is 25, but I  just wanted to get moving.  Xamanek is probably the most stylish hostel anywhere and it also has a few private en-suite rooms. Thus, it was one of the latter that also met with my wife's approval. It didn't hurt that it overlooked the back patio and we could hear birds singing there in the morning.

      We had a pleasant meal at the nearby Casa Chapina, which, although it is a bit on the expensive side, it always has great Guatemalan food. We noticed that the restaurant included a tip that was just under 10%, which turned out to be true of every wait staffed place we ate in. This was not a problem for us, because this was a bit under what we would have left anyway, and there was almost no time where the service was such that I would not have tipped something. This was likely to have more of an impact on Canadians, New Zealanders and others who do not normally tip wait staff for good service.

        Due to the relative lateness after the meal we decided that,  instead of hiking off to the Ixchél and Popul Vuh Museums that day, we would instead wander around the neighborhood and tackle them the next day before heading to the Mercado Central.

       We also sauntered over to the local supermarket and bought a few items, including beer and soda.  Our hotel had a Burmese extended family staying there, of whom I later counted 13 individuals, although there may have been more. Because the children seemed computer savvy and two of the girls had boyfriends back home and made regular use of the inexpensive Skype access, getting to use the free Internet was not always easy for me. 

       The next day, we enjoyed the continental breakfast at Xamanek and belatedly headed out on foot to the museums. Because much of the normal route would have had us walking along a busy thoroughfare, we walked instead on smaller streets in the same direction. Then we crossed over the larger one and headed down the long hill to the museums.

        The Ixchél Museum has examples of local traditional clothing from all over Guatemala, so this was the logical location to start this trip. The staff allows no photos inside, even without flash, so because I said I would take none, I have none at all. If there is a next time, I will not ask.

        Being right next door to the Popul Vuh Museum, after we finished with Ixchél, it was just logical to go there. This museum has some very impressive Maya artifacts in it, but it also has a serious lack of English translation. However, the Spanish explanations were usually so sparse and broad that they were of little use anyway.

       This was the third time I had been down that steep hill to the Museo Popul Vuh, but it was the only time there had been a cab to hail when I came out.  We could probably have done a bit better in price uphill and and probably even with him, had we dickered more, but paying the cabbie 40Q for a ride straight to the Plaza Mayor and without my wife climbing that hill sounded pretty good.

       When we got out, the cabbie told us that the large scale topographical map of Guatemala that we wanted to see later was "15 minutos" further in a certain direction, which would have been good info to ignore. 

       We wandered around the Mercado Central a good bit and then headed down a busy shopping street, 6 Avenida, where we found an almost chain-like place offering some very good roast chicken.  They prepare it just behind the front window, making it quite hard for a hungry person to just walk by. We actually did walk by, but we went back and never regretted it.

      Then we wandered a bit through the Plaza Mayor before deciding to walk to the map the driver had told us about. In hindsight, we should have gotten another cab to take us there, but more than 20 minutes later,  we had had it with the "quince minutos" and headed back.

       That night we ate at the Zona Viva version of Arrin Cuan, which is around three blocks from our hotel. This has a more extensive list of Guatemalan regional specialties than Casa Chapina and is marginally less expensive.

       That day I arranged a shuttle to Panajachel via Xamanek for the next morning. That morning, the Xamanek breakfast was scrambled eggs and frijoles. These breakfasts were nice improvements from the mere pancakes I had eaten there on earlier trips.

      Going onward, it turns out that any shuttle to Pana apparently stops in Antigua on the way. It was nice seeing the new four lane highway connecting the two cities though. Because we had an hour layover, we headed out looking for a place to have lunch. Personally, I have had good luck eating at Pollo Campero, but it seems that when others are with me, the chicken has been somehow sitting too long under a heat lamp. This time was no different, but I have learned from this now.

       The ride to Pana was interesting, but I was sitting on one of those fold down seats and it was even less comfortable than the usual shuttle seat. Shuttles are similar to the minibuses that regular Guatemalans ride in, except that although shuttles make every effort to fill every single seat, no one has to fit in anywhere else and shuttles pick you up and drop you off at specific addresses. Despite all this luxury, I was quite glad to be there when we arrived. I resolved to avoid shuttles as much as possible in the future.

       We were there to visit with a travel friend, Mer,  who had finally retired to her "thatched hut" in Santa Cruz la Laguna.  The shuttle dropped us off at the boat office, but there was no craft leaving for a while, so we hopped into a 10Q tuk tuk back up to town for a meal. After eating, we walked back to the dock and spotted the Rebuli bus office, where we would go to get a real bus when leaving the area.

       From Mer I knew that the Indigenous pay 5Q each for the ride from Pana to Santa Cruz and that non-Indigenous pay 10, but that tourists can pay more, so when the fellow who greeted us before we got to the boat office wanted to charge us 20Q each, I laughed and headed onward and we paid 10Q each after getting on the boat. Two remarkably good looking British members of the staff at the Iguana Perdida were on the same boat coming back from visiting elsewhere, and I overheard one of them comment at the feeble attempt of the boatman to collect 20Q from her as well.  It is about a 15 minute boat ride to Santa Cruz and a not unpleasant one.

       Mer had left a note at the front desk and for 3Q I called her cell phone, but I only got voice mail. We dropped off our things, got our key and also got directions to her house from one of the Indigenous employees of the hotel. It was interesting that the owner did not know it, but this maid did. The "thatched hut" is indeed thatched, but it is also very nice.  Somehow the phone message had not gone through, but we did find her at home awaiting our call.

       Our two night stay at Arca de Noé was okay. We ate the full six small course meal there with Mer that first night, but I think if and when I return to the village, I would eat at La Iguana Perdida, where it doesn't take as long, and involves a buffet, so presumably people are more likely to be more filled when done with the meal. 

       Our next day involved us going on a tour of three villages, San Pedro, Santiago and San Antonio, where we had time to explore each on our own. Hiking up to San Pedro was okay, but when we got to Santiago, we hired a tuk tuk for a ride up to the village with instructions to take us to a seafood restaurant. I believe it was called the Pescadero or something like that, but I had a remarkably tasty fried fish filet with my meal. We did not much care for the vendors at San Antonio, because they were misleading. They would make seemingly cheap offers that turned out to be in dollars, rather than quetzals. They also would offer some nice piece of textile for a dollar, but the price would change as soon as one looked interested. This was the one place where everyone got back to the boat early. 

        The boat tour began and ended at another dock that was not relevant to our boat ride back, we decided to walk back along the shore where possible. It was pleasant enough along the shoreline, and although we had to to move to inland streets, it was a nice walk.

       Our supper that day was with Mer at a private home uphill and just past the main part of the village, where she had arranged for a meal of traditional Christmas tamales for us. Heading up, it is pretty much a directly uphill hike. I stopped at one place where it was not so steep to buy beer for our meal, but it was pretty much incessantly uphill.

       Mer had arranged a traditional Christmas tortilla meal for the three of us with one of the ladies who works for her. We also got to see how a locally traditional head band gets placed on a young girl.

       Walking back, Mer stayed back with the family for a bit, while my wife and I headed back into town, where we noticed several stands where women were selling enticingly smelling and delightfully looking barbecued chicken, Unfortunately I was already pleasantly full.  Later I learned that these are available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings up in the village, so it sounds like a great alternative to the tourist area on those days. 

       In the village area, I planned to await Mer down at the library, where she was to stop for a meeting, but my wife's attempt to head onward in this relatively flat area had resulted in her getting turned around and returning. I asked a guard at the front of the library to pass along my regrets and my wife and I headed down the correct steep slope together.  We made it back down to the lake front tourist area in the dark with our flashlights on and Carol settled in with a book.

       I decided to go and see what happy hour at the Iguana Perdida was like and found there were a good many people there. Beers including Moza were 12 instead of the usual 15Q and I got to talking with an ex-pat couple. As happy hour was about to end, I bought a final Moza to take back to the room.

       The next morning we had a pleasant breakfast with a fellow who is involved with the Mirador efforts, who likes the village and who knows two of the same people I do. Later Mer saw us off as we hopped on a boat back to Panajachel.

        On arrival, we headed to the Rebuli bus office by 10:30, where the "pullman" bus for Antigua was waiting across from it.  It took us on along with other passengers there and then headed to a bus stop, where it took on more people.  Unlike the shuttles we had been on, the seats were comfortable. It had no toilet or televisions and it did stop here and there to pick up and drop off people, but this was not as often as a chicken bus would have. It was similar to the Monja Blanca buses between Cobán and Guatemala City.

       On arrival, we eventually found a hotel called Ashanti's Place, where I had made reservations. This advertised a kitchen and purified water, so it sounded pretty good. The cabbie had no idea where it was, which turned out to be on a short callejon five blocks south of the square. When we did finally find it, it was not clear that we had done so, because there was no name shown. We called the lady running it and she came by cab to let us in.

       There was a mix up about the reservation. I wanted it through Christmas, but she had us scheduled until then. Based on this, we stayed the night, but planned to make other arrangements. While eating so-so sandwiches and enduring apathetic service at Doña Luisa's version of a restaurant, we had plenty of time to look for an alternative place to stay and came up with Las Golondrinas. We headed over and looked at the room. It was a bit more expensive than we wanted, but we still had the ability to cook.

       As it turned out, the next morning when we got up, we found that the Ashanti's bathroom floor down the hall was very wet from water that had obviously come up from the drain. It just seemed so right to be moving away from there.

      Once we were ensconced in our new place, we wandered round and poked through the market and also went into Nim Pot. The latter was a more expensive place to buy handicrafts, but it had some items that were not to be easily found elsewhere, such as colorful cloth fanny packs and similarly colorful cell phone holsters.  At Nim Pot, we also noticed that there was a schedule for the shuttle from there to the La Azotea coffee tour, so we made a note to be there the next day. 

       Some people inexplicably love Antigua, but I don't honestly understand this. The cobblestones look nice, but a long walk or tuk tuk ride on them would not be considered pleasant by many and the sidewalks are generally crappy.  My biggest complaint is that although most address are given as numerical, among the few street signs you will see, many are names instead of the numbers given in guide books and business cards. 

       The tour of the La Azotea coffee plantation in Jocotenango was interesting and we made sure to get some coffee to take home, both there and later in the supermarket. Owing to the holidays, Azotea was only open part of the day, so afterward, rather than possibly have to cram into the last shuttle of the day, we hiked out to the road to see what was around and to hop a bus back to Antigua.

       On Christmas Eve, noisy sky rocket displays surged earnestly into the sky at the first hint of midnight.  I put on my pants, grabbed a beer or two and headed out to our balcony. Twice I ran back in to awaken Carol and she finally came out to join me in the joy.  It's a wonder what earplugs can do when you don't need them.  It was quite a marvelous sight for around 20 minutes while it looked like several different neighborhoods vied to have the best display.  In the distance I could see a village at the base of the Agua volcano joining in.

       On Christmas day, we wandered past the local church and Carol noticed that the service was going on. We walked in at a time that must have been shortly after the beginning of Mass and we sat.  Carol was very sweet and gave me, the non-Christian, an option to head out early and get our things, but I stayed until it was over. I was impressed at how well the priest enunciated and made it easy to understand what he said.

       On Christmas Day, I was finally going to get to meet one of the long familiar people from the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree, whose name there is Latina Alma.  Her husband, John, came in a van to pick up Carol and me on the Antigua square along with several other people for what a Christmas lunch. 

       Not surprisingly, it turned out to be an enjoyable time. Latina Alma and her husband got a small and interesting group together for this.  They have a nice house just beyond Ciudad Vieja. The garden is a delight, but it lacks any songbirds. John pointed this out and mentioned that they used to have some, but locals used them as a source of protein. One time he wanted to get some bird seed  and asked a fellow working for him to get him some. Later, he found the man also building a trap, because that there could be no other reason to buy feed for birds, than to trap them. Other locals use slingshots to hunt birds when they find them. 

        We headed back to Antigua and the next day we returned to Guate, but did it via a shuttle. To be sure the driver knew exactly where we were going, I handed him a Xamanek business card that I had taken along. This worked out pretty well. Most of the other riders got out at the airport and our hotel is so close that we were the logical ones to drop off next.

      Back at Xamanek,  we met up with an old friend of mine for breakfast at nearby Casa Chapina. It was good to see him again and to have Carol finally meet him. He had flown in the day before and was going to meet a friend to go and see the new Mirador Basin Museum. Although we were invited and I was sorely tempted, there will still things we had not done in Guate that would be of more interest to Carol.

       We got a cab for 35Q directly to Parque Concordia, where we began the walking tour that is in the November 2007 Lonely Planet Guatemala. I had discovered that there were two yarn stores just off this route, so at the appropriate place, we detoured and found one. After buying up a good supply at just one, we returned to our tour, which took us past a number of sights, including the main post office, the Palacio Nacional and the Biblioteca Nacional. Unfortunately the Railroad Museum at its end was closed temporarily.  

       We met Mike for supper, again at Casa Chapina. The place has consistently good food and it was a pleasant reunion. 

        On our last day, we walked to the National Archaeology Museum, the zoo and the Artisans' Market, which are all close to each other and quite reasonably close to our hotel. At the zoo, I especially enjoyed all the songbirds that had been so lacking at Ciudad Vieja.

       By early afternoon I was feeling a bit peckish and suggested a taxi ride back to get to a restaurant.  A 30Q cab ride had us back near our hotel, where I managed to finally get to a local restaurant called Tacontento and sample their tacos al pastor. They were good, but not quite as good as some I had had elsewhere.

        For our final supper in Guatemala, I took Carol to a nearby Basque restaurant, Txoko, which is a bit expensive, but has delightful food.

        This trip probably would have been better for my wife if we had stayed in just two locations, such as Pana and Guate and seen other places by day trips.  It was quite different for me, in that I saw no new Maya ruins, but I got to do other new things and to finally get back to Atitlan to see it more up close. There was no issue of fitting Tikal into the mix, because Carol had already seen it in a disastrous trip back before roads were paved and had no interest in a return. This was a good trip, nonetheless.