Mayan Heritage - Guatemala
Posted On Thursday, September 2, 1993 at at 8:58 PM by AlvinGuatemala offered us a unique perspective to understand the Mayan cultures as Tikal is considered one of the most sacred and mysterious Mayan heritage sites. The early dawn mist half covering the awesome pyramids did Tikal true justice for its reputation and we ventured around Tikal feeling that we had time-travelled back all those centuries to a time and land when and where the Mayans ruled.
We moved on to the volcano lake of Lake Atitlan and enjoyed some fantastic scenery with a nice Belgian couple Rudi and Leaver by the lake shore.
We moved on to the volcano lake of Lake Atitlan and enjoyed some fantastic scenery with a nice Belgian couple Rudi and Leaver by the lake shore.
Apart from visiting the numerous colorful local markets selling all manners of artifacts and flaky fake-dye local clothes, I also went to Guatemala City, not for any visits to its historical monuments or anything, a couple of us went to Guat City to help Roger, a Malaysian who only applied for a single-entry Mexican visa and he was in dire need of a multi-entry visa to get back to Mexico after his foray into Guatemalan territories. Luck deserted Roger on this sad occasion, as it happened to be Mexican National Day and the Mexican embassy was closed in Guat City ! We later had no choice and bid our sad farewells to Roger as he failed to cross the border and we just prayed that he survived and got home ok.
During our time in this lovely country, we also ventured up the Pacaya Volcano near where we stayed in the city of Antigua, and saw first hand the awesome sight of live lava flow. We started the climb around 6P.M. and took a good 3 hours to reach the top; first passing local villages, then the ascent became steep and the lush grounds gave way to black volcanic sands and our footholds became unstable with every step we took. Although these areas were known as bandit outposts but they didn't show tonight perhaps it was weekend or something. After these strenuous 6 hours we reached back to camp site and Wayne took us to this amazing water park where we soaked our tired limbs in the lovely hot springs.
During our time in this lovely country, we also ventured up the Pacaya Volcano near where we stayed in the city of Antigua, and saw first hand the awesome sight of live lava flow. We started the climb around 6P.M. and took a good 3 hours to reach the top; first passing local villages, then the ascent became steep and the lush grounds gave way to black volcanic sands and our footholds became unstable with every step we took. Although these areas were known as bandit outposts but they didn't show tonight perhaps it was weekend or something. After these strenuous 6 hours we reached back to camp site and Wayne took us to this amazing water park where we soaked our tired limbs in the lovely hot springs.
