Guatemala - Land of Volcanoes

The country captivated me from the first moment, the people are extremely friendly, it looks very green and everything is a bit wild. The first stop in El Remate at 'Lago de Petén Itza' is a dream; beautiful landscapes, great accommodations (Alice Guesthouse) and a charming village where pigs, chickens and horses roam the streets. From there, we also take a day trip to Tikal, a huge Maya ruin national park, where we see toucans and monkeys. 90,000 Mayas lived there and it was also one of the filming locations for 'Apocalypto' - one of my favorite movies, where they shoot off severed heads from the steps of the pyramid.

From Flores, we take the bus to Guatemala City and then to Antigua - a beautiful colonial town surrounded by volcanoes (some of which are still active - see photo). Then we continue to 'Lago de Atitlán' where we stay in San Pedro for a few days and explore the region. The hippie village of San Marcos, the largest market Chichicastenango and the San Pedro volcano.

The reviews on TripAdvisor and various blogs were quite negative about hiking up San Pedro. In the past weeks, several people were robbed and even injured by locals. Although I promised myself to be cautious and not to act like a naive tourist, I set off early in the morning - alone, as no one else wanted to join. Equipped with only a light backpack and my phone hidden in my underwear, I paid the entrance fee and started walking with a guide (a local). After only 45 minutes, he told me he wouldn't go any further because it was too dangerous for him. With a slight uneasiness, I continued alone. In the highest tension and with a good dose of adrenaline, I reached the summit in a short time, enjoyed the view, took a photo and quickly disguised myself again. I only encountered 2 other tourists further down, escorted by 2 guides and 2 armed policemen. On the way back, my friends couldn't believe that I made the hike that normally takes 6 hours in under 2 hours. Okay, maybe it was a bit risky, but I couldn't just turn around and not reach the peak.

That's it for my Guatemala adventure and after a rather tiring journey, we finally made it to San Cristobal after a long immigration process at the Mexico border.

It was short and unfortunately I missed the volcano hiking around Antigua, but I can always come back to this dreamy country.

I'm going to relax a little with my report, so there will probably be another one in 10 days. See you soon!