Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Guatemala. I was there on a business trip, meeting with a client and doing a lot of “company building” down there. I was in Guatemala for about a week, spending roughly half the time traveling and half the time working. Thanks for the great trip, Jose and Karl!
Pictures…
Jose's house, where I stayed
My room, where I stayed for 4 nights (other nights traveling)
Jose's melamine factory. this lady is cutting out the pictures that will go on the plates
Karl, me, and Jose. Karl is Jose's business partner and friend, and was my tour gude for most the trip.
Jose and Karl own a photo studio
The mall where the photo studio is located. this is a really fancy mall
We traveled to Lake Atitlan, which is a super beautiful lake surrounded by 3 active volcanoes. This is the view from the hotel
In a village next to lake atitlan, this is an indigenous mayan lady carrying stuff on her head. lots of people did this. also, street markets and a taxi.
We went to a nature park with lots of forest and stuff. Lots of thin, shaky bridges. Pretty scary to be on! They swing from side to side when you walk on them.
I got so close to this butterfly to take a picture that at one point I accidentally poked it with the lens. It amazingly stayed still though.
The people of guatemala are very catholic, and have lots of churches like this.
This is inside of a Mayan ruin that was converted into a museum/hotel.
The top of a mayan ruin. Each archway leads to a bedroom, but when you walk in it really feels like a jail cell.
Here you can see a lot more of Mayan ruins. We're on the rooftop one, where there's a nice garden/lawn to relax on.
street markets in Antigua. The area is most known for the traditional mayan fabric that that lady in the yellow is holding on to. Those are mayan ruins on the left, and residential homes on the right.
Guatemalan food. I was worried about the food before going to Guatemala, but actually it's a lot like American food. Very tasty!
Coffee plantation. These are just the babies, actually the coffee plantation is huge. Guatemala makes some of the best coffee in the world, and this particular plantation's biggest exports are to very high-end places in Japan and South Korea.
Me unsuccessfully trying to pick up a bag of coffee beans. This little bag is 150 lbs.
This huge cross is on top of a hill nearby Antigua, and you can see it from anywhere in the city. Also, you can see the whole city from it.
This is a really, really fancy restaurant in Antigua. They have 1 proposal a week in their restaurant (I asked).
May 24, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Very cool, Amigo! I have spent a lot of time in Guatemala, back before you were born! (1976, 1979, 1986 – a total of about 3 months) I would love to return. PS: those “Mayan ruins” you’re identifying in the couple of photos are actually ruins of an old iglesia (church) destroyed in the great earthquake of 1717. (If it’s the city of Antigua you’re in!)
May 24, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Oh, really? that’s a lot lamer than mayan ruins. Oh well, I’ll visit some real ones (hopefully) when I go back to Guatemala