Capital: Guatemala City

Language: Spanish

Currency: Guatemalan Quetzal

Do Indians need visa pre-arrival: Yes but substituted with a valid visa issued by Canada, the US or a Schengen Area member state.

Places I Visited:
• Guatemala City- Capital of the country, Walk in the downtown, visit the national palace and good nightlife.
• Antigua- City with a view of volcanoes, Hiking the volcanoes and decent nightlife.
• Semuc Champey- A visit to the natural pools, good for doing water adventures.
• Flores- Gateway to Tikal ruins with a lot of history, Was one of the biggest cities in the world in the 10th century.

Guatemala was the most welcoming country in my whole Central America trip, outside the immigration office there is an information center for tourists where there staff guide you with the things you need to do in the country. After a lot of information from them, I headed to Guatemala City. it was night as I reached the Guatemala City.

The next morning, I walked around the center of the city and took a guided tour of the palace located in the center. In the evening I met a Scottish in the hostel, he knew some people in the city he told me he was going out with them for partying he asked if I would join them. Believe me, that night was one of the best night on this tour.

I went out with a bunch of local people and the Scottish; here I had a chance to drive left handed manual gear car for the first time (car in the US are automatic). We headed to variety bar building; there are 4 different bars in one building, and all of them were crowded. After a lot of drinks and conversation, we went back to our places.

Next day, I walked down to the bus station to catch a bus to Antigua and while in the bus station, I met a German who was going to Antigua and we made our trip together to Antigua.

It was only 2 hour’s journey from Guatemala City; we stayed in the same hostel that night. While in my room I got a message on my Facebook page that “I found your phone”. The phone that got lost while I was in Honduras. The guy that found the found is such a smart one, I am not the type that uses security on my phone so he was able to access the phone. He added me up on Facebook and gave me a call via Facebook. We had a lengthy discussion, and I told him to put my lost phone on Wi-Fi so that I can download all my pictures through the cloud. He did that, and I went out to search for internet center in the city of Antigua, and after downloading all my lost photos into a computer through the cloud, I called him and told him that I gifted him my phone.

On getting to the hostel, I and the German guy decided to trek to the mountain which is across the volcano where we can get beautiful visuals of volcano but I didn’t have proper trekking shoes at the time. Then, I and my German friend went to buy shoes in the city but we couldn’t find any shoe shop around. Finally, I found water shoes in the super market.

We left around 4 in the morning. On our way, we met 3 Americans and got there by afternoon and we spent the whole night on that mountain. Trust me; mountain hiking wearing water shoes is as tough as hell. After the sunrise and breakfast the next day, we walked down the mountain.

The next day, I took a bus to Semuc Chempay ruins. On my way, I met 3 Canadians in the bus. On getting to our hostel, we met a bunch of people from different countries. The next day, we all went for Semuc Chempey trekking. While trekking, we got to a bridge, jumped off the bridge into the flowing water it is like 100 feet above the earth, it was trilling.

The next day, I took a bus to Semuc Chempay ruins. On my way, I met 3 Canadians in the bus. On getting to our hostel, we met a bunch of people from different countries. The next day, we all went for Semuc Chempey trekking. While trekking, we got to a bridge, jumped off the bridge into the flowing water it is like 100 feet above the earth, it was trilling.

After two days in Semuc Chempey myself and my Canadian friends left for Tikal and around the evening time, we arrived at Flores (A place where people who want to visit Tikal ruins resides). On getting to Flores, we booked a tour to Tikal ruins. We woke up at 3 in the morning to visit Tikal ruins; it was a two hours journey from Flores. We went early to ruins because sunrise from the ruins is the best and by afternoon we completed our Tikal tour, and on our way back to Flores i got down from the van to find a bus to the border. My next visit is to Belize.