Guatemala! Are You Crazy?

We are heading to Guatemala tomorrow morning. We are departing at the ungodly hour of 5:58 AM. The cat/house sitter is organized, and the bags will be packed shortly. However, the question we continue to get from many of our friends who don't travel too much is...Why would you want to go to Guatemala? They say this while distorting their faces somewhat as if they have just smelled some rotting road kill on an August day in Texas. 

We have been to lots of places that many people consider undesirable. For some a trip without a 5 star hotel is unthinkable; we've been on many trips where 5 star hotels were nowhere to be found - at least on our budget. For others, it is a fear of robbers and worse. We have traveled to many places in the good old USA as well as countries outside of the USA where crime exists. We generally don't like to put ourselves in harms way. We avoid dark alleys late at night or visit areas that the locals find questionable. Enough said about danger.

So, why go? For starters we have never been there, and more than a few acquaintances have recommended it highly. One couple has been traveling there, 2 or 3 times a year, for nearly 20 years. They are enamored with the place and the people. So far, they have not been robbed or killed. We've been told that the landscape is strikingly beautiful, lots of volcanos, some still active.  The lakes are considered to be quite picturesque. We will stay at Lago Atitlán and Lago de Petén Itzá. There are extensive Mayan ruins; we have visited many ruins in Mexico and Belize and are anxious to see more. Tikal is one of the most famous Mayan sites. And of course, there is the Spanish colonial architecture  from the time of the conquistadores. These things are more that enough to lure us south to Guatemala. And besides, we didn't have any travel plans for this spring.

The red circles indicate where our time will be spent. Our reserved accommodations have advertised Wi-Fi availability, and we have international data on our T-Mobile 55+ plan. I hope to do some posting over the next dozen or so days. Stayed tuned.