Guatemala City

This was a place we both liked a lot!  After not knowing until the late evening before that we would actually be able to get there, due to the possible roadblocks, we had a very pleasant journey from Antigua.

We needed to get a few errands done.  First the car needed a change of oil, and Harold had enlisted all the reception staff in Antigua to get him a phone number for Nissan service in Guatemala City.  This effort had yielded nothing!  Second, he had a business meeting to prepare for early (that means at 7am!) on Friday morning.  On the plus side, we had for the first time on this trip made a reservation at a hotel, so we knew where to go.

The Nissan service was out of this world easy.  We turned up at the center, they booked us in when we arrived and offered to take us to a place of our choice with their van to prevent us from being bored while waiting.  They took us to a mall, and we spent the waiting time looking around.  Karin found replacement walking boots as the old ones gave up and separated from the soles when we walked in Tikal.  Those old boots were bought in 2010, perhaps it was not fair to expect them to last for life?  By 1pm we were checked in at the hotel with all the tasks completed.

It turned out that the Oakland Mall was on walking distance from our hotel.  We liked the mall, so we went back in the afternoon to have some lunch.  This mall is one of the best we have seen, in any location.  It is necessary to point out that walking in Guatemala City is dangerous.  Pedestrians walk close to the inner edge of a footpath, just to make it harder for robbers on motorbikes to come up and get hold of you.  If you resist, they may shoot, they all carry guns.  It is not an idle threat, and it is clear that the locals adhere to the rules.  Best for visitors to do that too!

On Friday night the air-con in the room started to sound like a jet engine.  A call to reception had a guy coming up to fix it.  And then toilet gave up flushing.  A second guy came to look at it.  Harold went to his meeting in the morning, and on return the toilet had again given up.  So we were moved to another room, and were given a nice box of fruit from the hotel manager.  And the air-con in the new room started sounding like another jet engine.  Two engineers turned up, and then the hotel manager for good measure.  Harold made a friend for life, and we were moved a second time, now to the top floor in a suite with an independent air-con unit.  It was a nice room for sure.

On the Friday afternoon we went on a four-hour sightseeing trip with a taxi driver.  It was a great trip, Guatemala City does deliver real experiences and it is equipped like any other large, developed city.  The architecture is beautiful, the streets well managed and generally it is a great place to be.  Pity with all the criminals.

We walked around the area around the hotel a bit more on the Saturday and found other places with restaurants and shops where it was safe to hang out.  By Sunday we were up early to leave for El Salvador.  Guatemala gave us many different experiences, and we’d be happy to return.  We left via the Valle Nuevo border crossing.