Day 3: Antigua - Chichicastenango Market - Lake Atitlan (Panajachel)
It's 4:30 in the morning and we're already with our eyes wide. It is clear that the jetlag is beginning to take effect and we have not yet gotten used to the schedule on this trip to Guatemala and Honduras for free. Seeing what time it is we take advantage of working for a while, before starting the day we will go Chichicastenango Market, before going to him Lake Atitlan, where we will stay in Panajachel. As we said yesterday when we finished our itinerary what to see in Antigua in one day, the idea was to start today early to take a walk without people in the area of the Arc de Santa Catalina before leaving at 7 to the Chichicastenango Market, which will be the first stop of the day.
So at 6:30 in the morning, after having a coffee at the Mesón del Valle we went out to the streets of Antigua to stroll through practically empty streets at this time of the morning.
Streets of Antigua first thing in the morning
Walking at this time in Antigua is a real delight, certainly recommended if you have the opportunity. The coffee shops open around 6:15 in the morning, so you can take advantage of a good hot coffee to finish enjoying the walk and start the morning with all the necessary energy.
Santa Catalina Arch in Antigua
After this incredible start of the day, we return to the hotel where Enrique, our driver, is waiting for us these days, who will take us today to the Chichicastenango Market and then until Panajachel on Lake Atitlan.
Transportation in Guatemala
As we discussed in the preparations for a trip to Guatemala and Honduras for free, in Guatemala there are several types of transportation:
- Chicken bus: These are the buses generally used by local people. They have no capacity limit nor is it known if you will go with a person or an animal, since they can both go up in equal parts. This is the least problem, since we can consider that it is a traveling experience. The problem It comes when these are not considered safe, both for the way of driving and for the extortions they suffer, so, said by the locals themselves, they are not advisable for long journeys.
Chicken Bus in Guatemala
- Shared vans: the means of transport in Guatemala most used by tourists. They are vans with capacity for 12-15 people that you can hire through an agency or accommodation that cover the most important and tourist routes. They have a fixed price, are quite comfortable and are making stops every 2-3 hours to stretch the legs.
In general, they go looking for you for your accommodation and leave you at the destination accommodation or at the place you tell them. It is a door to door service.
Van shared with luggage at the top
- Night / day buses: the Golden Maya company or Hedman Alas, the latter also present in Honduras, covers some of the most tourist routes, being a perfect option especially for trips such as from Guatemala City to Flores, where you can opt for the night journey , earning practically a day trip. The buses have two classes: executive and executive plus.
Both have reclining seats (much better than airplanes), television, drinks and snacks and bathroom
Hedman Alas bus
In our case we made a combination of Transportation in Guatemala and Honduras of the last two, all contracted through Guatemala Destinations, an agency of Antigua, which provided us with the reservations of all the services, saving us a lot of time and above all providing us with the security we were looking for in this service.
Another good option is to book this tour in advance through the Chichicastenango Market and Lake Atitlan with a guide in Spanish.
We leave you a transport relationship according to the route so you can get an idea:
-December 25: Guatemala City-Antigua Airport: Private transport (car with driver)
- December 27 - Sunday: Antigua - Chichicastenango - Panajachel: Private transport (car with driver) transfer of the company, but it can be done in a shared van. These are going to look for you at the hotel in Antigua, they leave you a few hours at the Chichicastenango Market, usually 4-5 hours, and then they take you to Panajachel
- December 28 - Monday: Lake Atitlan (San Pedro La Laguna, San Juan La Laguna, San PabloLa Laguna, San Marcos La Laguna) - Guatemala City - Flowers: Private boat to tour the villages of Lake Atitlan also hired through Guatemala Destinations. Shared van from Pana to Antigua. Car with driver from Antigua to Guatemala City. Mayan Gold Bus from Guatemala City to Flores
- December 29 - Tuesday: Flores - Yaxhá - Tikal Inn: Car with driver for the whole day
- December 30 - Wednesday: Tikal - Flores: Shared van
- December 31 - Thursday: Flores - Lanquin (Semuc Champey): Shared van from Flores to Lanquín + 4 × 4 from the hotel to Semuc Champey
- 1 January- Friday: Semuc Champey
- January 2 - Saturday: Semuc Champey - Lanquin - Río Dulce: 4 × 4 to Lanquín and then shared van to Río Dulce
- January 3 - Sunday: Río Dulce - Livingston - Río Dulce: Boat also hired through Guatemala Destinations to go from Río Dulce to Livingston
- January 4 - Monday: Río Dulce - Quirigua - Copán Ruinas: Car with driver
- January 5 - Tuesday: Copán Ruinas - La Ceiba: Hedman Alas bus
…
- January 9 - Saturday: Cayos Cochinos - La Ceiba - San Pedro Sula Airport: Boat to get from Cayos Cochinos to La Ceiba and Hedman Alas bus to go from La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula airport
…
But before we go to him Chichicastenango Market We ask Enrique a favor, go up to Cerro viewpoint Since yesterday afternoon, when we wanted to do it, the volcano was covered with clouds and we decided that it was best to wait for this morning and try your luck hoping to find a clearer sky.
Access this small change of plans and after 10 minutes of ascent and curves we reach a corner of Antigua that after the experience, has become for us an essential.
Viewpoint of the Cerro de la Cruz
This area of Antigua is usually guarded by police, since it is not considered a particularly safe area, especially when night falls, at which time there is evidence of assaults, so we recommend that you always come by car or motorcycle (30 quetzals round trip) and especially never when it is night. In our case, coming early in the morning has had a prize and is enjoying incredible views of Antigua, with the Agua volcano in the background. Without a doubt an image that we will not forget.
Viewpoint of the Cerro de la Cruz
It's 7:30 in the morning when we leave Antigua towards the Chichicastenango Market enjoying the landscapes and the localities through which we go, but above all learning from all the things that Enrique is telling us both from Guatemala and from more specific areas, which he tells us and explaining as if he were a professional guide.
We arrived in Chichi, as it is known locally Chichicastenango, at 9 in the morning, perfect time in which not much tourist has arrived yet, at which time you can start to see the activity in the largest indigenous market in Central America.
Chichicastenango Market
The first thing we do is stop at a restaurant for breakfast and it is that we have not done it yet, since we have preferred to arrive here before and not stop along the way, where we ordered some scrambled eggs plus pankaques and two coffees for 98 quetzales which would resurrect Any dead.
Breakfast at the Chichicastenango Market
With a full stomach, we return to Chichicastenango Market, willing to get lost in its endless streets, where you can find anything you look for or imagine and there is everything from the most classic souvenirs to paintings, through wood carvings and precious fabrics that leave you enchanted with their striking colors.
Chichicastenango Market
The Chichicastenango Market It is considered one of the largest in Guatemala and if it matches your itinerary a thursday or sunday, only days in which it is celebrated, we recommend that you get here, not so much for what you can buy, if not for the atmosphere that is breathed, especially in the less touristy areas, when you already move away from the souvenir area and you enter the food market, where the senses are sharpened to the maximum through hundreds of smells, colors and flavors.
Food zone at the Chichicastenango Market
Chichi
After getting lost for almost an hour in the area that is more focused on local needs where they sell vegetables, fruits, legumes, clothes ... we approach the Church of Santo Tomás, located in the eastern part of the main square of Chichicastenango, where you can see Mayan rituals.
Church of Santo Tomás
Here, on the stairs of the church, especially on Sundays, as today, you can see how the copal resin is burned in bored cans that sway to the beat of the most incredible prayers.
Book the best rated tours and excursions in Spanish from Antigua by travelers:
- Lake Atitlan + Boat trip to Santiago
- Excursion to Copán
- Excursion to the Pacaya Volcano
- Guided tour of Antigua
- Chichicastenango Market and Lake Atitlan- Many more excursions and tours here
Without a doubt, just having this experience is worth having come here.
Stairs of the Church of Santo Tomás
Enter in the Church of Santo Tomás is to find a practically empty ship, photographs are not allowed, in which on the ground you can find all kinds of offerings such as flowers, candles or liquor bottles, which honor their ancestors, many of them buried today under The floor of the church.
From the upper area of the Santo Tomas Church you have beautiful views of the Chapel of Calvary, very similar to this one, located in the western part of the square, just on the opposite side.
Chapel of Calvary
On the other hand, from the Chapel of Calvary, where they can not take pictures inside, you can enjoy a different perspective, both Chichicastenango Market as of the Church of Santo Tomás, which looks white and impolute among the plastics that cover the stalls of the market.
Chapel of Calvary from the Church of Santo Tomás
Once the two visits to the Chichicastenango churches, we get lost again by the little streets of the market that at times remind us of the Pisac market that we met on our trip to Peru.
You will surely read stories of all kinds about the security in Chichicastenango. It is often said that Chichi is one of the places in Guatemala where there are more pickpockets. The truth is that we had no problem, quite the opposite, but to make sure it is best not to carry anything in your pockets, including mobile and put the backpack in the front, to control it.
Chichicastenango Market
Chichicastenango
More practical information to prepare your trip to Guatemala
- 10 essential places to visit in Guatemala
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Guatemala
Crafts and souvenirs in Guatemala
In the Chichicastenango Market we expected to find much more crafts different to which we had seen in Antigua and the truth is that after touring almost the entire market, we have to say that if you are looking for something "out of the ordinary", this is not your place.
We, after many laps looking for something different, we found a small picture, the truth is that beautiful, but we did not get down from 190 quetzales.
After meeting the most tourist places in Guatemala We have to say that it is best to buy wherever you find something you like since the prices are very similar if not say the same everywhere.
Of course, if you are looking for wood carvings we advise you to wait for Flores, there are several stores that have real wonders.
Bargaining in Guatemala
They had told us and we had even read that in Guatemala they usually inflate prices an average of 3 times. Our experience is that prices do not rise so much, if not more or less double. The best formula to know if you are in price when you haggle is to see that if you leave the store and do not follow you, the last price agreed is correct.
It's 1 noon, an hour ahead of schedule, when we call Enrique to tell him we're ready to go to Panajachel on Lake Atitlan, so come find us at the door of the Santo Tomás hotel and there we go to the next point of the day and one of the sour cherries from this part of the trip to Guatemala and Honduras: Lake Atitlan.
From Chichicastenango to Lake Atitlán we have about two hours of journey that we return to enjoy unique landscapes and the conversation with Enrique with which we begin to know a little more about this new area that we will know.
A few kilometers before reaching Panajachel We stop at a viewpoint, from where we have an incredible perspective with the San Pedro, Tolimán and Atitlán volcanoes in the background.
Lake Atitlan Viewpoint
We arrived at our hotel in Panajachel, the Regis Spa located on Santander Street, Pana main street, at 2:00 p.m., where after saying goodbye to Enrique until the next day and after doing a quick check-in, we go straight to the Hana Restaurant , located on the 14th of February street, inside Casa Cakchiquel where we have read, eats a great sushi.
We ask for the offer of the month that are 16 rolls of fried fish for 65 quetzales, plus some spicy tuna, Japanese beer and coke for 193 quetzales, which leave us with an incredible taste and is that although it seems a lie, it is a Japanese restaurant In all rules.
Eating at the Hana Restaurant
With the stomach already toned we will go through the streets of Panajachel, starting with its most important and main street, Santander Street, where we are staying.
Santander Panajachel Street
We had read that most travelers fled Panajachel because they were the most tourist town of Lake Atitlan. We are sure that it is, since it is the one with the most accommodation, restaurants and services, but we have to say in honor of the truth that we are liking the roll It has and the truth is that to spend a couple of days, we consider that Pana is a good option.
Panajachel
As we mentioned previously the main street of Panajachel and almost the only one, it is full of restaurants, accommodations and shops, so here you can find anything you are looking for and at the same time get fed up with eating any type of food you are looking for.
Almost without realizing it and taking a shortcut that takes us through a little street full of street art, we arrive at the area of the promenade and the port, where at this time of the afternoon the typical wind has already been present in the afternoons in the Lake Atitlan, which causes a fairly strong swell.
Art in Panajachel
Lake Atitlan
In this area of Pana you can not do anything but walk and above all enjoy what this incredible area of the world offers us and we have to say that this is one of the most beautiful corners of the world that we have been lucky to Meet on our trips.
We love!!! And so we spent the rest of the afternoon, lost between little shops and cozy cafes, which seem to want to invite you to never leave.
We have read that many gringos they stay to live here after knowing the magic of Lake Atitlan. It does not surprise us. Will we be one of them in a few years?
Panajachel Walk
It's 8 in the afternoon when after almost no sunset in the Lake Atitlan, since the sky is quite cloudy, we decided that the time has come to go find a place to have dinner and also be able to rest after a full day.
Sunset Lake Atitlan
We approached the José Pingüinos restaurant, right next to the hotel, on Santander street, where we ordered some nachos with cheese and some mixed tacos plus coke and lemonade for 150 quetzales that we have to say are quite good, although we find a kind show for an organized group that the truth is not much to our liking and we just do not understand too much and that we run away in story we have opportunity.
After dinner we mix with the people who leave at this time, much more than we expected and for which we understand still remain, when it is more than 10 at night, shops, restaurants and bars still open.
Night falls in Panajachel
It is 10 at night when we return to the hotel, the Regis Spa, where we confirm that we do not have Wi-Fi in the room and that the common areas close at 10 and reopen at 7 in the morning, so today we cancel our idea of working a few hours at night and substitute them for a while reading until we fall defeated by the dream, a dream that will take us tomorrow to tour the villages of the Lake Atitlan.
Day 4: Lake Atitlan: Panajachel, San Marcos la Laguna, Santiago de Atitlán- Antigua - Guatemala City - Night bus to Flores
