Chichicastenango, my kind of Mayan town!

It's dusty, dirty, noisy and absolutely packed with locals selling their wares but Chichi as it's simply called is the type of place that I absolutely love to be sucked into. It's full of local color, interesting people going about their daily business and enticing smells of cooked food wafting through the air.

Chichi is well known for its Saturday market where indigenous Mayans hawk their wares.  Translated, that means it's the mecca for shopping for Guatemalan handicrafts and where we would see the largest concentration of indigeous Mayan people.  Handicrafts I was certain I could get in any Guatemalan town though I had already planned on starting my shopping sojourn here.  I had in mind the colorful wood masks that I had seen in Antigua. 

We had a two hour stopover in Chichi today, on our way from Antigua to Panajachel.

Killing time in Flores.

If there was eve such a thing as a sleepy little town, on an island in the middle of a lake, Flores would be it. It's a s-l-e-e-p-y place.  I think we walked every street on the island and there were few people out and about.

After spending the morning touring Tikal, we had about 6 hours to kill before we had to get to the bus station in nearby Santa Elena to catch the bus back to Guatemala City.

Tikal. Part 2.

After my brother and Soon scaled down from Temple II, the gang headed off to the next site - Temple V.

We followed Aquilino, back along the stone paved causeways that link various parts of Tikal.  Quite amazing how the Mayans built what is essentially a system of roads to interconnect the sections of this ancient city.

Tikal. Part 1.

Tikal!! Today, I will finally get to visit one of the great archeological treasures of the ancient Mayan civilization.