Guatemala City...

A Place to Hurry Through

Yeh it’s dangerous…professional gangs and druggies. But it is still doable. My advice is to stay in Antigua and take the chicken bus in for day trips. If you gotta spend the night on arrival or departure..then book at Dos Lunas. Several cheap hotels in town if you want to stay. Pension Meza is my favorite. Stick with the ones listed in LP. Some of the other cheapies are hooker hotels. Not that you are in danger…and the girls are generally too ugly for you to be tempted. Just that you won’t get much sleep with the party noise. Bus company stations are where you have to be on your guard. Way too many seedy characters hanging around looking for a bag to grab.

Getting Around

Guat. City is organized into numbered zones. Zone 1 is downtown...location of the main plaza...and some cheap hotels. Zone 10...also known as the Zona Viva..is the flash neighborhood. Best hotels and restaurants are located here. This is where rich Guates come to party. Even here be on your guard. The city has a large fleet of cheap buses...but this is one place I recommend against using city buses. Holdups are way too common. The Mares have a pretty strong operation in GC. These folks don't hesitate to shoot. They don't go out of their way to target gringos so don't go into their areas...ie...the poorer zones. You will arrive in GC either by bus or plane. Take a cab to your location. GC cabs aren't particularly cheap when you consider the overall costs of the country.

Three museums are top on the list. Two of them are located at Marroquin University. Best one is the textile museum. Guatemala has a fantastic textile tradition. If you are doing some serious buying then you should see this...plus stop by Nimpo't in Antigua. Next door to it is a small anthropology museum. Some unique pieces...though none of the big stuff. The third museum is another anthropology museum in Parque Aurora. This park is one of the other spots to visit if you have time. Not the greatest but pleasant..especially on a weekend. Not mentioned in your guidebook but Zone 10 also has some upscale whorehouses. Safe enough if you take a raincoat...at least no one will rob you. Head to zone 1 during the day to see the main plaza and surrounding buildings. There is also a big crafts market there. Most is junk or at least low end but if you know your business you can scope out a few interesting pieces. Don't roam here at night.

Hotels

I no longer spend the night here. But if you want something cheap in Zone 1 try the Pension Meza...one of the last of the old hippie hotels. Worth it just for the murals on the walls of the rooms.

The other reason to stay is if you arrive late or leave early from the airport and just don't want to make the run to Antigua...or it's not on your itinerary. In that case stay at Dos Lunas. Just a few hundred yards from the airport they pick you up. Very secure...it is a house with no signs..so doesn't attract the bad guys. Very popular so reserve early.