I traveled solo to Guatemala for 56 days

hi everybody how's it going welcome back to my channel long time no see I know but I was busy enjoying my life traveling in Central America in this video I decided to wrap up my two months in Guatemala because I think that's more than enough time to understand the culture a little bit I know a lot of Backpackers want to go to Guatemala so I decided to make this short video and give you some recommendations tell you about three things that I really loved in the country three things that I did not and at the end I'll give you some random recommendations if you're planning to go to the country or just curious to know what Guatemala is all about in the description down below I'm gonna give you a free itinerary about where to go what to visit and the famous backpacking spots you already know how much I love Old Colonial towns short buildings colorful walls cobblestones walkable distances beautiful old doors gorgeous Cathedrals Lively main squares etc etc I have visited a lot of little towns like this they can seem similar because of the Spanish influence but the local touch makes them all very different Antigua is such a special little town with beautiful cafes restaurants museums and event places also these volcanoes around it makes the place very Scenic special and also kind of dangerous because you never know when they're gonna decide to wipe off the city again the streets are packed with travelers from all over the world and locals buzzing around every 10 minutes you come across some kind of ruins mostly churches that were destroyed in the earthquake history lives here everywhere and for and also like me it's a paradise to walk into the streets I will never forget the scene I saw while walking kids girls and boys are playing football with these ruins in the background I mean how many places do you know where you can see something like this the few Cloud surfing experiences and the volunteering I did in a village gave me a sneak peek of how locals actually leave and how they are in general and I can absolutely guarantee you that they are super hospitable and loving people community is very important for the people here they do everything together and share their lives with each other I think this Collective culture is very important for individuals to feel a sense of belonging one might also argue that it has a downside too because a lot of people your family relatives and neighbors are entitled to be part of your life and have an opinion about your actions one might be forced to compromise their individuality but this should not concern any traveler people in the streets were very nice to me they smiled at me helped me find my way and stop the traffic so I could cross the road with my bike it happened few times [Music] I do not think I've ever been in a place where indigenous people are so present I saw some of them in Mexico and in Colombia but not as many it's super interesting to see these two sides of Guatemala one more modern and westernized and one very traditional you can see two women walking side by side one in a hand-woven traditional dress speaking the indigenous language and the other one in shorts texting on her iPhone while sipping her take out coffee for me it's fascinating to be in a place like this but I've heard sometimes these two groups do not get along well some people are very discriminative towards the indigenous population speaking to locals about this made me realize there is a gap between those two worlds these indigenous people want to maintain their Traditions language and culture without mixing them with others but the rest of the population sees them as uncultured and uneducated because they can't keep up with the modern problems or the modern solutions some of their languages do disappear though in patent for example where I volunteered for a month the Kechi language is slowly disappearing only a handful of people can speak it now and just a couple of them know how to read and write before I move on and tell you about the things that I didn't like I really want to ask you to subscribe to my channel I hate doing this I almost never do it and even if I do it it feels very cringy and uncomfortable but please subscribe apparently the algorithm really appreciates the video that made you subscribe to my channel not only me all the creators you like and appreciate just subscribe to their Channel because it helps a lot also like comment and engage in any way because this is a lot of work and I would appreciate if you appreciated it let's move on the garbage is everywhere I swear to God this problem is not unique to Guatemala moreover I think there is not a single country in the world that does not have this problem but in Central America you see it in the streets people throw plastic everywhere in their stunning nature and if they do not take care of their nature who will you know my friends usually say that being an environmentalist is a privilege that you have to have all your other problems in life figured out to be able to worry about the nature and they applied the same logic to the cultures and countries as well but I absolutely disagree rich countries can afford to hire workers to clean up their mess their streets their lakes and seas and ocean but the poor countries will never be able to do so in Guatemala they serve hot coffee with a plastic straw and poor beverages from plastic bottles into plastic bags so unnecessary I can't even see how they make sense out of it I mean I can they just don't know they just don't know better I spoke to this Austrian lady who worked in Waste Management here and the stories she told are just heartbreaking how some beautiful beaches are all contaminated now and that they even through all Hospital waste into the ocean all the bloody needles and stuff I wish any politician or organization cared about this because you can definitely tell people are doing this out of ignorance they just don't know the damage they are doing by their actions they love their country they love their nature and if the infrastructure was there I'm sure they would be glad to take care of their space Also the majority of cars run on diesel which dramatically contaminates the air I looked it up and respiratory disease are the second leading cause of death in Guatemala which is a shame because the country is just covered in Greenery anyway I might be overreacting because I care about the environment I care about the nature so much but um I don't know it just breaks my heart seeing this plastic everywhere okay this might sound a little bit controversial let me know if you have another opinion about it in the comments and I'm genuinely interested I'm not telling you this to make you engage in my video I don't know you send me an email if you don't want to Hype up my video for a lot of attractions the entrance fee is vastly different for foreigners even the transportation fees a boat ride in Florida for example was three Catalyst for locals and 15 foot foreigners I almost ended up paying 100 because they lied to me good thing I double checked it with my Couchsurfing host bus drivers constantly try to give me the wrong price so now I always ask locals how much a ride costs and preferably have the exact change to avoid any conflict my friend was almost kicked out of the bus because she did not want to pay triple the price the driver knew she knew that was the last bus so he took a great advantage of her stories like this happened couple of times a day which is frustrating to some extent I do agree with the fact that something should be more expensive for foreigners and some things should be free for locals for example they take our Mayan ruins I believe local people should pay less or even nothing to be able to see destroying because it's their land and their civilization and they should not be asked to pay twenty dollars to enter the park but these different treatment towards us foreigners make me feel like they think we have a lot of money and as long as we got to Guatemala we are willing to pay whatever the price they don't realize two things a Guatemala is not as cheap and B people who have a lot of money do not take chicken buses do not sleep indoors with seven other people and don't eat street food that much so they got it wrong in any other place I've been to in Latin America except for Puerto Rico maybe it was very easy to catch a bus from one town to another in Guatemala there are no bus companies but tour agencies that have shuttle buses so it's very very expensive to go from one place to another yes the rides are long but definitely not worth 80 or even 55. I skipped for example because a two-day trip would end up costing me 300 so it was just not worth it instead I flew to Flores and started my volunteering position early and I was lucky enough to be taken to many rivers and beautiful places by the locals I met there so I didn't regret not going to Central Bay at all it's fair to say that you can take chicken buses that are dramatically cheaper but way less comfortable drivers dread like crazy and it takes forever because you have to switch buses in every other town it's all about priorities I've taken chicken passes but more than five hours is too much for me as just really get sick and then I need like hours or even a day to recover from this Nigerian exhaustion so I don't know what what's really cheaper the driver of this minivan stopped the car at his house he's eating lunch and the whole bus is waiting for him sorry I took drama mean I can't talk straight okay now here are my five really random recommendations go to tigal and enjoy the sunset tour do not do the sunrise because the sunrise is very rushed you have to be there on time you have the anxiety you have to wake up at 2AM or 3 A.M so it's not really worth it go watch the sunset and camp out in one of the hotels so do it please do it it's really beautiful and it's not hot and it's windy and jungle speaks when the Sun is setting I swear to God you're gonna hear it I would skip Flores completely unless you want to go to tikau or unless you want to party because I've heard it's a party place yeah it's a cute little town but there's not much to do there it was extremely hot when I was there I just enjoyed being with my cow turfing house but as a town I don't think it has any cultural value for me if you have the physical ability definitely do this three-day Trek from shella geta tenango to Lake atitlan so you're gonna be Crossing all these beautiful towns and mountains and enjoying the sunsets and sunrises with the people you're hiking with or trekking with I couldn't do it because three days before the track was starting I climbed Agate in my body was destroyed so I can do it unfortunately although I really regret it okay definitely do Volcan de Fuego agatenango hike but do not have any expectations it might be raining it might be cloudy you might not be able to see anything and also either trade for it or be ready to be completely destroyed like I was and pretty much everybody in my group it's really not easy I have a video about it if you want to watch it try this coffee company it's really good the best coffee I ever had finally I can say that Guatemalan people especially the women and the children I worked with touched my heart and I will forever carry their love I think I learned a lot and I saw some things from different perspective do you feel the butt there's a butt coming but I did feel like it was a little bit overhyped and a little bit overrated some places at least I did have this feeling of oh this is a very special place in a few places but not in most of the places Flores would be one of them or even Lake atitlan which I know some people just love lay katipan is really really beautiful as a piece of nature it's a lake surrounded by amazing volcanoes again like the amount of garbage I saw there and the sewage and this non-stop boat rides from one town to another and these parties I felt like people were abusing and exploitating this beautiful piece of nature but again it was just my experience you might go there you might meet some people you might meet the love of your life and like a deadline will be your favorite place on the entire planet Earth so don't think I'm saying that you're not supposed to go there just maybe have lower expectations in general am I glad I got to Guatemala oh my God yes absolutely do I recommend you going yes pack your bags girl and finally would I like to go back yes to see those kids again but not yet I have some other places I want to discover and on this channel El Salvador will be next angels

Channel: Diana Wanderlust

Views: 13,959

Keywords: i traveled solo to guatemala, traveling guatemala, guatemala solo, guatemala solo female, guatemala solo trip, guatemala travel, guatemala travel vlog, guatemala travel video, solo travel, central america, guatemala travel 2023, central america travel, solo travel women, solo female travel vlog, lake atitlan, antigua guatemala, acatenango guatemala hike, guatemala travel tips, I traveled solo to Guatemala for two months, guatemala travel itinerary, guatemala travel safety

Id: cAazNsD79yA

Length: 13min 15sec (795 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 12 2023