Just finished a chat with Kathy about her upcoming trip to Guatemala.

Here's an interesting website for anyone who wants to know more about Guatemala--its political history, sociology, and tradition of weaving. This is written by an obviously well-read and articulate woman who took a tour with MayaWorks.

MayaWorks women's collective

I'd love to take one of their tours. Next ones are February 15-24, 2008
September 12-21, 2008. Their itinerary sounds exciting. MayaWorks tour - dates and itinerary

Charity

Really great website, Charity.

I like discovering things on my own, but if I were to ever do a tour, this looks like a really wonderful one. I hope you have a great time!

Another thing I forgot to mention in the chat.

JADE! While in Antigua I visited a jade showroom that demonstrates where jade comes from. Then, you can visit the jade jewelry shop, which I did.

I bought a very sweet, but small, pair of jade earrings that I just love! If I were to go back, I would like to get a larger pair of jade earrings. The color is just beautiful and the crafting is perfect.

Charity

Kathy,

I don't have a return trip planned to Guatemala. I would like to go, though.

Charity

I visited Guatemala some years ago and found it quite "third world" with some very poor roads for getting about. Just a warning for anyone who goes there that it is not as modern as say, Mexico.

Cyberia, I beg to differ. I believe Guatemala city and Antigua are very well kept and quite modern compared to parts of Mexico. I've been to Mexico and I was not impressed by the roads in the areas I visited.

I'm not a fan of the "third world" mentality. I've seen slums that took my breath away right here in the good old USA. It's all relative...

I have friends who have spent time in Guatemala and simply loved it. I think it depends on where you go. I am about to go myself next week and I am incredibly excited to spend time there!

teachick. I found Guatemala City not too bad though the hot shower I paid for in a very large very basic room turned out to have wiring connected to the shower head to heat up the cold water. I turned it on and lots of sparks showered down. Needless to say, I used the cold public shower down the hall. My hotel was opposite where some prostitutes plied their trade and they were best seen on a very dark night.

I have travelled extensively in Mexico and thought the roads were very good there. Rather than a short hop by plane from Flores to Guatemala City I thought I'd take a bus (coach) as you don't see a lot of the country from 30,000 feet.

The driver went to the left of the road and to the right, avoiding huge potholes. After 3 hours we pulled into a small town and I checked my map, expecting to be most of the way there. We were not 3/4 of the way as I hoped we might be. Not even 1/2 way. Maybe a 1/4 way in fact. Much of the trip was like that until we reached a certain point and the roads suddenly improved and we drove at a good speed from then on to Guatemala City. Obviously out in the wilds the roads are not as good.

In 1984 and 1988 I had two seven week (self done) tours of India by train and I hope you have nothing in America to match what I saw. I suppose India has improved a lot since then.

Why not try a bus ride to Flores (for Tikal) if you really want to see the country? Despite all it's lumps and bumps, there is lots to see which you are not going to see in GC.

Yeah, Antigua is very well kept though even a friend who likes sunbathing, etc found it boring after 2 weeks there. I fortunately only had a short stay.