DISCOVERING GUATEMALA: Antigua, Volcano Acatenango, and Lake Atitlán

We've made it to Guatemala. We're staying in this traditional colonial style villa here in Antigua. This is the inside and this is our courtyard. Super charming. Got a little bathtub here. And this is probably the coolest thing about where we're staying. That is a volcano. And you can see it from just about every street in this city. And that's because Guatemala is a country of volcanoes. I fell into a ring of fire. So I'd say that there's four main reasons people come to Guatemala. Number one, to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site city of Antigua, where we are now. Number two, to hike volcanoes like Pacaya, Catenango or Fuego. Number three, to visit Lake Atitlan, which is the deepest lake in all of Central America. And number four, to visit Tikal National Park, where you can see all the Mayan temples. Unfortunately, that's super far away from here, so we won't be able to swing it. But we're going to see three out of the four. This city is blowing me away. I understand now why the entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Right now, we're walking on these cobblestones. And you got this big, beautiful yellow arch down there with the clock tower. And yeah, you got the indigenous women walking around selling stuff. This lady is selling dulces típicos. Those look good. You got those drum guys walking around trying to sell their little instruments, which is cool. They give you a little riff on the flute and then they're like, do you want to buy this flute? I'm like, I can never replicate your little riff. And then, oh yeah, here we have the hats. These hats are really famous here. You see a lot of people wearing them. And on top, you have all the colors. Really beautiful. Dude, this is probably the most beautiful Starbucks I've ever seen in my life. You got the volcano. And then you walk in. Wait till you see the courtyard. Wow. The art is just unreal. Oh my god. And I love these women that are always carrying things on their heads. It's beautiful. I learned that all the women that are wearing all the colorful clothing, they're indigenous women that come from towns that are around Antigua. So not originally from Antigua, but they commute every day into the city with their little kids. They have so many cute little babies. They like to linger around the main squares. This is, I'd say, probably the biggest main square in Antigua and sell their goods and little souvenirs. A lot of it is truly handmade, though, I've noticed. Like, the quality is good. And they're friendly. They're not too aggressive as salespeople. Like, they definitely are playful and will joke with you, but they are trying to make the sale. Even though kids, their kids are selling sometimes too. Like, you'll see six-year-olds and whatnot. The little kids, they're aware of their cute factor. They know their cuteness factor. They know their superpower. That's how they get you. Yeah, but also, don't they speak multiple languages and dialects? I heard there's about 25-28 different languages in Guatemala. So there's a lot of dialects that still exist to this day that are spoken by these, essentially, tribes. And now a moment for today's sponsor, Aura. Olivia and I were hacked on three separate occasions this year where our personal information and emails were compromised. Most recently, we received a letter notifying us that we were part of the massive AT&T data breach and widespread Ticketmaster hack that happened back in May of this year. And what's become apparent to us is that cybercrime is happening more and more often, and we are getting bombarded with spam all the time. So what did we do to protect ourselves and have a solid system of defense? We got Aura. For those of you who haven't heard of Aura, I would describe Aura's service as a very extensive suite of security tools. 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So if you want to stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches, click our link in the description below for a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed. So we must have found the chicken bus street because there are loads of them coming our way. A chicken bus is basically an old school bus from the United States. Hello! This is a chicken bus that they have pimped out with colors and light and a lot of times religious phrases. There's kids on the back of the bus waving. I have no idea though what it costs to get on it, but maybe we'll have to get on one. I don't know if you guys heard earlier, like right before that there was like an explosion and we've been hearing them all day every day and I guess they put off these fireworks for like a new birth, a birthday, a wedding. To ward off like bad spirits and bad omens. Any excuse for them to blow something up, they do. I gotta say they make me jump quite a bit because it sounds like a gunshot. Another chicken bus. So I think my favorite thing about this city so far is that it's set up on a grid and whenever you look down a street and you see the cobblestone and all that, you have no clue that there are these amazing businesses on either side because you have to basically walk inside and then it opens up to like these beautiful courtyards. You'll find cafes, restaurants, boutiques, these tiendas. Tiendas are like their little stores where they sell like chips and snacks and things like that. But it's just so unassuming and so private. You feel like it's like a secluded oasis away from the street, away from the noise where you can just kind of like relax and take in the city. Not to mention this city is from the 1500s. It was an old Spanish colonial city. They had a crazy earthquake in I believe 1773 that leveled the whole city to the ground and left it in ruins. A lot of those ruins you'll still see. Like they leave these beautiful churches that are kind of like half destroyed here and it just creates a vibe. It's like a feeling. Just so full of surprises and super clean, super safe. Just an all around good vibe. So this right here is a tienda. They're everywhere, on every corner and they sell virtually the same kind of stuff. But what's most intriguing to me is how cookie cutter perfect everything is stacked on the shelves. I mean, look at that. I thought I was in Japan for a second. Another weird thing about the city is how much fast food joints they have. So I just wanna show you guys on this street alone you got all the big names. You got Dunkin' Donuts right here, Burger King over there, Taco Bell a little further over there and McDonald's on the corner over there. I'm guessing America's got something to do with that. Dude, we're noticing some tourists are limping, like legit limping through the cobblestones. First I was like, oh, maybe they got injured like walking the streets cause you know, you could definitely break an ankle out here. Some wonky cobblestones. Then we started to think about it and we're like, they probably did the Acatenango volcano hike which we are doing tomorrow. I think it's gonna be a difficult hike. We've been told for most people it is the most difficult hike that they've ever done in their lives and we definitely need to keep in mind the altitude because we are currently at 5,000 feet elevation and tomorrow we're hiking up to 13,000 feet. So you're ready, Nathan? I brought an oxygen mask, so I'm good. No, you did not. We say something that means gorgeous or beautiful people. It's chuladas. So we're gonna call our group chuladas, okay? One, two, three. Chuladas! So it begins. And so it begins. On camera, how's everyone feeling? You feeling fresh? So far so good. So far so good, Sarah? So far so good. Today we are doing the Acatenango hike to go see the volcano and we are making our way up 3,500 meters which I think equates to like 13,000 feet. We're hiking to 13,000 feet of Acatenango, a dormant volcano. We'll spend a night at Lava Trails Base Camp and the goal is to witness the neighboring active volcano, Fuego. It's no joke, I got probably 40 pounds in my backpack. We're each required to carry a gallon of water, our food, winter clothes for the freezing temps at the top of the volcano, and other gear of our choice. Got a walking stick and we have a really good group. I think there's about 18 to 20 of us. We just completed level one. Got two more to go and we keep making these little stops in between and it's absolutely necessary because this second bit, I'm feeling the elevation. He said the first third was gonna be the hardest and he's been right. It's been pretty, it's just uphill the whole time. Altitude so far has been okay. Yeah, I have never hiked with a backpack like this. Nathan has always been my pack mule so this is really challenging for me. Yeah! Yes, Ben! Yes, 45 minutes here. All right, guys. Oh, that kicked my ass. Almost to the top. Yeah! Holy that was hard. Yeah, that was a tough hike. Might be the hardest hike I've ever done. Oh my God. That's the volcano. Wow. This is where we're staying. I don't know if you can hear it, but we can hear the lava explosions going off behind us. This is camp. We have a perfect view of the volcano. However, it's currently covered by fog clouds. We are at 13,000 feet, so hopefully that clears. Was it tougher than you thought? Yeah. It was? Yeah. It was. Sarah? No, it was easier. Was it easier? Yeah! Nice. How are you feeling, Josh? Getting there. You made it, dude. You made it. Josh's legs were cramping the whole way. I know. Those 14 beers the night before was probably not the best idea. Shut up. If someone of you feels too tired until this point, and you're like, oh no, I'm just climbing here. I saw lava from the base camp because you also can see lava from the base camp. The point to Fuego Volcano is to get closer. Honey. You're welcome, baby. Wow. Look at this fresh pasta. A few moments later. Wow. Are you kidding me? That was insane. That was 10 times better than I expected. Oh my god, there are clouds! That is stunning. All right, it is 425 in the morning and we are now climbing up a cloud to the summit. Hoping to get there for sunrise. It is wild. Back away. A little claustrophobic. So I'm just kind of keeping my head down. And yeah, one step at a time. You got this, Nathan. This is Brandon, our fearless leader. But this is where we stayed last night. So this at about midnight was clear and we could see the volcano right about there where my oatmeal is. This is where Nathan and I slept, down here on this bottom bunk. And yeah, we shared it with about nine other people. How sick is this? I'll be honest, the build is hilarious. There's some wood pieces that look a little janky, but did the job. Dude, the bar scene here in Antigua is lit. They got so many bars, sports bars, luxury like cocktail bars. If you're in a mezcal, they got tons of mezcal. We got tacos right across the street. We got an open courtyard here with other bars. You have to duck into one of these doors and then it just like opens up for you. Pretty cool. I don't know if we're going to make it. We have two luggages and two backpacks and all of our groceries in here. Dude, we're struggling on this hill for sure. So we just took a four hour van ride here to Lake Atitlan. And now we have to take a tuk-tuk to get to our accommodation. We're staying in San Pedro. The accommodation we booked looks like it's going to be really cool. Small little place on this plot of land. This is our Airbnb. A little casita here on Lake Atitlan. Fridge, stove, sink. Everything you need. The guy, he makes his own wines. Like what? He built this himself and it's just like super well landscaped and then you got fruit trees, vegetable trees. And then at the top, he has like a hot tub and a little fire pit and it's overlooking the lake. Dog just... A dog just tried to take our ride. Now we are heading to breakfast and then we're going to be getting on boats all day today kind of exploring different cities around the lake. We're excited. These tuks, it's reminding me of Southeast Asia, dude. Such a fun way to travel around. Gracias. Look how cute. Oh my god, it's so good. We happen to be sitting next to a very good map of Lake Atitlan that shows all the little towns all the way around it. We're staying in San Pedro here. Today, we're hoping to see... I would love to go to San Juan. We can go by tuk-tuk here and take the ferry across to Panaxel. This is the biggest town and most popular one where most people land and then also take the ferry from there to Santa Cruz. Yeah, how many are there in total? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. On 20 basically. 20 towns. Feels big and it feels... What I love is, as you can see here, all the main volcanoes are on our side. So we are staying actually over here next to San Pedro at the base of this volcano. And it's inactive in case you were wondering. That's my first question. I want no surprises, you know what I mean? But the view, my favorite view is actually on a clear day looking straight across this way because you see these three all lined up and it's just beautiful. So my first impression of San Pedro is it's definitely got a hippie vibe and a party scene, like pretty big party scene. There's a ton of really cute restaurants and cafes just right on the water that are really cute and clean and sell really good food and drinks. We went out last night, we got to experience a few. We went to Sublime and then another spot. And this is the view. But there's this interesting thing with tuk-tuks here. So tuk-tuk seems to be the main form of transportation to get around and whatnot. There's actually one right here. These little red, yellow, and green tuk-tuks that go around everywhere. And yeah, we got talking to our Airbnb host and he was kind of letting us know there is a little bit of a drug problem here. And so some of these tuk-tuks, you have to be careful when you're getting in them because yeah, you just want to make sure that you're being safe and you're getting a good driver. Hey! Also, it's kind of become like the wild, wild west since COVID. When it comes to like getting a tuk-tuk, you don't want to negotiate with them. You want to just pay them the flat 5 q per person or 10 q per person. And yeah, I don't know. I feel like we need to go explore the rest of the lake. We're going to get on a boat today and we're going to kind of like hop around. Para Pana. Pana Hachel. Una vía o solo? O ida y vuelta. Porque tenemos lancha, ida y vuelta. Nice. Hi. Oh, nice. Just a tight squeeze. Yeah, not bad. Not bad at all. All right, we've made it to Pana Hachel and this is our first stop. No, thank you. No gracias. And man, that boat ride over was incredible. I think we got really lucky that the sun came out today because I felt like most of that boat ride was almost similar to like Hawaii. It was so beautiful. The water was so blue. You have the big mountains and volcanoes in the distance. No gracias. Thank you so much. People are super friendly here. Our first impression of San Pedro because it was like overcast. I don't know that the water was so blue at that point. I wasn't really sure. We really got to see the lake. And all the beautiful homes. There's a lot of different like unique real estate and unique stays that people can have on the lake. That was like really cool. There's a ton of expats here. A lot of people who've relocated to Guatemala. Doing that boat ferry ride and stopping in all the cities and getting very lucky that we have the sun. This place is stunning. And I bet if you were like here and you were doing the whole kayak thing and maybe you did the Indian nose hike. People are cliff jumping and swimming in the water. I will say close to the entrance of a lot of these towns around the opening, it is a bit dirty and polluted. Yeah. So if you're gonna swim and jump in, go away from the main towns. I think there's really only a handful of actual beaches, especially sand beaches. For the most part, it's a lot of stones and maybe just areas you could just like jump off into the water. All right, let's explore. Wow! So many pretty colors. From the buildings, to the tuk-tuks, to the clothing, and the local women. So that lady, she's carrying a child in there. No gracias. Aww! You see a lot of kids here. We just came from Korea, where there was like no babies. And here, everybody has a handful of kids, I feel like. You see so many newborn babies being carried around. Another thing, there are a ton of stray dogs here in Guatemala. Well, this would have been cute to show Nathan's, but his is halfway gone. Just grabbed a gelato at Dulce Gelato. Really freaking good, dude. Really good. So I think now that we've walked the whole center area, I think Panajachel is really all about good shopping. There are over a hundred shops here of like artisan-made clothing, bags, hats, shoes. Definitely restaurants and cafes and little coffee shops as well. This is a great spot to come if you want to buy some things from Guatemala. I think the signature look of a lot of Guatemalan products are like those vibrant colors. Yeah. They use them with everything. A lot of it with their leather goods, but also their textiles and stuff. This leads down to the lake, it looks like. Well, now things are feeling very Pirates of the Caribbean, huh? I know, it's very moody. The weather has totally changed on us. It's getting really windy and foggy. Now, we're saying goodbye to Panajachel and we're going to be going to Santa Cruz. Oh my god. It's okay, it's fine. The nose just went up. Now we're going to Santa Cruz to get lunch. Holy hell. I'm getting a little PTSD from Albania. I'm such a wimp when it comes to a movement like this. Oh ----. Made it to Santa Cruz. Now we're taking a tuk-tuk. Something that we've learned is, um, it's better like in Southeast Asia, usually you kind of negotiate of where you want to go, but here it's just kind of known it's five or ten per person. When we first got here though, we definitely got ripped off. The guy tried to ask us for 50Q, so I'd be 25 per person. That definitely wasn't right. So, all right, we've made it to lunch and this is where the owner of the cafe recommended we eat. We finally ordered pipián, which is Guatemala's national dish and most popular dish. It's like a meat stew with vegetables, thick blend of seeds, cacao, spices, a little bit of rice and tortillas that go with it as well. It looks hearty, rich, but also in a sense quite healthy. Yeah. Oh my god, I don't know how to describe the flavor, but it's definitely layered, like there's a lot of depth to the flavor. It's a spice, I wouldn't say it's spicy. A little bit sweet from the carrots and the vegetables. It's honestly 10 out of 10. So Santa Cruz kind of reminds me a little bit of the favelas in Brazil, just based on the infrastructure because the whole town is on a super steep grade. All the homes are super close together. I honestly wonder when it like rains really hard and storms, whether some of the foundation starts to slide a little bit or move. There doesn't seem to be that much to do here as far as like the centro and downtown area. There's like one little main street. There's a school here, a church. Yeah, we've pretty much walked around for the last 10 minutes and feel like we've kind of seen it all. It feels just super local. It feels like this little village with all these like local kids running around. I think the main thing that people probably come here for is to go have lunch with a view. Yeah. Guatemala is just a trip for me because a country that has like over 37 volcanoes, everywhere you look you feel like there is a volcano. It's unusual and then you got such a rich Mayan history here, especially all the women with their, you know, traditional indigenous outfits with really vibrant colors. I'm not gonna lie, they're very short, okay. They're vertically challenged, a lot of them, but they're so cute. Some of them may have shorter necks because they balance things on their head all the time. We noticed that. Yeah, yeah. They live simply and I really like that about the people here. They are very family oriented. They cook simple meals that are nutritious. It is very peaceful and it's very seasonal. I'm sure like during peak season there's a huge influx of tourists. Right now we're sort of in the off season, so it's quiet but the weather hasn't been our best friend as of late. On to the next town, San Juan. All right, making our last stop. Nathan is helping this local lady carry her bag. Very sweet. Wow, this place is pretty cool. Has a totally different look than the other places. We did just pass by San Marcos and we made some friends and they said they just left and they did. I confirmed that it is very hippie there, so we had to skip on San Marcos this time. Supposed to be a lot of yoga and a lot of, I think, American expats that have made it their home. I don't know what she has in her bag but it's heavy. Am I smuggling anything right now? No, you're not. Got the pretty hats again. Oh, they're so beautiful. Lots of shops. Another charming town. Just to kind of conclude the day, I feel like after seeing Panachel, Santa Cruz, San Juan, if I were to come back I would stay in San Pedro again just because I really like the vibe of both locals and tourists. Just a good blend of both. It feels more chill. Unfortunately, I kind of kicked myself because I wish we had the time to go to Santiago which is the OG town on this lake. It's the oldest one and supposedly it's just super beautiful. But we'll have to save that for next time. But overall, I definitely would recommend coming to Lake Atitlan. It is very beautiful. It is unique just having all the volcanoes around it. If you do come during the off-season, make sure you do all your activities as early as possible in the day before the weather gets crazy. All right. Enjoy!