Category: Travel

Even though we had our eyes glued to the little television in our room (the whole Swine Flu story was just breaking) most of the evening, we had no problem waking for our 5am bus to Tikal. Even at 5am, it was still pretty muggy. We made the 60 plus Kilometer trip squeezed into a mini-van, and arrived without incident. We purchased our tickets, and started walking under the jungle canopy making our way through the sprawling ruins of Tikal. But not before checking out the "Do Not" sign……

Which would have taken one several minutes to read…..and led to the inevitable question, "was breathing allowed?"

The park itself is a set of trails which meander up, around, and through the ruins. The grand scale of the pyramids are pretty amazing, rising up in the air piercing the jungle canopy. You also soon come to understand that only a fraction of Tikal has been restored. All of those mounds and hills you walk past are structures waiting to see the light of day.

According to what I've read, Tikal was first settled around 900 B.C…..yes, B.C. It was a minor settlement until the collapse of El Mirador between 250 – 150 B.C. when the first ceremonial structures were built. By 250 A.D. Tikal had become an important, and powerful Mayan "state". In 562 A.D. Tikal was crushed, and period called the "hiatus" began. For 130 years, no new structures were erected at Tikal. In 682 A.D. Tikal once again gained power, and a frenzy of new building began. At the height of power it is estimated that Tikal's population topped 100,000 and the city covered almost 20 square miles. By the 9th Century A.D. Tikal began feeling the strain of population growth, and eventually the city was abandoned until it's rediscovery.

Without a doubt, the most impressive area of Tikal is the "Great Plaza". This large grassy area is dominated by two towering temples. Temple I towering 44 feet, also known as the "Jaguar Temple" is probably the most well known structure in Tikal as it is shown in most of the tourist photos and literature.

Directly facing it is Temple II (Temple of the Masks) at about 125 feet.

As you can see, there are some fairly steep stairs up Temple II, from which you can get a good view of the "Great Plaza".

It's hard to believe that building of the Great Plaza had already been underway during the time of Christ!

And like many things in life….it's much easier going up, than it is coming down!

As grand as it all was, for some strange reason "temple fatigue" set in pretty quick for me. Though the Missus was having a grand time. She being the one who never met a set of stairs She didn't want to climb. She even scaled the 190 foot Temple V, and got this wonderful shot of Tikal rising out of the canopy.

By noon we both had seen enough, and caught the first minibus back to Flores. The minibus thing was interesting, as tourists were squeezed in, and than even more room was found for locals who used the vans as an informal bus service to get from location to location.

We arrived back in dusty Flores famished. We had given a thought to trying out one of the wild game restaurants across the causeway in Santa Elena, but after reading that much of the wild game is poached, we decided to give it a pass. I had also read about a restaurant owned by a German Architect who specializes in monument conservation named Dieter Richter. Apparently, Mr Richter has worked on many remote sites, and has a restaurant called Café Arqueológico Yaxha. On the map, the Cafe seemed to be very far away, on the other side of Flores. But Flores, being perhaps the length of less than 3 football fields wide, it was just a 10 minute walk, taking the long way.

The interior is bright, and photos of various Mayan sites are posted on the walls.

And among the Hamburguesa, pancakes, and various versions of spaghetti was a page of "Mayan" specialties. We placed our order, and in keeping with restaurants in Honduras and Guatemala, we waited. Waiting for your meal in these countries is not a bad thing; it means that your meal is being prepared fresh. Sitting with a growling belly for an hour is not uncommon as we found later on in Copan.

The Missus ordered the Filete de Pescado al Tikinchic:

Unlike the Yucatanian Tikinchic I've had the "sauce" was not citrus based, but tomato and pepper based. The Black Snook (robalo) was cooked to perfection. The Missus loved this, and even enjoyed the mass produced corn chips!

I ordered the Pollo con salsa de Tamarindo:

This was a piece of boneless, skinless chicken thigh glazed in a tamarind sauce. The chicken was tough and stringy, kinda to be expected. The sauce was super tangy and puckery, and I think I detected a hint of soy sauce? Nevertheless, it was tasty. This was not bland in the least bit.

Curious, we also ordered the Yuca con Hierba Mora.

At first we were disappointed that the Yuca was just served on the side as with our other dishes. In essence it was a scrambled egg dish……but a scrambled egg dish that we enjoyed! The greens had an interesting mildly bitter and astringent effect, which heightened the flavor of everything else.

So after I return home, I look up Hierba Mora, and gasp! Everything I find lists it as Black Nightshade, which got my attention. Especially the part that read "When mature they should be considered poisonous as they may contain high levels of solanine, but in general the plant is not as poisonous as many of its nightshade cousins." Yikes! But reading this publication put me at ease. Within the document it lists the plants use as a pot-herb in Guatemala, saying that young plants areconsumed in large quantities.

It could have been that we had not eaten since the night before, but this meal left us more than satisfied.

Café Arqueológico Yaxha
Calle 15 de Septembre
Flores, Guatemala

Flores itself was a pretty dusty town. It didn't help that all the streets were dug up. Instead of streets you had trenches, some of which were ten feet deep.

In some instances, shops and building were isolated, and you had to cross those trenches via planks. As was the case in the local Tienda (market).

In others words, I got to say that I had to "walk the plank to get Agua Pura (water)". I'm sure that all the construction was for the good of all the future visitors…..

In Flores, was stayed at the Hotel Casa Amelia.

The rooms were modest, but clean.

Dig the curtains made from burlap sacks!!!!

But Casa Amelia had one commodity we relished, well two. Air conditioning, and a (small) television.

And we had a view of Lake Peten Itza out our window. The Missus took this photo of kids being, well, kids using a sunken boat as a swimming pool.

And in spite of the wonderful sunset:

We both knew it was time to move on…….

By the time we landed in San Pedro night had fallen. We caught a taxi to our hotel in Flores a few kilometers and across the causeway from San Pedro. Flores seemed tiny, but it was hard to tell because of darkness. After checking in at our hotel, we wandered out into the humidity to find something to eat. The air was thick with dust, and the roads were all dug up. We had to exercise caution when walking, falling into one of the trenches would not be a fun experience. Flores is not short of pasta, pizza, and Mexican restaurants. We were wondering what the locals ate……….it seemed that just about everything on this side of the causeway was set-up for the tourist trade. Until, we saw a huge crowd of locals lined up at a doorway. Curious, we queued up to see what was going on.

As we got near the front we finally saw what was being sold…….tostadas! They were selling like hotcakes. In fact, while the Missus was waiting in line, I observed one portly woman polish off eight tostadas, than push her way back to the front of the line for eight more!

We eventually made our way back to our room with six tostadas, 2 slices of cake, and 2 cups of Jamaica for 24 Quetzales! That would be less than three bucks.

We stacked 'em up, and crunched away! I enjoyed the tart and sweet Ensalada de Remolacha.

The carne had a kind of a "mystery meat" texture and flavor, but overall this was a filling meal….and the cheapest by far on this trip!

And that was a good thing, since we had to wake at 4am the next morning and be on our way to Tikal. It was hard falling asleep, since the Swine Flu story was starting to gain momentum……it was "gripe porcina" 24/7 on all the news networks. We were especially concerned since we had to fly through Mexico City during our return flight……

We had to make our way from Lake Atitlan toLa Aurora Airport in Guatemala City, and our flight to Flores. Initially, we made arrangements for a shuttle from Panajachel to Antigua, ending at La Aurora Airport. This would have been fine, the shuttle would take 2-3 hours to get to Antigua, drop off everyone, stop, make the rounds picking up other passengers, than head off to Guatemala City. After a short discussion, the Missus and I decided to be dropped off in Antigua, and have Mauricio, the wonderful shuttle driver who originally drove us from the airport to Antigua, drop us off. Lucky for us Mauricio was able to accommodate us. We also felt better giving such a nice dependable, independant operator like Mauricio our money. We also saw the benefit of having a 3 hour layover in Antigua to stretch our legs…..and eat of course!

Which leads us to La Cuevita de los Urquizu, located across the street from the Capuchin Nunnery on 2 Calle Oriente. This was an interesting part of town as there seemed to be some very well-to-do residences, instead of just the usual hotels and businesses. La Cuevita is pretty easy to find, you just look for the crowd…..

And all the bubbling pots…….

Like this wonderful looking Hilachas (shredded beef stew).

The hardest part is choosing what to eat! As these two gentleman illustrate. The older gentleman is a bit gruff, but always takes time to name every single item available. I can imagine how tiring that could be.

If you choose one of the "mains" you also got a tamal, and also select two of what seems an endless selection  "sides"….argh, more choices! If you thought reading those humongous menus with over a hundred dishes was tough…try having all of this food within reach, but only being able to pick two! Once your selections have been made, one of the Servers will than carry your plate to the table of your choice.

There is also a large selection of other "comida tipico" such as pupusas, ceviches, platano frito, etc, etc…….

The Missus went with the Estofado de Cordero (lamb stew):

The Missus declared this to be much more flavorful than the version from La Fonda Calle Real.

For Her sides the Missus chose a simple sauteed greens and guacamole.

Having been underwhelmed with the Pepian at La Fonda, and at our hotel at Lake Atitlan, I decided to give the Pepian de Pollo one last try.

I'm glad I did, this was much better than the other two versions I ate. I was told that Pepian is like Guatemalan "curry", and this was like a nice mild curry; rich, with great body. The flavor was unmistakeably chicken, and there was some tomato tanginess, with a background garlic-nuttiness that I enjoyed.

I really enjoyed my sides, the Piloyada, red bean salad was nice and refreshing, and the Arroz great, because, well to tell you the truth, I was kinda missing rice!

The bland and waxy tamal didn't thrill me much.

And of course there was hand made tortillas, no meal would be complete without it!

You could hear the "pat-pat-pat" noises coming from behind these doors.

Everywhere we travel, we pick up at least food item we enjoy. In Guatemala and Honduras, it was the Encurtido, the pickled vegetables that will be provided, usually by request for tourists.

As usual, the "salsa picante" wasn't very picante, but in this very nice and tangy from the tomatillos used to make it.

I'm guessing the Missus loved Her Estofado de Cordero , what do you think?

By the time we finished our meal, every table was filled. Mostly with well to do locals, and Central American and European Tourists. The prices are pretty much out of the range of the local working folk at about $7 per person.

Overall a nice meal….

Upon our return to Antigua, we were searching for a place to eat. Feeling a bit "lazy" I mentioned La Cuevita. The Missus thought we should search out something else. Soon we passed a woman carrying a wonderful looking and smelling bowl of stew. The Missus inquired as to where the woman purchased her heavenly looking bowl. The woman simply said; "La Cuevita"……….

This time around the Missus decided on a plate of "salads" and a Pupusa de Queso y Chicharron (pork and cheese pupusa). Some of the items were pretty good, the Missus enjoys the guacamol in Guatemala, it is plain, but the avocados are rich and tasty. The Picado de Rabano (radish salad) was also refreshing and delicious. The rest of the stuff was very bland. The pork in the pupusa tasted kind of off, and it was on the greasy side. 

Again we made sure to get the encurtido cebollas and salsa picante….and the very nice young man even understood what I requested!

I ordered that wonderful stew I saw the woman carrying.

My two sides were disappointing. After sampling versions in Atitlan and Flores, I had developed an affection for Ensalada Remolacha, the beet salad. This was a bland version, with the beets lacking sweetness, and without the refreshing tart and sour flavor that I had experienced before. It seems like Guatemalans love macaroni….I saw folks buying bags of it in Antigua's Supermercado. It was nothing special. 

My stew, however was something special. It was hearty and rich, with a nice smokey flavor provided by chilies, and a nice tomato flavor in the background. Our Server was a friendly young man, and was very patient in dealing with our questions. Not knowing what I had selected, we were told it was "Subanik". I love having other folks write in my "black book", seeing their handwriting always takes me back. And so the young man wrote the name of the dish, and described it better than I could've. Subanik; 3 meats, "pollo res y cerdo", and to make sure I understood he wrote, "chiken, bif, and pork"……….I always crack a smile when I turn to that page!

The Missus also asked the young man if She could go upstairs and take some photos. There is a nice dining area which overlooks the street, as well as the courtyard.

I was told that there are some decent comedores around the city, all of which were much cheaper than La Cuevita. But La Cuevita allowed us a chance to try some "comida typico", typical dishes, and the Missus and I were more than happy with our meals there…… and of course I enjoyed my "chiken, bif, and pork"……….

La Cuevita de los Urquizu
2 Calle Oriente 9
Antigua, Guatemala

Before leaving Santiago Atitlan, we decided to grab something to bring back to the hotel with us. You see, our hotel, is pretty isolated, and at night things are locked down pretty tight for the safety of the customers. And we weren't too thrilled with the food at the Hotel, and of course, we weren't staying there for the food anyway.

I mentioned the intense love of "Pollo Frito", fried chicken the locals and tourists alike have for Guatemalan Fried Chicken. And nowhere was it more apparent than in Santiago. There were three fried chicken joints steps from the main intersection in town, two of them right next to each other!

Choosing the "right" Pollo Frito joint was easy for us. Only one shop was doing some major business.

They could hardly keep up with the chicken…only legs for us, no pechuga (breast) por favor….

And there was something else that caught my eye…..

Chicharron en Pollo – fried chicken skin. Of course the Missus bought a dozen tortillas from the stand outside the shop. The Missus and I joked that the pollo frito places in Santiago had Antigua beat hands down. Whereas in Antigua, you bought tortillas picked from a basket, in Santiago, they made the tortillas fresh right outside the chicken joint!

And so the fried chicken started its long journey back to our room. First, from Santiago back to San Pedro. At the top of the hill from the embarcadero, we decided to give ourselves (chicken included) a break. We hadn't checked the Internet in a few days, so we stopped, and went about checking email. To our surprise, we had received a few emails asking us if we had heard about the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. We had been incommunicado for a couple of days, so we hadn't heard anything. We decided to follow-up when we returned to Antigua the following day. We made our way down the hill to the muelle to catch our lancha back to Lomas de Tzununa. It turned out that the captain of our boat, was the one who returned us to our pier the day before. He greeted us with a smile, and said "Lomas de Tzununa muelle"? And the fried chicken began the second leg(no pun intended) of its journey. Returning, the sky started getting dark, and a few sprinkles started falling. Apparently the rainy season was starting, and just as the previous day, the late afternoon would be punctuated with a few thunderstorms. Making a soft docking at the pier, the captain smiled and gave us a big thumbs up as he pulled away.

There was, of course, the 400 steps back up to our room……..

And though the steps were a bit easier this time around, the stairs were still winning the battle. I recall murmuring(more like gasping) to myself, "this chicken better be darn good" about halfway up the stairs. I don't think too much sweat fell on the precious chicken……

So was this worth the effort?

Even with the understanding that the chicken probably tasted better because of the effort, I'd say unequivocally, yes! The flavor was a bit different from Pollo Campero, there was almost a mild curry flavor hiding in the background. The skin was not as good in flavor as Pollo Campero, but the flesh was. The flesh was not as tasty as the chicken from Comedor Elenita, but it was a close second. Taking this into consideration, this chicken came out as the best overall on our trip.

As good as that chicken was, the fried chicken skin was even better.

These were fantastic! Amazingly crisp and light. Though I enjoyed the flavor of the fried chicken skin in Thailand, there was a gummy-ness to them, and also an aftertaste that reminded you of where the skin came from. These were just plain crack-tastic!

The Missus also had a few granadilla (golden passionfruit) which were a bit on the watery side.

Man this was good….as was watching the "fireflies" at night.

We awoke the next morning having had our fill of peace and quiet. It was time to move on. We were on our way back to Antigua, then Flores and Tikal.

I'd readily admit that I did almost no research on where to eat before our trip to Guatemala. Work and other commitments kept those efforts to a minimum. In the end we had to depend on guidebooks, and other info to guide our eating. There was one restaurant that seemed to always be on the radar on all the Antigua websites and in all the guidebooks; La Fonda de la Calle Real….simply known as La Fonda. La Fonda serves upscale "Comida Tipica"……upscale enough for Bill Clinton to eat there during his visit, and is an institution in Antigua with three locations.

We chose the location on 5 Avenida Norte, because…..well, we were in the area, and two, we were starving after our morning tour of a few of the surrounding villages. There's quite a bit of ample seating in the large restaurant, and we were taken to a table in the bright and sunny courtyard area. In the rear is a kitchen and grill area which the Missus headed off to…..and proceeded to have every pot opened…asking a zillion questions…all of which was answered with good humor.

After placing our orders….in which I made a faux pas of ordering the same dish twice (ok, since it was pretty good), a plate of garnishes and seasonings was placed at our table.

It included a chili powder, oregano, lime, and cilantro and onions. We ended up using all of the cilantro and onions and lime.

We also used up all the green "Salsa Picante" to the amazement of the staff, who warned us beforehand, "muy picante, muy picante…" We even had a refill.

This was nice and tangy, and mildly hot. We found the food we ate in Guatemala to be fairly mild in the heat department.

The bowl of oregano was also a nice touch, as it came in handy with a few of the "Caldos".

We started with an order of Tamalitos de Chipilín (16Q – $2):

This proved be very dense rectangles of masa, and in spite of the menu saying it was flavored with Chipilin, black beans, and cheese, quite bland and dry. The salsa ranchera was a bit watery for our tastes, and on the mild side.

I had ordered a bowl of Kac-Ik ("Cack-ik", "Caquik"), a turkey soup that is from the city of Cobán in Central Guatemala (54Q – $6.75). 

The soup was accompanied by mixed rice and a tamal. The broth was thin, but had a pleasant hint of onion and garlic. The addition of lime brought some of the background flavors out….I detected what I believe was mint and perhaps clove in the soup. I also added the onion and cilnatro for some bite. In spite of the color, the soup was mild in the heat department, with whatever combination of chilies used added a mild smokiness to the broth. I really enjoyed the turkey meat, it was gamey, and didn't look at all like "Western" turkey. In fact, the Missus didn't believe it was turkey…..She thought it to be lamb. I had to grab one of the Servers to explain to the Missus that this was indeed turkey!

We also ordered the Frijoles Volteados (31Q – $4), your basic Guatemalan refried black beans:

To my amusement, this was the Missus's favorite dish of the meal. This is where Her love affair with Frijoles Volteados began. I'm not quite sure what it is, but the Missus, an avowed frijoles hater just loves this. The hand made tortillas provided were grilled over an open flame, making them crisp…..on the menu it said it was "tortilla chips", but this was way better.

The Missus went to work on the frijoles, which when combined with the salsa picante, onions, and cilantro made for quite a treat.

So much of a treat that the Missus's main course, Estofado de Cordero (79Q – $10), went unheralded.

And yet, it was very good! This stew from the region of Tecpán, had a nice tomato tangy richness, and the "cordero" had a good "flavor of the pasture." 

I selected the El Comal de los Recados (76Q – $9.50), which was a sampler. I neglected to notice that Kac-Ik was included in this as well. But since we enjoyed it, that wasn't a problem.

In addition to the Kac-Ik, the rice, and tamal, this sampler included Revolcado de Pollo, a thin stew of sorts. There was a mild chili flavor, with hints of garlic and onions, and you could tell that offal played a big role in the making of this stew. It was a bit too strong in flavor for the Missus (I didn't tell Her about the offal until later – when I displayed the small minced livers).

Also included was a dish I really wanted to try, Pollo de Pepian, a dish that I've read about.

The base of the stew is a seasoning mix that includes "Pepitoria" (pumpkin seeds) and a variety of chilies. Every version of this I ate was different, so it's hard to really get my bearing on this dish. The only thing in common was the use of pepitoria and a tomato base. This version was much milder than I thought it would be, though the chicken was nice and tender.

There was something quite deceptive about this meal….it was very heavy…..major food coma heavy. A group of women on the table next to us, ordered in a similar fashion, each got an appetizer, a main (which they polished off), and they even each got a dessert, which they demolished. We, on the other hand were totally finished off. La Fonda is not cheap, in fact it was the most expnsive meal of our trip coming it at close to $40. But we managed to learn a bit about eating in Guatemala (and even Honduras), meals are leisurely, and very hearty. We headed back to our room and passed out!

Later that evening we decided to take a stroll…….and found an interesting mixture of people. Youngsters heading home from school and workers headed West toward the buses. Tourists were wandering about, looking for a place to eat, perhaps a hostel, or in search of liquid refreshment.

And even at night Antigua is very photogenic.

We headed to Parque Central, where we found rows of people with their camera gear out….tripods, remote flashes….you name it. All cameras were aimed at the beautifully illuminated Cathedral of San Jose:

After for a while sitting and watching people set-up, line-up, adjust, set-up, line-up, check settings…..set-up, line-up, it seemed that very few photos were actually taken……we headed back to our room. We were still feeling a bit sluggish from lunch, and settled for two pieces of chicken and a few tortillas for dinner.