January 2018

Do to time and money constraints, my total trip lasted slightly over a week, so I didn't get to do nearly all the things I wanted to. That said, the stuff I did and places I went were still pretty amazing. After landing, I took a shuttle right to Antigua and stayed there my first night at Matiox Hostel (highly recommended), before taking another shuttle the following day to Lake Atitlan. Initially, I just planned on staying two days there but ended up making it four since the place was incredible. While there, I stayed at Maya Mood Lodge (also highly recommended) and hopped from town to town over the days to see all the communities. This included going to a huge open market in Santiago, finding a really amazing locally run cafe called Konojel, and swimming in the warm January waters (it actually was really warm).

After that, I returned back to Antigua and Matiox. Thankfully, I arrived just in time for bar trivia night which turned out to be awesome (see story). I spent the remaining days exploring Antigua and the surrounding areas which were all very cultural with their own unique personalities. My one regret though was not making it to the ruins at Tikal, so if and when I return, that's on the top of my list.