15 hours on a shuttle, a stopover, and four borders later I finally arrived in Antigua or rather Antigua Guatemala which is the official name of the city that has been my destination ever since Costa Rica. It was in Costa Rica some two months earlier that I met a couple so in love with the place and whose enthusiasm, admiration, fascination with Antigua was so contagious that before I even knew it I not only made that UNESCO World Heritage Site my prime Central American destination but also my home away from home. At least for a while. Ever since that day I was only passing through other counties/towns/sites en route to Guatemala’s former capital – Antigua. La Antigua.
La Antigua was to be my home base for at least four weeks. My home where I would walk lovely and well preserved colonial streets, admire the amazing baroque influenced architecture, sip on the coffee in stylish cafes, breath culture, socialize with many expats who made Antigua their home, get inspired, do tons of writing and above all shoot, shoot and shoot.
It took a while to get there. But once I got there I couldn’t have been happier to have arrived. Couldn’t have been happier to have found an accommodation right next to the Central Park with rooftop from where I would take the most amazing shots of the most amazing city. At night. I was so looking forward to shooting again at night, an activity I’d done so little of lately due to discomfort walking the streets alone after sunset. Now I had a chance.
If I only had a chance. Instead, it all came crashing down at me the very first evening. Stomach bug followed by cold. I spend most of my first three days in bed. My Central Park hotel was dark, freezing cold and depressing. Not a home away from home. Very disappointing. And so was the town itself. Not as pretty, not as charming and not as well preserved as I thought it will be but rather worn down provincial town in need of plumbing, maintenance and lots of paint ‘paved’ with razor-sharp uneven cobblestones making sidewalks and streets almost impossible to walk and drive on. Bump, bump, bump. Not at all in the class with Granada in Nicaragua. Not even close.
I didn’t even last a week. As much as I love colonial living in the tropics I hate it in a more moderate climate. Dark, drafty homes with no heating at all designed for lowlands but build in the highlands where the temperatures drop to 10 degrees Centigrade are unlivable (or require years of getting used to). 10 C outdoors is one thing but 10 C indoors + chill factor (humidity and rawness) is pure torture. A deal breaker.
If you cannot stand the heat get out of the oven. Then, if you cannot stand the cold get out of the freezer?
As much as I wanted to hike to the top of Aqua volcano I had to abandon that plan. Too cold. As much as I wanted to visit (supposedly) the most beautiful lake in the world – Lake Atitlan, I had to abandon that plan as well. Too cold and wrong direction. I may go back there one day, but for now, I had no other choice but to leave the highlands of Guatemala and travel East towards the Caribbean coast and a promise of sunshine and higher temperatures. The cold stormy winds of Central Valley blew me out of Costa Rica and now the highlands froze me out of Guatemala.
In the search for some warmth, I set off for a 14-hour shuttle journey to Belize. My first stopover 5 hours later was a town of Cobán. Little that I knew…
Antigua in Pictures
Even if the Place wasn’t what you expected-the photos are Lovely!
I tried to see how wrapped up pedistrians was- but it is some shorts and T-shirts among the sweaters. Look forward to the continuation..Love ! A