Exploring Guatemala

Earlier this year I traveled to Guatemala with my boyfriend, it was my first time in Latin America and definitely won’t be my last. I am fortunate enough to have grown up as a child who was exposed to a lot of travel from a young age and because of that I guess you can say it’s become a habit of some sort. Early in 2023 I was feeling the need to see Latin America, I wasn’t sure where exactly but I just knew I wanted to experience that culture. Ultimately our decision came down to what was most affordable and that happened to be Antigua, Guatemala.

We flew into Guatemala City and then drove into Antigua. We stayed at this beautiful villa right outside the town center which we barely spent anytime at since we were always out exploring. I quickly fell in love. Everyone was so kind and helpful. The food was bursting in flavor and color and the terrain was breathtaking. Surrounded by six active volcanoes my camera roll very quickly filled up with different variations of the same photos.

We were there for abut eight days out of which we did a chocolate making class, a free salsa class and ATV’ed up a volcano however, I think my favorite memory was one that we could not have found on Trip Advisor. The last day in Guatemala we drove up the mountain to see what lied beyond the town center, and to our surprise we found small Mayan towns tucked between volcanoes. We parked our car on a narrow street and ventured into an open air market. We were welcomed by women roasting corn on open coal, children running around their mothers selling the corn, young girls shopping for bright colorful jewelry and boys playing soccer amongst all the wonderful chaos. In front of me stood this beautiful church painted in a canary yellow and behind me towered a massive volcano which I later learned became a religious symbol for these people. Unfortunately, I could not communicate with anyone here but I managed to talk my way into buying this delicious fried corn snack stuffed with potato and topped with salsa. I could not believe this quaint town was only a short drive up the mountain from Antigua and that it took us all week to find it. But without a doubt this was my favorite part of the trip.

I hope to return to Guatemala soon, still so much left unseen! Until then I will definitely be traveling more of Latin America.

Christmas in India

Amber Kang