Edit: I thought the app lost my article so I rewrote it retrospectively again. It can be interesting to read both as I might have felt differently about certain things or facts. Here is the other one:
@globallocal/smiles-and-floods-in-antigua-my-first-chicken-bus-experience
Second morning in Guatemala City and I was finally ready to leave. If you look at many popular travel guides they don't offer any charming suggestions for this rather boring metropolis. I honestly can't recommend nothing other than shopping and eating. But moving around is an experience on its own. I haven't been to a place like this yet. If you have no Spanish skills you might be better of taking taxi straight out of the airport and not even visiting this city.
I do however speak some basics and I can hence move around on the cheap. There is no subway here but something that resembles an official municipality transportation exist. It is called Transmetro. It's nothing else than a bus that stops at special stations that are guarded and gated and you absolutely need a ticket to get in. Or actually you don't as normally you should have some sort of a transportation card and if you don't have one, some local will let you in with his or hers sooner than later.
So I was progressing slowly to the place where Chicken busses were supposed to depart to Antigua and numerous other places.
The Transmetro let me off at what seemed like another busy street market and I was quite lost. After wandering around for a bit I needed to ask somebody. Got the directions from the ticket vendor/controller and was on my way. Crossing a bridge over a highway somebody already shouts at me: "Antigua, Antigua!" wow, that was fast...
Sat at the back of the bus and straight away we've started rolling. The ticket seller was shouting out loud at people around alerting them that it is time to go to Antigua and some of them were really jumping on at rather random places.
It took us about half an hour to leave the city center and than instead of new passengers, locals with sweets and chewing gums entered and left with or without success...
After an hour or so we have finally arrived to Antigua. It was a big relieve for me. Finally from the trappings of a big and ugly city. This place was on contrary - from the very beginning - looking very pretty.
Checked into my hostel and ventured out with an Indian girl I have met on the bus. She was meeting one local guy she contacted over on Couchsurfing and he took us for a walk and a meal at the local market.
Pepian - a traditional local dish (Guatemalan stew) doesn't look that promising but is great and costs only about three dollars if you know where to go. Highly recommended! I am not sure what it is made of but it seems like some grounded nuts added to the stew to form a creamy consistence.
We have wandered the streets which are full of historical buildings, ruins and artists of all sorts. There might be more vendors than artists though, it is quite rainy around here and it is dangerous for them to take their paintings out on the open.
The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. The oldness of the town is to be felt with every step through its cobbled streets. Leave your flip flops at home...
Right after we have finished our Pepian the whole hell broke lose. It started raining really hard and we got kinda stuck in the hangar of the market. Not a bad place to be stuck in to be honest. There is everything you might need. From exotic fruits to umbrellas that place have you covered. I have indeed bought a raincoat the other day there with intention to climb a local volcano, but that is for another story...
All the best,
Global Local