I’ve already spent 3 nights in Guatemala City. This afternoon, for the first time, I ventured into the city itself, leaving the safe confines of my hostel. Nataly very kindly volunteered to be my guide for the afternoon. She picked me up at the airport (5 minutes walk from the hostel) and we set off for the city. Our first stop was the central market for food. A piece of chicken in soup with rice. It was pretty good.

Here’s Nataly.

Then we hit the central square.

Everything can be purchased on the streets of Guatemala City!

Then Nataly took me way up to a great little cafe overlooking the whole city. The view was tremendous, this picture does it little justice.

Not as many as Thailand or Vietnam, but there are lots of motorbikes on the roads of Guatemala.

It seems that bus seats are at something of a premium during peak times in Guatemala City. These poor chaps couldn’t even find standing room on the bus, it was holding on only room!

We went to a Taco restaurant for dinner. They have solved the problem of trying to catch the waiter’s eye. The table top menu display includes three buttons. I believe one summons the waiter, one requests the bill, and the third cancels the last request. I’ve thought this would be a great idea, but never seen it before today. Absolutely fantastic!

toil

The toilet in the restaurant had me a little confused. I went to wash my hands but I couldn’t find the sink. Then I realised, this was not a table or a display, it’s a sink! [I turned the tap on for the photo, it was off when I was looking for the sink!]

Then we hit a rather trendy electronic music bar called The Box. Two girls, two jackets, two giant bags and two beers were take into the toilet. Why these two girls were visiting the toilet so frequently, and together, I will leave up to your imagination. The shorter of the two, Gabby, asked me if Chrissy was my girlfriend. After clearing that up, she asked me to dance. I was quite flattered. Here’s Chrissy and Gabby bonding!

From Guatemala’s well dressed beautiful people (aka pretentious) we relocated to the bohemian side of town. Cien Puertas (100 doors I think) is a wonderful pedestrian space flanked by 6 different bars. There were quite a few quirkily interesting characters. The black and white witches summed up the group most easiliy in a single photograph I decided.

While waiting for the toilet to become vacant I spotted this notice. Israel / Palestine politics are an issue even in Guatemala.

When I made it into the toilet I snapped a shot of this graffitii for the sole reason that it was signed Sam, which made me think of Sam! [Anyone know what it says?]

Talking of Sam, it has been decided, I’m going to New York. While the exact timing of my arrival is still being somewhat debated, I am going. Next week I’ll be in Costa Rica, the following week in California with a client, and then onwards to New York.

Thanks to Nataly and Chrissy for an awesome afternoon and evening in Guatemala City. I feel like I saw more of Guatemala in these 12 hours than in my previous 11 days in the country. Guatemala City seems like both a dangerous yet colourfully vibrant city. The upscale side no longer holds much appeal to me, but the bohemian atmosphere, if a little hedonistic, does seem like fun.