Love Guatemala: There’s so much to see and do!

The three Pete's

​Meeting people while traveling this amazing young Dutch backpacker Stephanie traveling the world on her own her blog budgetbucketlist.com  Thanks to Stephanie who Couch surfed on his yacht, the American Pete took us all out to sail a day in Rio Dulce. He even let me operate (drive) it! There are so many people from around the world that stay there for the winter. The funny thing is that from that point we had three Pete’s. It was a great time after our boat trip. We went back to our campsite and we met up with Orestes, Stephanie’s boyfriend who traveled from Antigua by bus all day.
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Driving the boat

We made a wrong turn on our way to Lanquin and therefore had to take a scenic road. It may have been longer but well worth it: About a 6 hour drive in the jungle and mountains on roads that look like we should not have gone through... but old faithful (the van) made it. Even though we had to stop over night in a place where we did not want to stay, but I didn’t want to drive at night... especially on those roads! Next to that, the brakes had to cool down as they were smoking.
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Now we had 5 of us traveling from Rio Dulce to Antigua. But first we visited Lanquin and Semuc Champey. The hostel we found in Lanquin was too expensive, but life always has its funny ways: A guy approached me and said we could stay at his place for three dollars a night. For me it was even cheaper because I sleep in my van... maybe about a buck and a half. Bruce, also an American, lived in an amazing plaze: It felt like camping again, sleeping all together in one big room, a fire pit, outhouse shower and hole-in-the-ground-toilet and no power whatsoever. It was great, just like camping in the woods with a stream and waterfalls in the backyard. We took a day trip to Semuc Champey by 4X4. It was great to see the mountain views and the river pools were amazing.
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The five travelers in Guatemala

​Our final designation for this group of 5 from Lanquin to Antigua: Again we took the wrong road, but it was more to see and well worth it. Always have fun no matter what happens! I’m going to miss the group of 5, we had a great time and good laughs. You never know if we may run into each other again, we are travelers. While in Antigua Peter and I went to the final football (soccer) game. Our home team won the championship the cup... well, this is our home for a couple of days. The fans went nuts and have lots of fun. While traveling I always like to go to local sports events. Antigua is a very beautiful colonial city that is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes. Once upon a time it was the capital of the country, but as it has too many earthquakes so now the capital is Guatemala city.
Peter and I are off to Salvador tomorrow... maybe.
Check out Stephanie's blog   

I was driving while shooting this video. Pete Montgomery from TravelCheapWithPete.com

Pete Montgomery from TravelCheapWithPete.com