Andrew and I are spending May in Antigua, Guatemala. May is the start of the rainy season, which means it’s less crowded with tourists. And so far, we haven’t had any bad weather. As U.S. citizens, we weren’t required to apply for a visa and completed customs and immigration paperwork upon arrival. We were given a 90-day tourist visa at the airport in Guatemala City.
From Austin, Andrew and I had an easy flight to Houston (less than 1 hour) and then to Guatemala City (2.5 hours). A woman vomited in the aisle a few rows ahead of us during landing into Guatemala City, but otherwise everything was fine. As we were walking through the airport, Andrew pointed out big signs with a QR code that everyone was scanning, so we stopped to do the same. It was the Guatemalan customs form and it was a convenient way to handle the process. We had a smooth experience with passport control (he didn’t ask us any questions), picked up our bags, waited in a long line for the customs check but were shooed through when we reached a woman checking the results of people’s QR code forms.
We came out to a small arrivals area and found our driver (pre-booked on Viator) waiting for us with Andrew’s name on a sign. She led us to the parking lot, where a van had just rear-ended her parked car, so we waited around while they exchanged information. Then she called a new car for us, because it was going to take a while for her to sort out the issues with the van’s driver.
Women were selling cool balloons (with other, smaller balloons inside!) and bouquets of flowers outside the parking garage, which made me think that Guatemala must be a family- and kid-friendly place. The atmosphere in general felt comfortable, not hectic or stressful. And people so far have seemed happy when we try to speak Spanish, like they have low expectations for tourists.
Our drive to Antigua from Guatemala City took about 1.5 hours and wasn’t nice; we were inundated by exhaust fumes as we crawled through loud, slow, congested city traffic. The road got steep for a while, reminding us that Antigua is more than 5,000 feet high (similar altitude to Denver). Our new driver was a young guy who was blasting music with the windows down while wearing earplugs. When we got to Antigua, the paved streets turned into cobblestone, so we slowed to a crawl. It is a town that is much better traversed on foot than by car.
Our Airbnb host, Tomas, let us into the building and showed us around. Our apartment is 1 of 6 units (3 up and 3 down) surrounding a beautiful courtyard garden with 2 bubbling fountains. Our ground-floor unit came with a private “terrace,” which is really just part of the walkway around the courtyard in front of our unit. Thanks to the layout of the apartments, our walkway doesn’t need to be accessed by anyone else, so Tomas installed a security gate at the end, creating a private sitting area. There is also a shared rooftop terrace with great views of the surrounding volcanoes.
The apartment itself is a very large, shotgun-layout, 1-bedroom apartment with a full shower room, washer and dryer (!), full kitchen (with dishwasher!), big dining room and workspace, extra workspace in the bedroom, and large living room. There are doors onto the terrace from the bedroom, dining room, and living room. The wi-fi is strong and we haven’t had any issues working in the apartment or on the private terrace. There’s no heating or air conditioning, but all the doors and windows have screens, every room has a ceiling fan, and Antigua is almost always between 60 and 80 Fahrenheit, so it hasn’t been a problem.
We’re settling in nicely. Stay tuned for more posts about Antigua!
