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"The New Guatemala de la Asuncion is a nice blend of colonial and modern architecture with two well-defined poles: the Old Core and the Zona Viva, where high towers that harbor offices, business centers and banks have popped up."

Volcanoes that seem to climb skyhigh, the lavish foliage, the dark colors of the typical fabrics and some traditional garments, the living Mayan inheritance, the kindhearted faces and the ancestral anatomy of those human beings fill up the soul of this land whose name in Nahult tongue means “the country of many trees.”

For the savvy traveler, Guatemala comes as a blessing. The capital city, the country’s main gateway, boasts a beautiful present blended with a colonial past, religious feverishness and modernity. It holds a longstanding and thorny history marked by a few displacements from its original location, something that speaks volumes of the nation’s long geological history. It was first founded in 1541 and moved from the original location as a consequence of a mudslide triggered by the Water Volcano, an occurrence that promoted a bunch of survivals to pull up stakes and settle down three miles inland where they built the first walls of what eventually became Antigua Guatemala. From 1543 on, that burg was the new nation’s capital and drew in over 30 religious orders, celebrated architects, skilled tradesmen and a few thousand inhabitants. Time and prosperity made the city thrive as beautiful churches and magnificent thick-wall convents popped up, a lovely city teeming with squares and gardens, buildings and forts, well-paved pathways and flourishing marketplaces. However, when the city was in full swing, an earthquake on July 29, 1773 undid the happiness of the Guatemalan capital. And that sad episode that had come to pass 200 years ago was making a dreadful comeback. In the fertile and foggy Valley of the Chapel, the city was founded once again in 1776 and it has stood there to date. The New Guatemala de la Asuncion In today’s Guatemala City, no other neighborhood paints a better picture of the capital than the so-called Zona Viva –also known as Zone 10– with its glass-window buildings, deluxe boutiques, business centers and nightspots, bohemian ambiences, enchanting and poetic environments. That’s by far one of the city’s oldest barrios and it’s precisely there where the soul and taste of this city beat with a heart of their own. The Main Square is no doubt one of its loveliest landmarks. It’s hedged by the Metropolitan Cathedral and stands not far from the National Palace of Culture where the singular ceremony of the Peace Rose is held every morning at 11:00am, consisting of laying a rose next to a bronze-cast sculpture in the form of two open hands. The streets of Guatemala City reveal the locals’ special predilection for bright colors. But the churches boast those same colors as well, with domes and steeples flash décors in orange, yellow, blue, purple, red and any other imaginable hue. The offspring of the Mayan people weave carpets and mats. These skilled artisans are virtually everywhere, especially around Main Square. The new Guatemala City has major buildings and landmarks, yet there’s one particular place that allows visitors to take a pretty good look at it. It’s the Cerrito del Carmen, a small chapel built atop a hill in the outskirts of town by a Spanish pilgrim who was a devout follower of the Virgin of Santa Teresa de Avila. The place is now surrounded by motley gardens and fruit trees. The locals, especially the youngest residents, clamber to this romantic location of choice to make the most of its conveniences, like a small bistro where they can tuck in good food and talk about love and the future. Either way, the best way to have fun in this wonderful city is by dropping on its Historic Center, so full of cafés, junk food joints, restaurants and vending outlets that dish out tamales and tortillas. It’s here where the city bustles on cobblestone streets and through adobe walls, virtually with no cars due to administrative restrictions, as the sun shines through the centennial domes, lighting up the inner patios. Each door and window has old-time brass knockers and knobs. Antigua Guatemala: An Indispensable Escapade This is by and far the number-one travel destination in the country, a must-see nobody should pass up. It’s just a one-hour drive from the nation’s capital, down a very good road dotted with commuter buses that shuttle between the two cities on 15-minute schedules. It’s flanked by its scourges: the Water, Fire and Acatenango volcanoes, though it’s been quite long since they stopped being real threats. UNESCO put it on its list of World Cultural Heritage in 1979. However, getting there was no cakewalk. The city had to endure a long recovery process that kicked off in 1830 when a number of Guatemalan businesspeople decided to make it rise from its own ashes. From that moment on, Antigua Guatemala has been rocked every once in a while by earthquakes and volcano eruptions. And that’s exactly what makes its hardworking and hospitable people far more admirable as they try to keep their city as intact as possible. Today, the town looks like a huge living museum with dozens of churches, chapels, convents, local and social institutions, good hotels like the well-known Santo Domingo, housed in a former religious venue whose large spaces have been completely refurbished. The city is famous for its clean and kindhearted image; no wonder many foreigners have settled down there, lured by its peaceful and hassle-free atmosphere that makes it a perfect second home. Stores and joints are galore all across Antigua Guatemala. There are small hotels and private inns, plenty of places to take an early-morning stroll. But travelers are recommended to stay there for a few days because this is a city to be stared at quietly and unhurriedly, just getting carried away with the tiny details along the way: a fruit joint, street musicians in the Arms Square, an indigenous peddler hawking his marvelous handcrafts, a procession, the smell of coffee or food wafting out of a nearby bar or restaurant… the human desire of reveling in an unrepeatable experience.

Every year in early November, the cities of Santiago and Supango, in the department of Sacatepequez, residents raise their so-called little kegs up to the sky to welcome the spirits of their deceased relatives who, according to the Kaqchikel cosmology, should pay a visit to them. That’s how they guide them and welcome them.

Guatemala is a country dominated by volcanic-origin mountains and large rainforests. A couple of mountain ranges run side by side from west to east, while a long row of active volcanoes stands on the Pacific side and slithers down to the south. Not far from there, visitors will make out Tajamulco, Central America’s highest peak with a staggering 45,208 feet above sea level.