Guatemala: The Rough Guide (Rough Guides) (Paperback)

~ Mark Whatmore (Author), Iain Stewart (Author) "Airfares always depend on the season, with the highest being from Christmas to February, around Easter and in July and August; fares drop at all..." (more)
Key Phrases: Guatemala City, San Pedro, Central America (more...)

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Product Description

INTRODUCTION

Spanning the narrow Central American isthmus, Guatemala is a physical and cultural microcosm of Latin America, incorporating an astonishing array of contradictions in a country roughly the size of Ireland. Uniquely, it still has a population which is at least half native American, and the strength of indigenous culture is greater here than perhaps anywhere else on the American continent. More than anywhere, Guatemala is the product of the merger of sophisticated pre-Columbian cultures with Spanish colonialism and the consumerist influences of modern America.

Today, its Maya society is a hybrid of pre-Conquest pagan traditions and more recent cultural and religious influences, which combine - above all in the highlands - to form perhaps the most distinctive culture in all of Latin America. Countering this is a powerful ladino society of equal strength, a blend of Latin machismo that is decidedly urban and commercial in its outlook. At the edges there is a certain blurring between the two cultures, but the contrast between the hustle of Guatemala City and the murmur of village markets could hardly be more extreme.

Both cultures have left Guatemala with an exceptional wealth of architectural and archeological remains, and it is this outstanding legacy that makes the country so compelling for the traveller. The Maya civilization, which dominated the entire region from 2000 BC until the arrival of the Spanish, has left its traces everywhere, and Guatemala is scattered with ruins, rising mysteriously out of the rainforest and marking out the more fertile of the highland valleys. These ancient cities, such as the magnificant Tikal, surrounded by pristine jungle, are a fascinating testament to a civilization of great complexity and with a tremendous enthusiam for architectural grandeur. In contrast, the country's ladino heritage is typified by the colonial grace and beauty of the former capital, Antigua, with almost every town or large village in the country boasting a whitewashed church, belltower and a classic Spanish-style plaza.

Physically, Guatemala offers an astonishing range of landscape, defined by extremes, and by regular earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (though you're unlikely to encounter either of these). In the south, the steamy ladino-dominated Pacific coastal plain rises towards a string of magnificent volcanic peaks that mark the southern limit of the central highlands. Beyond them lies a series of rolling hills and larger granite peaks, forming the country's heartland, and home to the vast majority of the indigenous population. The scenery here is astonishingly beautiful with unfeasibly picturesque lakes, forests and lush pine-clad hills, dotted with sleepy traditional villages. Further east towards the Caribbean coast, the landscape is more tropical, with mangrove swamps, banana plantations and coconut trees dominating. In the north of the country the peaks of the last great mountain range, the Cuchumatanes, drop off into the lowlands of PetŽn - a huge, sparsely populated area of virgin rainforest, among the best preserved in Latin America, which harbours a tremendous array of wildlife, including jaguar, ocelot, tapir, monkeys, storks and scarlet macaws. Further south, in the cloudforests near Cob‡n, you may glimpse the elusive quetzal, Guatemala's national symbol, or spot a lumbering manatee in the R'o Dulce.

All this natural beauty exists against the nagging background of Guatemala's turbulent and bloody history. Over the years the huge gulf between the rich and the poor, and between indigenous and ladino culture has produced bitter conflict. With the signing of the 1996 Peace Accords between the government and the former guerrillas, however, the armed confrontation ceased and things have calmed down considerably, though many of the country's deep-rooted inequalities remain. As a visitor, you are as safe in Guatemala as almost anywhere else in Latin America, and most travellers find the Guatemalans extraordinarily courteous and helpful. Though more reserved than the neighbouring Mexicans or Salvadorans and often formal in social situations, they are an incredibly friendly people, and you'll find most only too eager to help you out.

About the Author

After two years of travelling the world, Iain Stewart arrived in Guatemala and liked it so much he stayed. A few years on, he is the co-author of Rough Guides to the Maya World, Central America and author of Ibiza & Formentera DIRECTIONS. Now based in South London, he is also a journalist and restaurant critic and takes every opportunity to return to Central America.  --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Rough Guides; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185828323X
• ISBN-13: 978-1858283234
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,079,340 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guidebook I've used to date, May 21, 2002

By	leslie "leslie53" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Guatemala 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I just returned yesterday from 10 days in Guatemala and Belize and found the Rough Guide invaluable. I went with 7 friends and between us we had Lonely Planet's "Central America", Lonely Planet's "Guatemala" and Fodor's "Guatemala and Belize". The 2 of us carrying Rough Guide were in the most demand and we relied on it for all our housing and most of our eating recommendations. In addition, the book begins with 33 things you must see/do in Guatemala and we hit most of them.

Housing: Finding a place to stay was not difficult, but in Guatemala the comfort can vary a lot even in the budget range. We were able to find clean, comfortable and affordable accomodations at all of our stops. I highly recommend the Hotel Santa Clara in Antigua which has a lovely courtyard and older colonial rooms (ours had a cute, decorative fireplace). All the pricings for accomodations were on target throughout our trip (with the Santa Clara coming in at about 17$ per person based on double occupancy). Depending on how much you want to "rough" it - a $5 difference can be a big one in Guatemala and we often reserved rooms at 2 places in each of our locations. If you are traveling in a smaller group or by yourself you probably don't even need to call ahead.

Food: We used this book for many of our eating recommendations and it never failed to give us an idea of the type of food and quality to expect.

History and Culture: The book was enjoyable to read and provided some good information on preparation, recent happenings as well as history. A little more info on Tikal would have been great - perhaps a walking tour guide - but there are other books available for that and the site is huge.

Overall: I plan to use Rough Guide again in the future. After my less than desirable experience in Peru with Lonely Planet, as their descriptions are often flat and pricing out of date depite the "new" edition.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide book for Guatemala, September 19, 2003

By	Seth Labadie (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Rough Guide to Guatemala 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

I recently spent six weeks in Guatemala, and I was able to visit most sections of the country. Although the Rough Guide book was the only guidebook that I brought with me, I have looked through the lonely planet book quite a bit and also the guidebooks from the other travel publishers. I believe that the Rough Guide version is the best guidebook for Guatemala, hands down. I have read the book literally from cover to cover. I especially liked the commentary and general descriptions located throughout the book as well as all of the historical data in the back (which is actually a significant section of the book). Even when I was taking a chicken bus through a random section of the country I could find information any any given area or town along the way--housing, food, and cultural commentary. I've been told by others that the Lonely Planet edits out some places to see (such as Fuentes Georginas near Quetzaltenango). Rough Guide will just give you everything, even if the location is way off the beaten track.
The only complaint I would have is that the author tends to be very socio-politically biased. For example, he dismisses the Eastern Highlands as a stronghold of right-wing politics...the ladinos acting like cowboys..."violent demonstrations of macho pride are common." I suppose this is why "your best bet is to travel directly to San Salvador by pullman" (rather than visit this aweful place of conservatism). I actually liked the Eastern Highlands.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Guide for Guatemala, August 8, 2000

By A Customer

This is my personal favorite. We used it a lot on our trip through the Western Highlands and Tikal. It has good maps, from city to national scale. It has something of interest to say about many places, including small villages. It presents lodgings in a logical manner. I found it easy to use. This guide gave us a pretty good overview of places, although it appears that unlike in many very studied/touristed places (such as Europe) there is not as much deep background available on many towns. Of all the guide books I have used for Guatemala this has the most breadth and depth, coupled with ease of use.