Hey Guatemala… we’re back! Last time in 2018 we saw all the big attractions… Antigua, Atitlan, Semuc Champey, Tikal… yardy, yardy, yardy. This time we thought we’d check out a few hidden gems of Guatemala. These are some very cool-looking places in the far corner of Huehuetenango province. They’re more remote, less ‘international tourism’ and much harder to get to than the usual Top-Ticks. We found that sometimes they’re gems, sometimes they’re not. But first we had to do the border stuff…

Borderline TIP

First mission at the Mex/Guat border was to cancel Cuthbert’s Mexican Temporary Import Permit (TIP). Most countries issue TIPs for a few months, sometimes linked to the duration of the owner’s personal visa. Unlike any other country we’ve visited, Mexico issues a 10 year multi-entry TIP to vehicles registered as motorhomes (not to cars). We got Cuthbert’s TIP when we first entered Mexico from Belize in 2018 and have used it to get in/out of the country several times since then. The important thing is to ensure that it is cancelled officially off the records when the vehicle leaves for the last time.

Now… we’re not 100% sure whether this is actually the last time Cuthbert will be in Mexico. But the potential consequences for the owner are not great if a vehicle leaves the country permanently and the TIP is left uncancelled on the system. So we decided that, just in case we don’t go back, this exit is the exit to cancel the TIP we’ve had for five years. If we do go back to Mexico, we can always get another TIP when we re-enter.

Another reason we want to cancel the TIP is because it’s the ‘old’ style TIP. Unlike the new ones which are just paper, our ‘old’ TIP consists of two parts – a paper document and a (tamper-proof) RFID sticker fixed (extremely) firmly onto the windscreen. When we were stopped by police on the road in Mexico for routine docs checks, the younger officers were a bit puzzled and studied it for a while to check its authenticity – the TIP pre-dates their careers!     

Now… the observant Cuthberteer might recall from our last blog that we very recently had a new windscreen fitted. So what about that RFID sticker on the old windscreen, eh? Aha! We’re smart cookies, we are! The tamper-proof nature of the TIP sticker was clearly undefeatable and could not be removed in-tact. So we got the fitter-guys to cut the section of glass out of the old windscreen. We carried that piece of glass to show the RFID part of the TIP. Genius huh?  When we approached the officer at the border to cancel the TIP, he accepted the piece of glass with the sticker, together with the paper form, to cancel Cuthbert off the Mexican TIP system.

Moving across the border, we got a new Guatemala TIP for Cuthbert and entry visas for ourselves. Curiously here in Central America, personal visas are issued on a multi-national basis. You get a total of 90 days for all the CA4 countries: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua (extendable by a further 90 days). Vehicle TIPs however, are issued on a country by country basis. So a new TIP is required at each CA4 border, but not a new visa.

Ce – Not – Eh?

Most people entering from Mexico at the La Mesilla border go straight-on to central Guatemala and attractions such as Quetzaltenango and Lake Atitlan. Our mission to investigate some hidden gems of Guatemala, caused us to turn almost immediately left and head north into the jungle along the Mexican border. Just a heads-up… it’s not the best road surface… it’s tarmac Jim, but not as we know it.

First hidden gem is Cenotes Candelaria. You knew that a cenote (pronounced seh-not-eh) is a ‘natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater‘, right?  Guatemala isn’t famous for its spectacular cenotes, and there’s a good reason for that… because actually, they’re not. We found these cenotes pretty and nice for a refreshing swim. But frankly they’re not in the same league as their spectacular Mexican cousins down the road in Yucatan.

Our overall modest enthusiasm for this place was intensified by the fact that we were disingenuously charged twice for entry by locals controlling two consecutive entry gates. At the first gate we paid the 100 Quetzales (approx. £10/US$12). We knew this was a bit steep for a little known and remote spot with a long, rough access road, but hey-ho… it was in accordance with the ‘official’ signage there. And we don’t mind supporting the local tourism economy.

Hidden Gems of Guatemala – Cenotes Candelaria

Then a few kilometres down the track, they wanted not only an extra 25Q for staying the night (okay… fine) but another 100Q just to open the next gate! Very much not fine!

We could have argued for longer, but after 5 minutes of discussions they weren’t giving-in and we were tired from the long drive and border crossing. Or we could have turned around, but it was getting late and we knew nowhere else to park-up for the night. We could have stopped and blocked the road until they let us in for the original fee, but there was nobody else there entering so late in the day, so we would have blocked nobody! So we paid again! 😡 It’s not a fortune, and we can afford it… but this is no way to encourage visitors to this burgeoning tourism market which otherwise has great potential as a source of income for the area.

Well as they say… sh*t happens overlanding. We chalked it up to experience and having got over our annoyance, we enjoyed a peaceful time there. Particularly having the place to ourselves early in the morning, swimming and sharing the peace with only the birds swooping down to the water scooping up bugs, was a nice thing. But wait… they story’s not over… the next morning when we left, they tried to charge us 100Q again to get out!! This time we really were not having it and flatly refused to pay a third time. They soon caved in and opened the gate to let us out.

On balance, would we recommend Cenotes Candelaria? If it were an honest, one-off fee paid at a single gate with a friendly smile, then we’d pay-up happily and recommend the overall experience. Although 200Q (approx. £20/US$24) is certainly over-priced by Guatemalan standards, we’d accept it as a contribution to the local economy and community. But by charging twice, a small group of locals here at Cenotes Candelaria have over-cooked the pudding on this scam. From our previous experience in Guatemala, we know that this is very much not typical of the generally lovely people here.

Big Hole

So our first day back in Guatemala and the cenote experience was not a resounding success, but we chalked it up to experience and moved on. Next day we headed to the second of our hidden gems of Guatemala: the Hoyo El Cimarrón. Hoyo El Cimarrón is a massive sink-hole deep in the mountains. Unlike the cenotes, there’s no water in the bottom. It’s just a bloody big hole in the ground. But it is a pretty spectacular hole in the ground. Plus it’s a nice little hike to get there, and there’s no rip-off double charging here – just a friendly chap at the car-park… so that’s a Brucie Bonus!

Laguna Brava

Next on the hidden gems of Guatemala list, is Laguna Brava (indigenous name, Yolnhajab) – a remote and stunningly beautiful, azure-blue lake in the bottom of a very steep mountain valley. Our research showed two ways to get there: first via the village of Aguacate. This is the most common route for visitors, but only allows driving half-way down. Then you need to leave your vehicle in a car-park and either take a tourist-truck, or hike the rest of the way.

The other way is via the village of Yalambojoch which accesses another part of the lake. Here, the track leads all the way down to the bottom, allowing park-up/camping by the lake-shore. It’s only six kilometres. But the snaggette is… it’s an extremely steep descent. One glance at the map showed a lot of contour lines extremely close together! Not only is it steep, but very narrow in some places, with some crumbling sides and huge drop-offs. The trail is mostly dirt, with a bit of concrete thrown-down for grip on a few of the steepest sections. It felt a bit teeth-clenchy going down (check out the speeded-up dash-cam video) but Cuthbert was a little star! He made good use of his electro-retarder and low-range gears to take us all the way down without breaking into a sweat!

Once you’re down there, the Laguna is soooo worth it. First, there’s a lovely river and waterfall area, then a stunning aqua-marine blue lake (at least when the weather is good). Even at the weekend, we had the place all to ourselves! We spent the first couple of days down there exploring the trails. One trail heads through the jungle, around the lakeside, then leads up a hill to some small ruins. Okay… don’t get excited… this is not the next Machu Picchu. But when you see the rubble emerging through the jungle foliage, it is a teeny bit of an Indiana Jones moment🤣

Next plan was to launch our trusty inflatable kayak, Boaty McBoatface and do a bit of water exploration, but the weather turned awful! Low cloud and rain came in. We could see nothing, nada, zilch! We stayed down at the lakeside for a while hoping it would improve, but the forecast didn’t look good either.

A true hidden gem of Guatemala – Laguna Brava

Not only were we bored waiting for the weather gods, but without any solar, our battery was struggling a bit. After three days, we gave up and decided to tackle the drive back out of the valley. With it having drizzled almost continuously for a few days, the surface conditions weren’t ideal for a steep drive up a narrow dirt track. But again, Cuthbert took it in his stride! He’s got all the kit… low range gears, three diff-locks, so we were up and out in no time! Not sure we’d want to attempt it in any much vehicle bigger than Cuthbert, though.

Vaccine Hunt

Moving out of the jungle dirt-roads and back to Guatemalan civilisation, we headed to the town of Huehuetenango. It’s very much not one of the hidden gems of Guatemala, but it’s a pleasant enough authentic town and we knew a cute little family-run campsite that we had visited before. Whilst there, we took the opportunity to hunt out a vaccine booster.

Travelling back in time a bit… before getting stuck in Canada for Covid, staying healthy and protected against all the tropical heebie-jeebies was a priority for us. But during the ‘rona virus era, our priority switched from travel vaccines to covid vaccines. And in any case, as we were over three years in USA and Canada, there were no tropical heebie-jeebies to worry about there.

This year, heading back south towards Guatemala we realised that our typhoid vaccinations had ‘expired’ and we needed a booster. What we hadn’t banked on, is Mexico being clean out of typhoid vaccines! I lost count of the number of clinics I contacted in cities all the way down the country, all saying they had no typhoid vaccine in stock and couldn’t order any. Eventually one clinic in Oaxaca explained there is one factory in Mexico doing just one production run per year. The 2022 production stock had run-out a while ago and the 2023 production run is not due until April/May.

So a priority in Guatemala was to hunt out typhoid vaccines. The first clinic, in the first town… success! Two booster jabs for typhoid – done! We’re happy, healthy travellers 😊     

Going back… ‘recollections may vary‘

Arriving back after five years, we soon realised our memories of Guatemala from 2018 were not quite 100% accurate. Obviously, the wonderful beauty of the country, the volcanos, the lakes, the scenery hasn’t changed a bit.  But some things, at least in our minds, have changed.

So far, our new ‘2023 Impression’ of Guatemala is that there are more modern-style shops and supermarkets dotted around. Yes, there were a few here before, but there seems now to be more of them. With a slightly wider choice of goods/foods available, too. Also, we noticed that Guatemala seems to be investing in much-needed road surfacing. The remaining bad sections of road are still bad, but there is more good road than there used to be. That’s a good thing.

A not-so-good thing is the rubbish. The road-side rubbish problem here is truly dreadful! Maybe it’s got worse since we were last here. Or maybe it hasn’t got worse and it’s just that we have ‘rose-tinted’ memories. Or maybe it’s a relative thing and it seems worse because this time we arrived from ‘clean’ Mexico, rather than from Honduras as we did last time. Whatever the reason, this time we are shocked by the problem across the beautiful countryside. Not just individual pieces of litter, but whole sacks of rubbish at the roadside. They’re split open by being thrown from a car, or by stray dogs hunting for food. Which leads us to another mis-recollection… stray dogs.

We didn’t have Guatemala in our recollective minds as the country with the most street-dogs. In this region, Mexico generally has the No.1 reputation for that. But we now think that Guatemala is far worse. Not only are there many more of them, but more of them are in a very bad state. It’s heart-breaking and we feel helpless to see so many poor boney creatures. They’re nuzzling around in roadside rubbish hunting for a morsel of nutrition.

Anyway… enough of the sad bits! Lets leave this blog on a ‘high’, with a pic of our view from Cuthbert at our current camp-spot: Lake Atitlan is an extremely well known gem that never disappoints. It’s understandably one of Guatemala’s biggest attractions. If you’re looking for us, we’ll be right here at the iconic Pasajcap campsite…

And if you want a bit of info on the other hidden gems of Guatemala that we found last time back in 2018… click here