I left Copán early on a shuttle all the way back to Antigua, the only place the shuttles seem to go, and this is now my third time there. Not that I mind so much because Antigua is a pretty nice place to get “stuck” for a night. The next morning I was on another short shuttle ride to the capitol, Guatemala City. I dropped my trusty backpack off at the hotel and commenced with an epic museum day. The first one, Museo Popol Vuh, was only about a mile from my hotel, so I decided to walk there.

Museo Popol Vuh is located at one of the city’s universities and I had to walk past a bunch of classes in session to get to it. The name Popol Vuh translates from Mayan as “Book of the People.” It was the entire oral history of the Mayan legends and all the gods beginning with their creation story. It wasn’t put to paper until a Spanish Dominican friar wrote it all down in the 18th century.

Oh, and they had a really cool Mayan death bat too!

There was also a really impressive collection of funerary urns. Some of these had the ashes of the departed inside, while others were just sort of stuffed in there whole.

This next piece was only a replica, but still really cool to see. It’s a copy of the Dresden Codex, one of the very few Mayan Codices in existence. The original is in, you guessed it, Dresden. It’s chock full of mostly astronomical observations and astrological tables, but it kind of reminds me of a comic book.

The three museums I wanted to visit this day are scattered all over the city. But, it turns out that Uber is super popular and cheap here, so I spent the day Uber hopping from museum to museum. After a quick lunch, I was off to the next on my list, Museo Miraflores. It’s inside a very big and very posh shopping mall.

They did have a very good collection, though, including some nice jade pieces.

It was kind of a mix mash of pieces and there were a lot of interactive displays for kids, but I enjoyed it.

The next museum was just down the street from the airport. This one was the best of the lot. It was a great way to end the day.

They had some awesome jade pieces here too, including this whole mask.

This city plan below, or what’s left of it, supposedly proves that the Mayans didn’t just build their cities randomly. They were meticulously planned ahead of construction. This particular plan below doesn’t correspond to any known Mayan city though. So is that theory false or is this a model of an as yet undiscovered city nearby? No one knows.

Where the Museo Nacional de Arte Maya really shines is in the stone carving department. There were so many incredible carvings from sites all over Guatemala in there. As you can imagine, I was wandering around this place for quite a while!

I feel kind of bad for these guys being walked on for eternity.

Well, that was a busy day. Without the ease of Uber it would not have been remotely possible. Score one for technology. The next day I took another Uber to the historic center of Guatemala City for a walking tour with Rubén. Normally, I don’t like guided tours, but the historic center of Guatemala City has a reputation for being on the dangerous side so I went ahead and booked it. In retrospect, I think those reports are either old or greatly exaggerated because I found walking around the city to be very pleasant. Anyway, we started at the very first building to be constructed here. On a little hill overlooking the old part of the city is Ermita de La Virgen del Cerrito del Carmen, built in 1620.

After that we hopped on a local bus to the center and started walking the old colonial streets until we got to the Parroquia Nuestra Señora De La Merced. I know that’s a mouthful!

After the big earthquake in 1773 destroyed Antigua, the capitol of Guatemala was moved here. Much of the artwork from the La Merced church in Antigua was moved here when it was built. Unfortunately, Guatemala City is very earthquake prone as well and back to back earthquakes in 1917 and 1918 destroyed much of this city too. So most of what you see was restored or rebuilt in the early 20th century.

Guatemala has two independence days. In 1821 they won independence from Spain, sort of. As part of that independence movement they were annexed to Mexico. In 1823 they won their absolute independence from Mexico. That Declaration of Independence was signed at the MUSAC building, a former university. The room looks a lot different now than it did, but there it is.

We briefly walked through a sea of cops past Guatemalas Congress Hall. Normally you can go inside, but not today, unfortunately.

And right around the corner is the Arco de Correos, the sister to Antiguas Arco de Santa Catalina.

The Iglesia San Francisco like everything else in the city was heavily damaged in the twin earthquakes of 1917 and 1918. They still haven’t finished repairing it. The front was completely covered with scaffolding, but the dome was pretty impressive.

The most interesting thing inside was this 17th century painting. I’m speculating here, but it’s probably the oldest painting in Central America, you know, the one painting the Europeans forgot to steal.

The Hotel Royal Palace is the most famous and fanciest hotel in Guatemala and it’s where all the foreign heads of state stay when they visit Guatemala, including Ronald Reagan.

Finally we made it to the center of the center, Plaza de la Constitucion. It’s been here since 1776. It’s pretty sparse to be honest, but the Edificio Nacional de la Cultura stands out. Locals call it the Guacamole because of it’s greenish color.

Also on the Plaza de la Constitucion is the Catedral de Santiago de Guatemala. Both Antigua and Guatemala City were both originally named Santiago, and both were destroyed by earthquakes. So after the 1917 and 1918 quakes, they decided never to name a city after Santiago again. Now he just gets this cathedral. I love it when snack and souvenir vendors set up right in front of the thing everyone wants pictures of. So considerate!

The cathedral looks even better from the back side near the giant underground central market.

After my walking tour and having realized that Guatemala City’s lack of safety has been exaggerated, I decided to go ahead and walk myself the three miles back to my hotel in the “safe” zone and see a few sites along the way. First, I quickly passed by this cool building, Tipografía Nacional. It’s on a pretty narrow street so this was the only way to get a good pic.

At the Plaza de España is this giant fountain that used to be at the center of Plaza de la Constitucion. After Guatemalas independence, it was thought that the fountain was too “Spanish”, so they moved it here and replaced it with the fountain that’s there now. Personally, I like this one better, but it’s not my country.

And finally, Guatemala has it’s own Eiffel Tower. Haha! Actually Eiffel had nothing to do with it. They built this steel tower to honor a former president in 1935. I have no idea why they didn’t just make a statue, but it’s an interesting tribute.

I made it back to the hotel in one piece, bought a bus ticket for tomorrow, and grabbed some dinner. And that’s gonna wrap up my time in Guatemala. That’s four countries I’ve visited so far. I have four more to go. Tomorrow, yet another border crossing. This trip is going to finish off my passport too, by the way. I have just enough room to finish this trip and then I’ll have to renew it, three years early! I’ve been busy! Until the next post…