G is for Guatemala

It is rare that I would have and take the opportunity to visit a place twice. With a goal of traveling to all 200 countries, I just don’t have the time to return to a country I’ve already been. Because of this goal, I have set a few rules for myself. One of them is that I can only return to another country if it involves a new country as well.

I had to make this rule because there is no way I will not be returning to Chile, my home for nearly two years.  I have vowed to return for my friends’ Vendemia, a wine harvesting at their farm, and I am sure I may want to attend a few weddings in the future.  Besides that, how can I not return home? 

And so it worked out that I would visit Guatemala again. While traveling in Belize, the last of my Central American countries, I took advantage of the proximity to Guatemala.  Having been a little under whelmed by Belize and particularly missing the chance to speak Spanish, I was excited to cross the border into Flores, Guatemala.

I stayed only three or four days and visited the ruins of Tikal. We woke at 3 am to travel to the site, climb the sun temple and watch the sun rise among the sounds of birds and monkeys waking. I enjoyed the cheaper hotels and actually splurged on one with a pool and private bath, something I rarely do.  I leisurely walked the cobbled streets and spoke to restaurant owners and store venders in Spanish. I watched children and teenagers plunge into the waters of Lago Petén Itzá, wishing to join them.

I don’t necessarily like my rule of never returning to a place. As discussed in B is for Belize, I would return to 42 out of the 43 countries I have visited so far. Happily, eagerly.  There is an ease that comes with returning to a place you have traveled.  It is a comfort you don’t find the first time. One that says, ‘I’ve been here before.’  But nothing can compare to the excitement and thrill of discovering somewhere new.