Jaunted

Doomsday Tourism / 2012 / Mayan Calendar / Guatemala Travel / Hotels / Tikal Travel / → All Tags

But Will The World Really End in 2012?

If the Mayan calendar is correct, the world is going to end in 2012. That's why tourists have been heading to Tikal, Guatemala, ground zero of the conspiracy set. All this week, Jonathan Franklin and Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village will be looking into the madness behind the newest tourism trend, Doomsday Tourism.

Damage. Destruction. Disaster. The Mayan prophecy of the world order being shattered was too dramatic for Hollywood to ignore --- hence the current media blitz over the movie 2012 and the ensuing slogan/website/marketing campaign “You Were Warned.”

If anyone can claim that Hollywood slandered, exaggerated and bastardized their history it’s the Mayans. 2012 runs like a sequel to "Independence Day" or "The Day After Tomorrow," not surprising as Roland Emmerich directed all three.

more ›

Doomsday Tourism / 2012 / Mayan Calendar / Guatemala Travel / Hotels / Tikal Travel / → All Tags

Where You Might Want To Stay When Doomsday Arrives

If the Mayan calendar is correct, the world is going to end in 2012. That's why tourists have been heading to Tikal, Guatemala, ground zero of the conspiracy set. All this week, Jonathan Franklin and Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village will be looking into the madness behind the newest tourism trend, Doomsday Tourism.

The area’s top rated hotel is El Camino Real Tikal which is often rated a 5-star but that’s simply not true. This is a solid 4-star hotel with a great lakeside location, with a stylish pool that hangs on a balcony surrounded by the jungle that looks eager to swallow the hotel at every minute.

The paint may be peeling on your window ledge, but there are toucans which arrive every morning to peck at the window. El Camino Real is far from the town of Flores, no stores to visit, few trinkets to buy. Instead, you are in the middle of the jungle, with a beautiful lake for swimming, sailing, or fishing.

Inside the Park, the Jungle Lodge is overpriced but boasts an undisputedly convenient location.

more ›

Doomsday Tourism / 2012 / Mayan Calendar / Guatemala Travel / Tikal Travel / → All Tags

Mayan Relics and Monuments You Should See Before The World Ends

If the Mayan calendar is correct, the world is going to end in 2012. That's why tourists have been heading to Tikal, Guatemala, ground zero of the conspiracy set. All this week, Jonathan Franklin and Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village will be looking into the madness behind the newest tourism trend, Doomsday Tourism.

Mayan Cities – of which Tikal is among the largest – are a wonder of engineering, craftsmanship and perfection. Temples, palaces and plazas emerge from the jungle like a futuristic space ship about to take lift. In fact, scenes from the original Star Wars movies were based on the ruins of Tikal.

Even today, much of Tikal is shrouded in mystery as large swaths of the estimated 23 square miles which made up the “residential” section of Tikal has yet to be excavated or even fully mapped.

At the center of Tikal – and practically all visits to the area -- is the Great Plaza, a complex of stone buildings, including steep pyramids that rise straight up, hundreds of feet from the thick jungle. These temples were used for human sacrifice – as the victim was forcibly held down, a priest cut open and removed the live, beating heart. Sportsman playing on nearby ball court was also sacrificed, giving a gladiator like quality to the spectacle.

more ›

Doomsday Tourism / 2012 / Mayan Calendar / Guatemala Travel / Tikal Travel / → All Tags

How Tikal Hotels Are Preparing for the End of the World

If the Mayan calendar is correct, the world is going to end in 2012. That's why tourists have been heading to Tikal, Guatemala, ground zero of the conspiracy set. All this week, Jonathan Franklin and Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village will be looking into the madness behind the newest tourism trend, Doomsday Tourism.

Thanks to the buzz from the Mayan calendar prophecies, local tour operators and hotels are upgrading their services. El Camino Real, a luxury hotel near the Tikal ruins, is now pushing Mayan cultural tours to the forefront and beginning to offer cultural nights with Mayan elders telling stories of the doomsday prophecy.

Mayan recipes are being resurrected and brought back onto the restaurant menu.

“I come from the restaurant side,” said Xavier Cid, the new hotel manager. “So I am completely redoing the menu, going out to the community meeting the older women and asking them what ingredients they use, what traditional dishes we can include in our menus.”

Cid, who worked in Guatemala City previously, says he will never go back to city living. “Where else can I be woken up by the ‘toc...toc..toc’ of a toucan pecking at my window.”

more ›

Doomsday Tourism / 2012 / Mayan Calendar / Guatemala Travel / Tikal Travel / → All Tags

It's The End of the World as We Know It So Get Out Your Camera

If the Mayan calendar is correct, the world is going to end in 2012. That's why tourists have been heading to Tikal, Guatemala, ground zero of the conspiracy set. All this week, Jonathan Franklin and Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village will be looking into the madness behind the newest tourism trend, Doomsday Tourism.

Conspiracy theorists and the History Channel have spent the past five years convincing millions that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. Hollywood just jumped in with the mega-meltdown film, 2012". All of this buzz focuses on a specific date, Dec 21, 2012. This is the mother of all conspiracy theories as the famously accurate Mayan calendar, originating from before Christ, predicts that we are all going to be wiped out in a cataclysmic finale or (in a more optimistic reading) the world as we know it will no longer exist.

Like Nostradamus’ predictions; the Mayan Prophecies have flourished in the internet age. With sophisticated websites explaining the Mayan concepts of time to simplistic websites which do little more than countdown the days hours and minutes till The End.

Different theories abound on what might happen on that fateful December 12, 2012. Will the earth stop spinning? Reverse direction? Get sucked into another galaxy? Or annihilated in nuclear conflagration? With barely two years to go until the final countdown – ignore the mass hysteria and go and check it out for yourself.

more ›

Guatemala Travel / Tourism Boards / Travel Advertising / Facebook / → All Tags

Guatemala Puts The Word Out That They're More Mayan Than Mexico

The Guatemala Tourism Board has become the latest tourism organization to go all-in on web marketing. The board's new "Last Minute" campaign tries to bring together potential travel customers with potential travel providers. Ads will be placed on Google and Facebook and aimed at users who are already searching for Guatemala-related topics, so it won't interrupt your Facebook zombie app or anything.

Users who click on the ads will be taken to a campaign-specific English/Spanish website. The site tries to go beyond the usual "come here because we're awesome" tourism site, linking the 70+ sponsoring travel companies with users. Offers run the gamut from accommodations to food to activities. The site will also include 25% off coupons for these amenities, plus car rentals and tours.

more ›

Christmas Alternatives / Voluntourism / → All Tags

Voluntour In Sunny Guatemala

Now that the holidays are here, we're chasing that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from doing good. Of course, you don't have to go out of town to find a soup kitchen or Toys 4 Tots program that would love for you to pitch in. But if you have an extra-long winter break and the itch to get out of town, why not head for Guatemala for some voluntourism?

There's no waiting for a visa for Cross Cultural Solutions' Guatemala City trip, which leaves December 13 for two weeks working with small children or the elderly in clinics or orphanages in the Latin American capital city. CCS will take care of your lodging, meals and transportation; all you have to do is roll up your sleeves. And you'll be back in the US for New Year's Eve, which encompasses all the drunkenness of Christmas without the pesky obligation of buying presents. You Scrooge, you.

Related Stories:
· Guatemala Beats Egypt At Pyramid Game [Jaunted]
· Ask Jaunted: Guatemala In A Week [Jaunted]
· Christmas Alternatives coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: antigua-guatemala]

Google Maps / Crime / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags

Where Is Lake Izabal?

Two American tourists prepping a sailboat for a cruise from Guatemala to the United States were allegedly attacked by four locals brandishing machetes on Lake Izabal. While Nancy Dryden survived the assault, her husband Perry was killed by the men, who demanded dollars, which the couple didn't have.

The four assailants then swam off, leaving the pair for dead, though Nancy was able to raise assistance on the vessel's radio. Local police say they are investigating, but this isn't the first incident involving tourists at the lake, the largest in the country.

Earlier this year, four Belgian tourists were kidnapped at Izabal by farmers hoping to use them as a bargaining chip. They were eventually released unharmed, but yikes!

Related Stories:
· US Tourist Hacked to Death in Guatemala [AP, via Google]
· Guatemalan Robbers Hack Anchorage Tourist to Death [KIMO]
· Jaunted's Guatemala Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Google Maps/Where Is... coverage [Jaunted]

Central America Travel / Pyramids / → All Tags

Guatemala Beats Egypt at Pyramid Game

A change of government can be a nice thing for the tourists of the world, or at least that's how it sounds in Guatemala at the moment. Newly-elected president Alvaro Colom has announced plans to make the Mayan ruins at Mirador more accessible to tourists--currently we're talking a two-day jungle hike or a helicopter ride, and there are a few too many poachers and drug smugglers hanging out in the area.

At Mirador, there are extensive Mayan ruins, including hundreds of buildings, and the site is some three times larger than the World-Heritage-listed ruins at Tikal. There's also what they claim is the largest pyramid in the world, about three feet longer than the largest Egyptian pyramid.

Exactly what form the so-called "tourist park" at Mirador will take isn't clear yet, and we wouldn't go booking your flights just yet. Whether it's just an election promise, or a serious attempt that could be thwarted by the smugglers who want to keep that region of Guatemala for themselves, there are more than a few obstacles to Eiffel-Tower-like tourism at Mirador.

Related Stories:
· Guatemala to Open Park at Ancient Ruins [Reuters]
· Guatemala Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Guatemala Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Dave Kent]

Central America Travel / Ask Jaunted / → All Tags

Ask Jaunted: Guatemala In A Week

Occasionally, readers tell us about their tentative travel plans, and we use our past experience and obsession with travel to help them make the most of their trips. If your guidebook could talk, this is what it'd say. Return the favor by letting us know how you fare!

Today's Question from Jesse:
My girlfriend and I are heading to Guatemala on Christmas. I'm seeking advice on what sort of itinerary I should tentatively create. We are flying into Guatemala City and are relying on public transportation. We don't want to overestimate on what we plan to see. My girlfriend is interested in Mayan relics and I am a wildlife seeker. What sort of a compromise is there to meet our individual needs in our limited time frame?

OUR GUATEMALA ITINERARY

more ›

Jaunted Questions / Guatemala Field Trip / → All Tags

Guatemala Trip Questions: Will Claire Join Jaunted Readers in Lake Atitlan?

Claire Duffett lives in New York City and recently completed a 10-day trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize.

Not a bad way to escape this downright dreary North East April weather, huh? Claire will be sharing her field trip experience with us over the next week.

In this episode, Claire answers the Guatemala travel questions sent in by Jaunted readers this week. Enjoy

First Question

I'm wondering what is the best way to get from Belize to Tikal. Can the arrangements be made prior to arrival in Belize or is it easier to make arrangements once in Belize?

more ›

Budget Travel / Jaunted Field Trips / Drug Culture / Rough Guides / Guatemala Field Trip / → All Tags

Rough Guides Gets It Right :: Guatemala City

The Rough Guide to Guatemala was Jaunted Contributing Editor Claire Duffett's weapon of choice, during her March 2007 jaunt through Guatemala City, Antigua, Lake Atitalan, Tikal, and the cayes of Belize. Sometimes these guide books get it right, and sometimes they are off. In this feature, we will tell you what the guide pros said about a place and then give you our take.

Rough Guides Says:

Guatemala City (or Guate as it's referred to locally) has a distinct flavor. There are rickety urban buses roaring along in thick black clouds of diesel, trawling for ever more passengers. There's the shocking contrast between the glitzy Zona Viva, home to luxury hotels, gourmet restaurants and trendy nightclubs and the poverty-stricken outlying shantytowns.

Our Take:
Everyone warned us of the perils of Guatemala City. Co-workers and friends shared with us friends' of friends' of friends' horror stories, and instructed us to leave the airport and head immediately to Antigua.

When I stepped out of the airport, the smell of leaded fuel stung my nostrils. Freshly washed, white BMW shuttle buses lined the parking lot, waiting for tourists. The city, like any enormous metropolis in a second-world country, has its poverty. Yet there is a surprising mix of wealth. Between crowded outdoor markets and abandoned shacks, symbols of capitalism dot the roads. I spotted at least 10 multistory, high-end car dealerships while driving through Guatemala City. The fast-food chain Pollo Campero is as populous in Guate as Starbucks in Seattle.

The billboard-lined roadways are clean, new, and pothole free. Grass medians with manicured bushes separate the lanes. The city's main infrastructure shames any in the U.S. Our shuttle wove between chicken buses spewing out heavy diesel and young people driving shiny new SUVs on their way home from the office. Driving through Guatemala City felt less foreign to me than I expected. It reminded me slightly of my hometown, Buffalo. A sprawling hodgepodge of an economically-depressed but modern city.

more ›