Have you ever ridden on a tuk tuk taxi? I don’t recall exactly when tuk tuk motorcycles arrived in Guatemala, but they were absorbed as part of the Guatemalan culture and tradition very swiftly. Tuk tuk motorcycles became quite popular instantly and before you knew it, tuk tuk motorbikes were used as speedy and inexpensive … Read more
Here’s an unusual and interesting bird’s eye view of the typical public transit bus which is used in most of Guatemala. In this picture the bus shown is the Orellana bus line that connects Antigua Guatemala with Guatemala City. Have you ever ridden on a chicken bus? How was your ride?
Bicicles has to be the most popular means of transportation of people in and around Antigua Guatemala. People use bicycles to go to work or to work, to run errands, to play, to have fun, to tour the colonial city and villages, as publicity gimmicks, to ride with the family on the weekends, and to … Read more
This is quite possibly the best description I have ever read about La Antigua Guatemala and it comes from the pen of Adrian Anthony Gill, better know by his nom de guerre AA Gill. Today it’s a miraculously beautiful, crumbly Spanish colonial town. Sometimes neglect is the best thing that can happen to a place. … Read more
I am truly convinced that Guatemalans can not do anything in a mild, neutral, gray manner. Guatemala is a country of extremes and there’s no middle ground here. So it comes as no surprise that everything has to have rich, saturated colors with wild patterns that under normal circumstances could not go well together, but … Read more
These colorful public transit buses are just another way Guatemalans recycle the junk from the U.S. and Canada. Of course, we live in a colorful culture where women wear the Spring on the blouses and rich saturated colors are the norm, so it comes as no surprise that take the boring yellow school buses and … Read more
I don’t know about you, but I like the design of most things done before 70s. I mean just take something as mundane as a refrigerator and back in the 1950s the design was better. Obviously cars are the best example of that. Take the 1953 Ford coupe above, come on, cars back then had … Read more
In Guatemala, nothing can be plain and simple, not the public transit system buses nor the school buses. Here’s a very good example of how a plan vanilla yellow school bus is transformed when it’s given its second life as a school bus in Guatemala. What do you think about these colorful Guatemalan school buses?
Bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles are the most popular vehicles in Guatemala since they are the most economical in terms of use and to acquire them. They are also the most ecological vehicles, so that’s something positive. What is the most popular vehicles where you live?
You know me, every chance I get to share with you a shot of classic cars parked in the enchanting Antigua Guatemala, I go for it. This time it’s two classic Volkswagen Beetles and love is in the air everywhere I look around in the most romantic city of Central America, just as John Paul … Read more
Of course the parking problems get aggravated when there are events in Antigua Guatemala and thousands of people are expected to arrive. Then, any available spaces becomes a temporary parking lots. With this entry we finish the mini series about the parking problems of Antigua Guatemala. Let me know your thoughts about it.
One of the reason for why most of streets in Antigua Guatemala are one-way is because once the parking areas are occupied the streets are too narrow. This is even true of the roads around La Antigua as you can see in the picture above where you can barely fit two buses each going on … Read more
Sorry, I don’t want to give the wrong impression about carpooling in Antigua Guatemala and Guatemala in general. Yesterday, when I said there wasn’t carpooling here… I actually meant in this particular instance. Carpooling or motorcycle-pooling is as common here as anywhere else in the world. Carpooling here is done mostly for economic reasons and … Read more
The other day I found this typical Guatemalan stamp: the trash collectors having breakfast inside the trash collecting truck and the chuchos (street dogs) waiting for a piece of food. I believe this is a very real image of Guatemala and I should concentrate my efforts on bringing you more of these kind of imagery. … Read more
Oh I want one of these classic Volkswagen Beetles with white tires and chromed bumpers. Who wouldn’t really. Anyway, to finish the work week I am sharing the happy song Carcachita by Roberto Carlos. There’s also a short video clip of a 360 degree vista around Parque Central this morning. Enjoy!