Central America Report
12-14-2009, 03:05 PM
Guatemala
Quite the tourist show here. A great looking country that is small but with a lot of cultural/linguistic/geographic diversity and is the quintessential place for the bohemian hippie type of traveller. Despite this there is a well worn tourist track in Guat. hot spots on it include Antigua, Tikal, Linvingston, Lake Ataclan, and Chichicastenango. For me I was in Guatemala City for two nights, and didn't really get to see much of anything. Everyone around here was telling me not to go out at night and this was the beginning of a trend I encountered elsewhere on the trip, of locals being more fearful of the local violence and crime than foreigners. Guate City is pretty serious though, and I didn't want to f*ck around. From here I went to:
1) Antigua.
Overview:
Nice colonial town but it was a weird tourist trap. I went here to brush up on my spanish, the town is teaming with spanish schools and it has been built into the local gringo economy. It is a bit of a jump off spot, people stay here for a few days then move on, but a nice one at that. It is surrounded by three mountains, two of which are active volcanoes. I didn't, but you can go hike up to see the lava flow. Antigua also has this weird feel of being sort of Switzerland-like, ie nothing ever goes wrong, the street dogs mysteriously disappear at night, I never once was afraid for my safety, the police don't really harass you. Also note it is a relatively expensive town to stay in.
Lodging:
Overflowing with hostels, small hotels, home stays and apartments to rent. I stayed at three hostels
1) Jungle Party - as the stupid name suggests it is the towns party hostel. Decent accommodations, the girl that owns it is a bit of a Salvadorian cunt, but the rest of the staff are good. Good bar a drink specials too.
2) Umma Gamma - goo vibe, kitchen, nice rooftop view. Thats about it. The rooms are shit, the staff are douchebags, and their first line of business is selling overpriced drugs.
3) Mochillera - new hostel across the street from the Israeli hostel, basically one of the nicest hostels I have ever stayed in. Got to know the guys who worked there and cut a deal where I would bring girls back to the place. Nice kitchen, view, rooms, all good here, gets top recommendation.
Nightlife:
Decent nightlife here in Antigua, and if you have game and are looking to hook up with foreigners you will have no problem. The largest tourist contingent I saw here were Belgians, Dutch, and the Aussies. One can really go out any night, and the style of the town is a revolving ladies night. Each of the big bars has a night where girls drink for free between a certain time, much like elsewhere in the world. Local girls can be found, and often make up a minority in a bar on a given night. If you are looking for a "local" you will more likely run into a rich girl from Guatemala City who is in town for the night, usually returning the same night, or is there for the weekend. Drinks are overpriced and the bars all close at 1:00, a serious downer but for this you just need to ask around and find an afterparty. Usually these are at another bar or cafe that locks its doors. If you go it will be about a three dollar cover but it can be avoided if you just walk in the place like you own it or you are with a local. For this just ask around after and during the bar, people flock together after they close to look for one, but avoid the cops. Also, not much open after the bars close except for one burger joint, seriously good burgers though.
Game:
Run what you do, keep it fun, work your spanish, english, or whatever. Notes on practice here go without saying to those familiar with running game in the region. Run your bro game as she will likely be with guys who are either her boyfriend, cousin, friend, or just casual acquaintance. The boyfriend will let you know, but the rest of the guys will usually be just as interesting in meeting you than the girl is. Buy the dude a drink, talk him up, whatever, but this is one of the keys. Dancing and dance ability was not a deal-breaker here in Guatemala and the rest of Central America, but it is an added bonus and can escalate things quickly. Social proof is big here, so if you are rolling with some gringos run with a good looking fun crowd. Even if they aren't your good buddies, team up with them, pre-drink with them. If you are trying to avoid the gringo crowd hang out with the bartenders in the town, most of them are travelling too. Also, have your shit ready for the late night. Have your own place, no girl wants to go back to your smelly ass Australian infested hostel. If you can't, get a private room in a hostel and befriend the owner, or the door man, pass him a few extra quetzales and he will look the other way.
2) Monterrico
Sleepy little beach town. It is pretty dead during the week, the beach was decent, black sand, so f*cking hot, the waves were massive shore break and unrideable. I did a bit of bodysurfing and got a serious workout and a good scare because the undertow was insane. Buy a hammock here, they are cheap and good. The Tilapia is cheap but tastes like ass, like anywhere else. Good place to recharge, but gets boring.
Lodging: few hostels and hotels. People will jump out all over you to once you arrive to offer you a hotel. Just ignore them and head over to Johnny's place, owned by a french and a french Canadian dude. Not that cheap but a good vibe and right on the beach.
Nightlife: dead except on weekends when the beach fills up with gringos and people from Guatemala City. They keep to themselves in seperate clubs and the Guatemalans at these their merengue clubs were pretty ugly, and the ratio was pretty bad. I found that the girls there were travelling in groups of girls. Hard to bust into and most of the gringas / chelitas have that sense of entitlement in the sexual market that they normally wouldn't feel either in North America, Europe, or if they weren't on the beach. Keep it fun, approach a lot, nothing new here, but I feel there is a distinct beach town game that I need to work on. I feel that the Argentinian dreadlocked looking bracelet selling dudes have this niche locked down.
3) From here it was a bunch of small towns throughout Guatemala, not much to talk about on this forum.
![[Image: smile.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/smile.gif)
![[Image: tongue.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/tongue.gif)
.
