Guatemala City is a big surprise! It is clean, filled with great restaurants, excellent hotels, and glass buildings. It is definitely an international enclave. In the elevator of the Hyatt Centric where we are staying downtown, I met a young man from Japan and a local who both work for Honda motorcycles. Down the street are the Range Rover and BYD dealers. It’s definitely worth a two or three day stay here before you go off to Antigua and Lake Atitlan.
My primary reason for a pre-tour visit was to explore the Museo Ixchel Traje del Indigena de Guatemala. It has seven excellent galleries filled with colorful, intricately woven garments from villages through the country from the 1800’s through to today. And the museum shop has many fine examples of vintage textiles for sale as well as new and vintage jewelry featuring old stones and coins. Hard to save those Quetzales for Antigua and beyond.
Here are a few photos:















We may return to Guatemala in 2026 IF there are enough people interesting in traveling with us here. Please send an email to express your interest.

Tomorrow we are going to the Central Market where we will find folk art and textiles from throughout the country.
The connections between México and Guatemala are strong. The Pan American Highway is the ancient north-south trade route and we see many strong similarities between the two countries and their weavings.
In the same location at the University Francisco Marroquin is the outstanding Popul Vuh Museum. This is an archeological treasure trove. Don’t miss it, either.











