Mayan Ruins and Antigua

Our build week is over and we’re headed to Antigua for Samana Santa for the Easter Weekend. Enroute we stopped at a Mayan Ruins Park named Iximche near the town of Tecpan. Interesting ruins which were part a Mayan City founded in the 1400’s . The excavated area is large then Mayan Ruins like Tulum in the Yucatan area in the south of Mexico. Much of these ruins are still un-excavated but those that have been are very interested. We spent a couple of hours wandering the site following which we had bagged lunches that we sat down and eat near the entrance to the park. This week being a holiday week for many Guatemalan families there were families having BBQ’s and many dogs wandering around. As soon as we sat down to eat we were surrounded by dogs, very polite but wanting food. I’m certain they recognized us as foreigners and came over to see if they could scrounge food… and what a surprise it worked fairly well for them.


Following lunch we continued on to Antigua which at this time of year is incredibly busy as hoards of people descend on this City. Walking the streets people are everywhere at all times of the day. Locals are creating carpets made from pine needles and sawdust called  Alfombras. These are made in the cobblestone streets of the city and have a very short life, taking many hours to create and are then trampled and destroyed during the processions that occur daily as part of Semana Santa. Antigua is incredibly busy and it doesn’t seem, what time of the day or night the streets are full of people and activities.