• Climb the ancient Mayan pyramids of Tikal, a great city that flourished while Europe suffered through the dark ages.
• Walk the cobble stone streets of Antigua, the elegant colonial capital of New Spain, a city that has changed little in four centuries.
• View the volcanoes that tower over Lake Atitlan, often called the most beautiful lake in the world.
• Squeeze through the busy Mayan market in Chichicastenango; where thousands of Mayans, dressed in full Mayan regalia, buy and sell their wares.

I first traveled to Guatemala in 1974 as a young man with no responsibilities, not much money and all the time in the world. I still say there is no better way to travel, ...as long as you have no responsibilities, plenty of time and are willing to put up with the lack of creature comforts such travel entails.

Take the famous Guatemalan chicken buses. They are uncomfortable, unreliable, overcrowded, cheap, loud, dirty and late; yet to step on a chicken bus is to enter Guatemala in all its chaotic color and unpolished glory.

Thirty years ago I thoroughly enjoyed five hours crammed into a chicken bus. I enjoy them still (for short trips anyway), but now I also appreciate and can afford the country's more polished qualities. Guatemala is old and the Guatemalans have been careful to conserve an elegant patina that only comes with age and taste.

• You will start your travels with a trip to Tikal, an important archeological site and discover the magnificent capital of the ancient Maya.
• Then you will spend time in Antigua, where the Western world first set roots in the Americas.
• Lastly I'll take you to Chichicastenango, Lake Atitlan and other villages in the Western Highlands; the heart of the modern Mayan world.

This is the travel plan I would follow were I to travel to Guatemala. I have lived in Guatemala for more than twenty five years and worked in online travel promotion for the last ten. I know where to go and what to see.

This site is designed to appeal to the traveler who expects a certain level of comfort; but who also want to experience Guatemala as it genuinely is. The tours I offer accommodate a variety of budgets and can easily be customized to your wishes.

But before I get into specifics, keep in mind that perhaps the best advice I can give travelers to this exotic corner of the world is to occasionally ignore my advice and see where it takes you. I can assure you that you've never been there before!

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