After enjoying about a week in Mexico City and Oaxaca, it was time to say goodbye to Mexico and head to my next destination: Guatemala!

Thursday

After my lost-passport scare in the Oaxaca airport, I was so happy to sit back and relax on my (very small and somewhat frightening) plane to Guatemala City. Upon arrival, I met with my pre-arranged driver to Antigua, which was just about an hour away.

Antigua is a cute colonial-style town that has become super backpacker-friendly in recent years. It is known for its old Spanish architecture, colorful buildings, and impressive volcano views. I found the town to be surprisingly touristy, yet still a good way to learn more about Guatemalan culture and history.

Once my driver dropped me off at my hostel, I took some time to explore the building. Tropicana Hostel is notorious for its social scene, which apparently came along with cramped, messy rooms with no locks or lockers. I figured it would be fine for one night, but I went ahead and switched my reservation to a different hostel for my second night.

I did some shopping at the local artisans’ markets before finding a filling dinner and some giant bottles of water. Needless to say, I had big plans for the next day!

Friday

Friday began a whole new adventure, as I began the Acatenango trek. You can read about my full experience with the hike here.

Saturday

On Saturday, I was forced awake at 3:45 AM and found myself on a literal volcano. I watched the sunrise from above the clouds, compared travel stories with fellow backpackers as we proceeded downhill, and passed out for the full hour-long shuttle back to Antigua.

Back at Tropicana, everyone returned their gear and re-packed their giant backpacks. I headed to lunch with one of my new friends, Maggie, and devoured a burger and fries before heading to my new hostel.

For that night, I had booked a bed at Adra Hostel instead of Tropicana as originally planned. It seemed super clean, cute, and trendy upon arrival, so I was already impressed. The person at the front desk then let me check in early, moved me down from the top bunk, got me a discount on laundry, and even gave me a welcome cocktail, all because I looked gross and exhausted from the trek. I guess the hike was worth it after all!

I had one of the most gratifying showers of my life, followed by a surprisingly satisfying nap. I met up with some people from my Acatenango group for dinner and cocktails, and then I headed right back to bed for the night.

Sunday

My priorities for Sunday were simple: coffee and chocolate. These are two of my favorite things no matter where in the world I am, so naturally, I had to take advantage of being in Guatemala.

The amazing free breakfast at Adra fueled my morning outing, and I decided to do some last sightseeing and exploring while I was out as well.

Not long after, it was time to say goodbye to the touristy but cute and comfortable town of Antigua.

Unfortunately, as I left Antigua, I also left behind my credit card, meaning that I had now lost both my go-to credit and debit cards on this trip. Whoops.

Thankfully, I had one card left, so the adventure wasn’t over yet!

Hasta luego, Antigua!