|
GUATEMALA
I first visited Guatemala in 1975 and returned in 2015. |
|
|
|
Tikal
Certainly the most striking feature of Tikal is its steep-side temples, rising to heights of more than 44 meters. It is different from Copan and most other great Maya sites, because it is fairly deep in the jungle.*
Certainly the most striking feature of Tikal is its steep-side temples, rising to heights of more than 44 meters. It is different from Copan and most other great Maya sites, because it is fairly deep in the jungle.*
|
The missionaries who brought Catholicism to the Maya in the 16th century wisely permitted aspects of the existing animistic, shamanistic Maya religion to continue alongside Christian rites and beliefs.*
Drum Making
Buskers fill the streets of Antiqua.
Solola's importance comes from its location on trade routes between the tierra caliente (hot lands of the Pacific slope) and tierra fria (the chilly highlands).*
Kite flying is the universal activity of the young worldwide.
Livingston is the heartland of Guatemala's Garifuna community...*
|
The Garifuna maintain a unique culture with a strong sense of community and ritual, in which drumming and dancing play important roles.
Emanating primarily from the Lago de Atitlan towns, Tz'utujil oil painting has a distinctive primitivist style, with depictions of rural life, local traditions and landscapes in vibrant colours.*
At dawn, villages spread out their vegetables, chunks of chlk, handmade harnesses and other merchandise and wait for customers. Tourist-oriented handicraft stalls selling masks, textiles,pottery and so on now occupy much of the plaza and the streets to the north.*
Guatemala make many traditional handicrafts...Crafts include basketry, ceramics and wood carving, but the most prominent are weaving, embroidery and other textile arts practised by Maya women.*
It's Guatemala's showpiece. A place of rare beauty,major historical significance and vibrant culture...*
A Garifuna band generally consists of three drums, a shaker or maraca, a turtle shell and a conch shell.*
|
Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in Guatemala. The number of evangelical churches, especially in indigenous Maya villages, is astonishing.
This distinctly Maya mode is generally handed down through generations of the same family, and the leading artists share surnames.*
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception features an early-morning dance of giant, drunken cartoon characters in the plaza.*
Fishermen in rustic crafts ply the lake's aquamarine surface, wile indigenous women in multicolored outfits do their washing by the banks where trees burst into bloom.*
Surrounded by valleys, with mountains serrating the horizons, Chichicastenango can seem isolated in time and space from the rest of Guatemala.*
Guatemala's thriving Maya culture has left most impressive ruins, many of which are still used for sacred rituals. And then there's the glory of volcanoes and lakes separated by wild forest, jungle, corn fields and small farms, and the charm of village life.*
|
*These captions are from Guatemala -- Lonely Planet's travel guide.