Product Description

A guide to one of the world's hottest travel destinations. It features itineraries, maps and a colour highlights section. It offers advice on staying safe travelling the highways and byways of the Ruta Maya.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27955 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Customer Reviews

patchy, a rush job?
I used this guide for a three month trip to Guatemala June-September 2001, during which time I spent six weeks in Antigua improving my Spanish at the Sevilla school and another six weeks travelling through the Western Highlands, El Petén and a quick trip into Honduras to the island of Utila.
Generally Antigua was covered adequately, though many things are already out of date as there have been many changes. Judging by the listings this guide was researched a long time ago, as according to my Spanish teacher many of the restaurants and bars recommended had been closed for several years. Also in this section the book mistakenly labels "Volcano Agua" as "Volcano Fuego". As this peak (Agua) is directly to the south of the town, and every language student uses it as a landmark, this is a pretty fundamental error. Not the most promising start, for a budding volcano-climber like myself - I ended up taking a volcano tour (around $6) rather than risk it.
Things didn't improve much in Lago de Atitlan, where I also studied for week. There are now five Spanish schools in San Pedro, though the book only mentions one. Also the book seems to have a rather naive, hippy-dippy sensibility towards the nature of the village, talking about "being greeted by the sweet waft of marijuana" and so on. Yes, San Pedro has a dope-smoking scene, but several travellers were being busted (some set up) for a joint or two while I was there, and there was also a (un) healthy cocaine (including crack) "scene". The LP seemed be blissfully ignorant of all this, locked in some sixties nostalgia timewarp. There are also serious social problems, gangs and abject poverty in San Pedro. Travellers are being mugged on a very regular basis on the volcano. A warning wouldn't have gone amiss.
In Peten, the LP covers Flores and Tikal reasonably, with accurate maps. There's no real coverage of the more remote sites however, the author dismisses the hike to Mirador as a five day hell-hike, while Yaxhá, Piedras Negras, Cancuén and many other sites are not even mentioned or barely touched.
In the east of the country, the Jungle route to Honduras that the author describes has no longer been necessary since 1998, when a new bridge was built over the river Montagua that divides the countries (which the guidebook spells "Monagua" on its cover...).
So overall, I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the guide, which for such a recent edition should have been better researched. I did find myself casting an eye over Rough Guide and Footprint readers' guidebooks when I could. This guide needs to be sorted out.
Tom

patchy at best
I used this guide for a three month trip to Guatemala June-September 2001, during which time I spent six weeks in Antigua improving my Spanish at the Sevilla school and another six weeks travelling through the Western Highlands, El Petén and a quick trip into Honduras to the island of Utila.
Generally Antigua was covered adequately, though many things are already out of date as there have been many changes. Judging by the listings this guide was researched a long time ago, as according to my Spanish teacher many of the restaurants and bars recommended had been closed for several years. Also in this section the book mistakenly labels "Volcano Agua" as "Volcano Fuego". As this peak (Agua) is directly to the south of the town, and every language student uses it as a landmark, this is a pretty fundamental error. Not the most promising start, for a budding volcano-climber like myself - I ended up taking a volcano tour (around $6) rather than risk it.
Things didn't improve much in Lago de Atitlan, where I also studied for week. There are now five Spanish schools in San Pedro, though the book only mentions one. Also the book seems to have a rather naive, hippy-dippy sensibility towards the nature of the village, talking about "being greeted by the sweet waft of marijuana" and so on. Yes, San Pedro has a dope-smoking scene, but several travellers were being busted (some set up) for a joint or two while I was there, and there was also a (un) healthy cocaine (including crack) "scene". The LP seemed be blissfully ignorant of all this, locked in some sixties nostalgia timewarp. There are also serious social problems, gangs and abject poverty in San Pedro. Travellers are being mugged on a very regular basis on the volcano. A warning wouldn't have gone amiss.
In Peten, the LP covers Flores and Tikal reasonably, with accurate maps. There's no real coverage of the more remote sites however, the author dismisses the hike to Mirador as a five day hell-hike, while Yaxhá, Piedras Negras, Cancuén and many other sites are not even mentioned or barely touched.
In the east of the country, the Jungle route to Honduras that the author describes has no longer been necessary since 1998, when a new bridge was built over the river Montagua that divides the countries (which the guidebook spells "Monagua" on its cover...).
So overall, I have to say I was pretty disappointed with the guide, which for such a recent edition should have been better researched. I did find myself casting an eye over Rough Guide and Footprint readers' guidebooks when I could. This guide needs to be sorted out.
Tom

Disappointing - took the Rough Guide instead
I didn't find this book as useful as the Rough Guide. Information seemed to be vague in parts. Wanting to know what the weather would be like in Guatemala City when I was going, I found only a few lines on page 9 describing the climate in highlands and on coast, plus a climate chart on page 276, giving me little specific idea what to expect.