Skip to navigation

Mark Moxon's Travel Writing

Guatemala: Guatemala City

The buildings in Zone 10 are as modern and gleaming as in any other modern city
The buildings in Zone 10 are as modern and gleaming as in any other modern city

It seemed like a good idea on paper, to spend New Year's Eve in the capital city of Guatemala, a country that's known for its party spirit and firework-fuelled celebrations. After all, as the new year creeps round the globe, capital cities everywhere party until dawn, from Sydney to Beijing to London to Rio de Janeiro. It surely wasn't much of a leap to expect Guatemala City to follow suit, at least a little bit.

The Christmas tree in Parque Central
The Christmas tree in Parque Central
Off the main drag, Guatemala City's buildings are a bit rougher round the edges
Off the main drag, Guatemala City's buildings are a bit rougher round the edges

Zone Wars

The 75m-tall Torre del Reformador in Zone 9, built in 1935
The 75m-tall Torre del Reformador in Zone 9, built in 1935

You see, the problem is that Guatemala City is split into zones, and those zones might as well be separate cities. The capital city of Guatemala is famous for its criminal gangs, drug violence and regular appearances in those top ten lists of the most dangerous cities in the world, and this is indeed true: some zones of Guatemala City, particularly Zones 3, 6, 18, and 21, are seriously criminal, and if you venture in there toting a fancy camera, white skin and a vacuous expression, you will almost certainly be mugged, and probably a lot worse. Guatemala City is, for a lot of people, synonymous with violent gang crime, but there are places you can stay that are relatively safe.

The municipal cathedral to the east of Parque Central
The municipal cathedral to the east of Parque Central
Shoppers on the busy 6th Avenue
Shoppers on the busy 6th Avenue
The Palacio National de la Cultura dominates the northern side of Parque Central
The Palacio National de la Cultura dominates the northern side of Parque Central

Heavenly Bed

The TransMetro bus, complete with a reassuring 'No Guns' sign
The TransMetro bus, complete with a reassuring 'No Guns' sign

We didn't do much else in Guatemala City. We'd tried to visit some of the tourist attractions the previous Sunday, but even though there's a special Sunday bus for tourists that takes you round the main attractions, such as the zoo and the museums, we failed to find that bus, and besides, most of the attractions are closed on Sundays, so it all seemed a bit pointless.

The starting point for a fun run we came across on New Year's Eve
The starting point for a fun run we came across on New Year's Eve

After all the rock-hard beds that we've failed to enjoy in Guatemala's cheaper hotels, it was a bit like sleeping in a cloud, and we were so impressed that I followed the web link in the blurb to discover that they sell the Heavenly Bed online. The Kingsize bed we were luxuriating in – the cheapest of the three levels of Heavenly Bed that the company sells – will set you back a princely US$3788, and we could well believe it.