Leaving Guatemala City on a very long drive to Petenchel near the Tiki Mayan ruins.

Guatemala City seen on our drive.

Guatemala City seen on our drive.

Guatemala City seen on our drive.

Guatemala City seen on our drive. Colorful.

Houses on a hill. Jogging and other exercise has become a craze in Guatemala as a weight reduction. Guatemalans eat five times a day and excerise is a must.

More houses on a hill.

Closer-up.

A town on a hill.

Closer-up.

Another town.

More of the town.

Guatemala is a mountainous country. The tallest mountain is actually a volcano--the Tajumulco Volcano at 13,845 feet (4,2220 m).

Town along the road.

More of the town.

A three-story building.

We are driving in the mountains and will be for quite awhile.

More mountains.

A stop where motorists could get refreshments.

A view below.

A river in the valley.

More of the river.

I think Pepsi has won out here.

Riding in the back of a pickup.

A very nice building, perhaps a tourist hotel.

Refreshments along the road.

A small hotel.

Always very pretty and lush trees and plants along the way.

Refreshments.

Selling watermelons from the back of a pickup. An adequate income depending on how many watermelons are sold.

Farmland in a valley.

The absolutely cutest dogs at a rest stop that we made. There were between six and ten dogs (it was hard to count them all) on this man's bicycle. As his sign said, they are rescue dogs.

The dogs were dressed up and were having a very good time getting a lot of attention from us. Of course, we donated to their care.

The dogs.

Dressed up in his snappy hat.

You can pet me.

Us also!

Me too!

Just having fun!

A cute bonnet.

Do you like my outfit?

Doggies from the side. That's our tour director Virginia on the right.

Another view.

All dressed up: hat, shirt, and skirt.

Virginia and the dogs and their owner. We stopped at the same place for lunch on our way back to Guatemala City but the dogs weren't there. Since we are using rest rooms on the road, no toilet paper down the toilet as the pipes here are old. We got used to it.

Along the way: pizza.

More of the town.

Many watermelon for sale.

View of the watermelons from another side.

Hat vendor along the road.

In the middle of this field was an archeological site.

I don't know exactly what this was but it could be a burial site. The blocks had to be moved here from a distance.

Onward.

A holdup on the road and a vendor is offering slices of watermelon to hungry motorists. If the holdup is long enough, pizza and other food is offered for sale.

Tire store along the road. We saw a number of them.

I think the tire store is also offering coffee and tea.

A house along the road. Note the open porch in its front. Guatemalans spend much time outdoors and porches are well used.

A farm.

A vendor.

Souvenirs for sale.

A very interesting building.

People gathering.

A market. Those little three-wheel vehicles serve as taxis.

Photo taken after our visit to the Quirigua archeological site.

Roadside vendor.

Farmland.

Farmland.

A church, probably Evangelical. In 1976, Guatemala had a 7.5 magnitude earthquake which destroyed many houses. The Evangelicals came to Guatemala to help rebuild the houses while at the same time building Evangelical churches. Some small villages have two or three of them, all different sects. Now, Guatemala is about 30-40% or more Evangelical Christians.

Passing a cemetery. They are colorful, with the indigenuous representing their religion in white and yellow; the Mayans, blue and green; and the Catholics, orange and pink. Leftover paint in all colors is also used.

Finallly, after a very long drive and a visit to Quirigua, it is lunchtime.

Walking past a duck and geese pond.

Being welcomed.

Our lunch restaurant was on a very nice harbor on the Rio Dulce.

The restaurant.

Its Christmas tree is still up. They were being taken down in Guatemala City the day before we left it as tradition says that Christmas trees and navity scenes go up on a certain date and go down on another date. Here, they stay up longer.

I had fish which came as a whole fish head and all.

More of the harbor. But I had a disasterous walk from the restaurant to our bus, tripping over a rock and falling front forward and landing very painfully on the camera that I had around my neck.

I must have recovered enough on the bus to take some more photos.

Passing street eating.

Going through the town.

Another Evangelical church.

A house on a hill.

A car accident on the road. It attracted a lot of attention.

Finally to our hotel in Petenchel where we were asked not to put toilet tissue down the toilet.

Our hotel was ina nature preserve on the shores of Petenchel Laguna. Very pretty scenery.

A hammock on the property for resting. Some of my tour mates reported hearing a strange animal near their rooms at night but no one ventured out to see what it was. The hotel also had swimming pools.