I just got back from nine days in Guatemala and thought I’d write down some observations and impressions of the place. Without prior knowledge, I had low expectations, although I admit I had some biases based on its location next to Mexico.

I now understand why Central America in general and to some extent Guatemala is so popular with Americans and especially retirees. In the first place, the climate is excellent and, in fact, more accommodating than that of Florida, since its elevation above sea level provides a more temperate and less humid climate, at least during the dry season. Second, the people are friendly and hard-working. Third, the cost of living is cheap. Fourth, in the case of neighboring Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama, English is spoken everywhere (it is not so in Guatemala).

Among my biggest surprises (even though I knew that Guatemala was a poor country) was the fact that the roads are terrible and the driving is even worse. Between the spectacular topography (due to mountains formed eons ago by earthquakes and volcanoes) and the fact that the vast majority of roads are cobblestone or dirt, traveling around the country is not easy. And there is no railway or public transportation of any kind, probably due to the topography, unless you count the thousands of “chicken buses” the locals take to get around. (Chicken buses are yellow school buses from the US that have been artistically and uniquely painted and are used to transport people and all kinds of cargo, including livestock, hence the name.) It was not surprising to learn that Guatemala ranks 116th in paved roads with just 4,700 kilometers (less than 3,000 miles) of paved roads, behind Western Sahara and before Tunisia.

Another big surprise, which I learned from asking about sending postcards, was the fact that two years ago, the country abolished its national postal system, so if you want to send mail, you need a private courier service, or DHL. I noticed that most small towns don’t have street signs, so you have to wonder how mail was delivered even when the post office existed. No street sign tells me that all the activity in most of the country is very local, where everyone knows each other.

Probably my biggest surprise was learning that there is no public education system in Guatemala, which means that children can only attend school if their parents can pay to send them privately.

The most interesting part of the history I learned was about the relationship between Belize (formerly British Honduras) and Guatemala. According to our guide, centuries ago, England was granted permission to harvest timber (mahogany) from Guatemala in exchange for promising to build roads in Guatemala, but apparently not only did they not build roads, they took up more land than their permit allowed, and held it, what later became known as British Honduras. To avoid a confrontation, England granted independence to that occupied territory and it became known as Belize. Today Guatemala intends to appeal to the United Nations to recover that territory or at least be compensated for its misappropriation by England. Time will tell if they are able to prevail.

If you decide to go to Guatemala, please be aware that traveling there carries significant risks, so your trip should be supervised by a professional tour guide, at least in a group format, or more preferably, a private tour guide (as we did ). There is no public transport, there are few road signs and streets, information about everything is scant and you MUST SPEAK SPANISH to get anywhere or do anything!

We visited four areas: Guatemala City (the capital city since the 1700s and where the main airport resides), Tikal (where the most important settlement of the ancient Mayan civilization resides), Antigua (the ancient capital of Guatemala well preserved in the 1500, when it was ruled by Spain, then moved to Guatemala City after being decimated by an earthquake) and Lake Atitlán (a magnificent place formed in the valley of several volcanoes).

These areas give you a mix of Spanish (and Catholic) history in the country, the history of the Mayan civilization, and some spectacular sites of natural beauty. If you have time, visit Chichicastenango (no, that’s not Pinky Tuscadero’s little sister) when you’re near Lake Atitlán, considered the oldest and largest open-air market in Central America.

Also, we enjoyed visiting a coffee plantation near Antigua. I was surprised to learn that Guatemalan coffee is considered the third in quality in the world, behind Ethiopian and Kenyan, although you would never know it since they produce it in relatively small quantities. By the way, the locals are not coffee drinkers. Their chocolate is also considered to be of very high quality, although apparently the origin of the chocolate is Brazil. By the way, the food in almost all the places we visited was tasty and freshly prepared. Plenty of fresh fruit is served at virtually every meal, including papaya, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, berries and greens, and avocados. Staples of the Guatemalan diet include corn, rice, and beans.

My advice is to focus your visit on the two main areas of Antigua (for its culture and history) and Lake Atitlán (for its natural beauty). Tikal bills itself as a major attraction given its historical importance as the center of the ancient Mayan civilization, and its available sites are impressive. Keep in mind, however, that only about 20% of those artifacts and tombs have been unearthed as of this writing, so you won’t see most of what archaeologists believe is buried below the surface. That was a bit disappointing. Also, visiting there will require either a short flight or a long bus ride, as Tikal lies far to the north and east of the other two main attractions mentioned. You will probably need to fly into Guatemala City, but keep in mind that it offers little attraction and my advice would be to spend as little time there as possible.

Every time I leave the US I always come back with a great appreciation for many things we take for granted here: words like management, organization, efficiency, transparency, disclosure, communication all mean more to me now. Guatemalans are hard-working, skilled and talented people, but given the deplorable state of their road and communication infrastructure and the fact that they do not have a free or public education system, suffice it to say that they face a challenging future.

In case you’re wondering about the title of this essay, you should know that “Pinchazo” is a Spanish word that has many meanings, including pinchazo (as in tire) and sharp pain (as in the kind one experiences after many hours of travel on cobbled streets). It seemed like every mile or so, traveling on the main highways, we would see signs saying “Flat Flat”. Not surprising since the roads are so bad. Our guide told us that they not only wash their cars every day there, but also check their brakes every other week!