12iacc - International Anti-Corruption Conference

TOURS

The Conference Organisers are offering different tour options for participants and accompanying persons. For those who wish to bring relatives or friends and visit Guatemala before or after the Conference, these are the options our partner Travel Agency has designed. For more information on these options please contact

Mercedes Aguilar
info@clarktours.com.gt
Tel.:   502 2412 4700   Ext 4757
Fax:   502 2412 4701 & 502 2412 4801
Address:   7a. Av. 14-76, Zona 9 Plaza Clark, Guatemala, C. A.

Accompanying Persons One day Tours

Option 1: Thursday 16 November. "Guatemala City Tour Half Day".

At 14:00 Hrs. you will be picked up at your hotel for a sightseeing tour of Guatemala City. Some of the principal sites you will visit during the morning will include the National Palace, the Cathedral, La Merced and Santo Domingo Church and the Civic Center Complex. You will also visit residential areas, this giving you an overall view of our rapidly growing and modern city (NO shorts or bathing suites are permitted).

Option 2: Friday 17 November. "Sololá Market and Lake Atitlán Tour".

This morning visit Sololá Market which is an authentic indigenous market where men and women wear typical clothing from their communities and come from the different surrounding villages, which makes it even more colorful. Today Sololá is still one of the few villages from the highlands where people proudly wear their traditional clothes, which, depending on the fabrics and threads used, as well as the amount of embroidered motives, portray the social and economic status and position of the civil and religious hierarchies. Continue to Lake Atitlán, one of the most beautiful in the world, with its crystalline-azure waters in the crater bowl below. Atitlán is the ideal place to come in contact with Guatemalan folklore. Twelve Indian villages surround the Lake, and their inhabitants are descendants from the great Quiché, Cackchiquel, and Tzutuhil nations. In the afternoon, return to Guatemala City.

12th IACC Post Conference Tours

City Tour Half Day

At 14:00 Hrs. you will be picked up at your hotel for a sightseeing tour of Guatemala City. Some of the principal sites you will visit this morning include the National Palace, the Cathedral, La Merced and Santo Domingo Church and the Civic Center Complex. You will also visit residential areas, this giving you an overall view of our rapidly growing and modern city (NO shorts or bathing suites are permitted).

Antigua Guatemala Full Day Tour

At 09:00 a.m., you will be picked up at your hotel and transferred to Antigua Guatemala, the most important and enchanting city of colonial Guatemala. Founded by the Spaniards in 1543, nowadays Antigua is a beautiful blend of ruins, restored colonial buildings, and new buildings in colonial style. It was declared “Monument of America” in 1965. Visit Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala’s first permanent capital, destroyed in 1541 by earthquakes and a flood. Then, continue your drive to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, which is an indigenous community where a large variety of high quality textiles and techniques that produce colorful designs are produced. Lunch will be provided at Porta Hotel Antigua. After lunch visit the Central Plaza, that is surrounded by the antique Cathedral, the Municipal Government Building, and the Palace of the Captains General; colonial churches and monasteries, primitive foot-looms where colorful textiles are woven, and a jade factory where this stone is worked into beautiful jewelry.

Sololá Market and Lake Atitlán Tour

This morning visit Sololá Market which is an authentic indigenous market where men and women wear typical clothing from their communities and come from the different surrounding villages, which makes it even more colorful. Today Sololá is still one of the few villages from the highlands where people proudly wear their traditional clothes, which, depending on the fabrics and threads used, as well as the amount of embroidered motives, portray the social and economic status and position of the civil and religious hierarchies. Continue to Lake Atitlán, one of the most beautiful in the world, with its crystalline-azure waters in the crater bowl below. Atitlán is the ideal place to come in contact with Guatemalan folklore. Twelve Indian villages surround the Lake, and their inhabitants are descendants from the great Quiché, Cackchiquel, and Tzutuhil nations. In the afternoon, return to Guatemala City.

Tikal One Day

Today you will go back more than 2,000 years in time when you visit the Tikal National Park. At 05:00 a.m., you will be picked up at your hotel for transfer to the airport to board the flight to Flores, Petén (due to the worldwide increase in the cost of fuel, an additional charge of US$15.00 per person + US$6.00 per local security tax airport) will have to be paid at the airline counter upon check-in). On arrival, our representative will take you to the Mayan City of Tikal which is located in the center of the National Park that bears its name, and has an extension of 222 square miles. Tikal was inhabited from 600 BC., till 869 AD. Its highlight was between 690 till 850 AD., a time period known by archaeologists as the Late Classic. Visit the Twin-Pyramid Complexes “Q” and “R”, Lost World Complex where the Great Pyramid and Temple 5C-49 are the most important. Also, visit Temple III and the Palace of the Windows, the Great Plaza, squared off with the pyramids of the Grand Jaguar and the Masks, the Palace of the Nobles, and Pyramid IV. This one is the highest of the Mayan pyramids, from its top a complete view of Tikal and its surrounding jungle can be enjoyed. After lunch, visit the museum, which houses some of the many Pre-Columbian art treasures found during the excavations of the site. In the afternoon, transfer to Santa Elena’s Airport to board the flight that will take you back to Guatemala City.

Tikal Overnight

Day 01: Today you will go back more than 2,000 years in time when you visit the Tikal National Park. At 05:00 a.m., you will be picked up at your hotel for transfer to the airport to board the flight to Flores, Petén (due to the worldwide increase in the cost of fuel, an additional charge of US$15.00 per person + US$6.00 per local security tax airport) will have to be paid at the airline counter upon check-in). On arrival, our representative will take you to the Mayan City of Tikal which is located in the center of the National Park that bears its name, and has an extension of 222 square miles. Tikal was inhabited from 600 BC., till 869 AD. Its highlight was between 690 till 850 AD., a time period known by archaeologists as the Late Classic. Visit the Twin-Pyramid Complexes “Q” and “R”, Lost World Complex where the Great Pyramid and Temple 5C-49 are the most important. Also, visit Temple III and the Palace of the Windows, the Great Plaza, squared off with the pyramids of the Grand Jaguar and the Masks, the Palace of the Nobles, and Pyramid IV. This one is the highest of the Mayan pyramids, from its top a complete view of Tikal and its surrounding jungle can be enjoyed. After lunch, visit the museum, which houses some of the many Pre-Columbian art treasures found during the excavations of the site. In the afternoon, transfer to Hotel Camino Real Tikal for overnight accommodations.

Day 02: This morning visit Temple VI a religious monument farthest east of the Great Plaza. It was discovered in 1,951 and is also known as “Temple of the Inscriptions” due a series of hieroglyphic writing located on the eastern side of the Temple. Continue to Group “G”, a gathering of several buildings used for residential and religious purposes. Access to the inner patio is through a 30 feet long tunnel. Then, visit Temple V the second highest Temple in Tikal. Also, visit the North Group, walking in one of the original Mayan causeways, where at the end of the walk, a sculpture was carved on the surface. In the afternoon, transfer to Santa Elena’s Airport to board the flight that will take you back to Guatemala City.

Lake Atitlán / San Antonio and Santa Catarina Palopo

At 07:00 a.m. depart to Lake Atitlán, one of the most beautiful in the world, with its crystalline-azure waters in the crater bowl below. Atitlán is the ideal place to come in contact with Guatemalan folklore. Twelve Indian villages surround the Lake, and their inhabitants are descendants from the great Quiché, Cackchiquel, and Tzutuhil nations. There, you will take a motor launch to San Antonio Palopó, a Cackchiquel village with agriculture as its main activity. They grow onions and anise, as well as manufacture products made from the fibers of the maguey agave and tul carpets. Men wear a red-striped shirt and a kind of a brown plaid skirt. Women wear a red-and-white-striped huipil and a navy-blue corte (skirt). Women use the traditional waist loom to weave, whereas men use the standing loom, which was introduced by the Spaniards during the colonial period. Then, visit Santa Catarina Palopó a small and colorful village of Cackchiquel origin. Women are experts weavers and wear one of the most colorful typical clothes of the highlands. It is made up of three pieces that are manufactured using the waist loom, whose origin dates back to pre-Hispanic times. The whole dress presents several fascinating and colorful geometric figures. The male clothes, especially the trousers, have compact and colorful brocade that repeats itself throughout the whole design, also represented in the female huipil (blouse). Lunch at Hotel Atitlán. In the afternoon, return to Guatemala City.

Published on: 2006-05-17 (1407 reads)

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