ANTIGUA, Guatemala- I successfully sidestepped Semana Santa this year. I ran to the jungle. Good, I am alll the better for it. If there is ever a time that you realize that you can take Latin America no more, it will probably be during this holy week. The schools let out, workers have the week off, and everyone goes on vacation.
Published on April 7, 2010
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ANTIGUA, Guatemala- I successfully sidestepped Semana Santa this year. I ran to the jungle. Good, I am alll the better for it. If there is ever a time that you realize that you can take Latin America no more, it will probably be during this holy week. The schools let out, workers have the week off, and everyone goes on vacation.
If there is one word that can make all travelers cringe it is “national holiday.” Travel and holidays do not mix in any country of the world. Why? Because every person in the country has the same days off of work and school, and everybody is traveling. The buses are clogged, there are no seats on trains, hotels double and triple their prices, and the streets of tourist destinations are flooded — packed — with people.
We were caught in Antigua, Guatemala for a preliminary Semana Santa procession. Antigua is the first runner up in the world for Semana Santa grandour. Each Sunday leading up to the holy week there are warm up processions, each getting bigger and bigger the closer to they get to Easter Sunday. The procession would start early in the morning and march through the streets for over 15 hours. The following photos are from the final procession leading up to Semana Santa.
For the actual holy week we split to the jungle. This procession was enough Semana Santa for us.
Read about Semana Santa in Honduras
Making saw dust pictures on road for Semana Santa
Semana Santa in Antigua
Maya girl on Semana Santa
Roman soldiers in the Semana Santa procession in Antigua
Semana Santa procession Antigua
Semana Santa procession in Antigua
Semana Santa Procession Antigua Guatemala
Semana Santa Procession in Antigua
Procession in Antigua
Semana Santa procession in Antigua
Women carry the Mother Mary statue
Man cooks fried dough for Semana Santa
Cars are towed to clear streets for Semana Santa procession in Antigua, Guatemala
Semana Santa procession go into the night
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About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3723 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
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