courageousbeauty

i've seen a lot of good postings about guatemala, which i was considering going to for a week or so in march, but then i kind of started looking into panama which sounds pretty awesome too...i'm on a budget but that's not my main concern...which is safer and which has the best culture?? ...thanks!

Joker

Though I haven't been to either, I'll give you a few tips:

Guatemala (from the folks that have been there) is chock full of culture and if thats your bag, then keep it in the running.

However, i've heard some real horror stories about theft and such. Not that you couldn't get mugged on the streets of your home town, its just out there so be aware.

One thing I can tell you from my Costa Rica trip last year: Locals I talked to plainly told me that the majority of the crime in their country was from Nicaraguans and Panamanians since CR is so much better off than its neighbors. May be just a bit of inter-country rivalry/bigotry,but you never know. I did get acosted by a Nicaraguan pimp in San Jose CR trying to sell me everything from weed to coke to a hooker.... Just be careful and keep asking questions. I believe that WorldWideMike and quite a few others here have seen those two spots and can give you some more info... and welcome to the boards!

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LostFarmboy

I've never been to Panama, but i have done a bit of travelling through Guatemala and i have to say that it's one of the best countries that i have ever been to. It is, like Joker said, packed full of culture, there's heaps of cool little villages and the people are friendly enough, so you can really get involved in the culture there. But, it's biggest draw card would have be Tikal, they are some of the most impressive ruins around and alone are more than enough of a reason to visit the country. The site itself is massive, the pyramids are huge and there's monkeys swinging around the trees in the jungle.....it's simply awesome. I'll have to get around to putting up some of my photos.

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Sabrosa

I agree with LFB....Guatemala is amazing! I´ll second the vote for Tikal, too. It was the coolest thing waking up super early in the morning (3:00 am), hiking in the dark...with little glittering spider eyes looking out at me from the jungle, and then sitting at the top of one of the ruins listening to the jungle wake up, while watching the sun rise. Truly breathtaking.

Oh...and watching a volcano erupt in the middle of the night-from just outside Antigua, was pretty awesome, too.

Oh...and partying around a massive lake surrounded with volcanoes wasn´t too bad either.

I could go on....but, unfortunately I can´t offer anything about Panama.

Kindra

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courageousbeauty

that does sound absolutely amazing...which area were you in the majority of the time?? did u stay in hostels??

courageousbeauty

ok, so i've been looking up guatemala and since that seems to be pretty amazing and i'm pretty sure the safety issues are similar anywhere (as was said, you could be mugged in your own town) ...i would most likely fly into guatemala city since flights to flores are EXTREMELY expensive =( ...but then would it be possible to backpack and take buses etc. all the way to tikal and peten?? or would i eventually have to take a puddlejumper up that way??