PUERTO BARRIOS CITY TOUR

“PUERTO BARRIOS CITY TOUR”

Puerto Barrios City Tour

        Our national tree the Ceiba was so important for the Mayans because when someone important from the elite died they put the body on the roots so if the spirit has to go to the underworld the roots help it to get there and if the spirit has to go to heaven because it is a very tall tree the spirit get there easily. The roots of the ceiba go down about 30 meters. They believe too that from the sap of the tree comes their lineage. There are two kinds of ceibas: one is the “pentandra ceiba” which is very tall and not so wide and in the top of the tree the branches are spread. The pentandra ceiba comes from the family of the “bombaceas” tree, and the other one is the “acuminata”. The difference between one and the other is that the acuminata is not so tall but is wider.

        In the cemetery the tombs are painted with brilliant colors and it´s because here in Guatemala we have a special day thay is the november 1st and in that date all the people bring flowers, food and drinks to their relatives that are already dead and celebrate, also you can see that our tombs are over the ground and this is because we are at the same level of the sea and for that reason we cannot make a hole in the ground because we can find water. To be buried here you have to pay around $.500.00. Also we have a duplicate of the Taj Mahal that is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Taj Mahal is a complex building built between 1631 and 1654 in the city of Agra, India, on the banks of the river Yamuna, by the moslem emperor Sha Jahan of the dynasty Mogul.  The imposing assembly was erected in honor of his favorite wife, Arjumand Bano begum better known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to his 14º son, and it is estimated that the construction demanded the effort of some 20.000 workers.  

        The social security hospital where the people who works in private and public enterprises comes to receive medical attention.

        Something very curious about the Mayan people here in Guatemala is that they have around 150 different dresses, and they use them for special occasions like weddings, funerals, birthdays, baptisms, normal life, etc.        

        Another curious thing is that the Mayan women never cut their hair from the day they born to the day they dye. And in some parts of Guatemala the family of the women still arrange her future, choosing her a husband when they born. The Mayan women get married at the age of 12 and 13 years.

        Talking about the Mayans and the Spaniards let me tell you something about our history, we were conquered by the Spaniards in the year of 1524 and our independence was in September 15 of 1821.

        Our exchange rate is about q.7.50 per $.1.00, the name of our currency is quetzal, and is the name of one of the most beautiful bird in Guatemala, the quetzal is a very special bird because for the Mayas was the flying snake also the quetzal come from the family of trogons birds, and the male of the quetzal has two feathers, when is their reproduction season, those feathers roles until 2 meters, they make two holes in the trees because their tail is too long so they use one hole to laid down and the other one to protect their tail.

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