GUATEMALA CITY - Guatemala - page 41

mountains abutting the city to the east is traversed by the Carretera a El Salvador (Road to
ElSalvador)andisoneofthefastest-growingsuburbansectors.Thesurroundinglandscape
isaccentuated bythepresenceofactivePacayavolcano,oftenvisibleatnight,tothesouth.
To the southwest, the cones of Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango volcanoes can be seen rising
above the mountain separating Guatemala City from neighboring Antigua Guatemala.
Thecityitselfisdividedinto21zones,or zonas. Onlyafewoftheseholdanyinterestfor
the foreign visitor or resident. Zonas 1 and 2 encompass the downtown sector, with Zona
4 serving as a kind of transition zone between the original city core and newer business
and residential sectors. Zona 10 harbors the homes of wealthy elite, high-rise condomini-
ums, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, banks, and embassies. Moving south and abutting the
airport, Zona 14 is home to a large concentration of wealthy neighborhoods and high-rise
condos. To the east and heading up the slopes of surrounding mountainsides lie residential
Zonas 15, 16, and Carretera a El Salvador. Several of the city's zonas are separated from
each other by natural boundaries, such as forested barrancos.
Unlike Managua or San José, street addresses are very much in use here. Pay special at-
tention when looking for street addresses, as the same street and house number can exist
in more than one zona. Addresses usually begin with an avenue, or avenida, followed by
a number with a dash. A typical street address would be something like: 7a Avenida 8-34
Zona 10. In this case, the “8” corresponds to the intersecting street number, or calle. The
number after the dash is the house number. So the above address would be house number
34 between Eighth and Ninth Streets along 7th Avenue of Zona 10.
SAFETY
Guatemala City can be dodgy, though certain zonas are certainly safer than others. Most
of the areas frequented by tourists are relatively safe, though the downtown area is consid-
erably less safe than Zonas 10 and 14 and purse snatching and pickpocketing are serious
problems. Exercise common sense and caution when in public areas. Riding public buses
is not usually a good idea, though the newly unveiled transit system, the Transmetro, has
proven safer and is certainly more efficient. Pay careful attention when using ATMs. Some
thieves have been so ingenious as to set up keypads at the entrance to ATM kiosks asking
cardholders to enter their PIN numbers in order to gain access to the machine. You should
never enter your PIN number anywhere other than on the ATM keypad itself.
Watch out for another common scam, particularly in the vicinity of the airport, whereby
a “Good Samaritan” informs you of a flat tire on your car. If that is indeed the case, pull
overinawell-lit,publicplaceifyoucanbutdonotstopinthemiddleoftheroadtochange
the tire. He may try to carjack you. If you are able to make it to a public place such as a
gas station, have someone in your party stay inside the car or keep an eye on it yourself
while you have someone change the tire for you (it's common for gas station attendants to