Destination: Guatemala: Historia de Guatemala

Riding the rails is the best way to experience all the varied beauty of Guatemala's valleys, rivers, mountains and lowland jungles. Thanks to a company called Trains Unlimited, tourists can take a weeklong Great Guatemalan Rail Adventure that runs between Guatemala City in the southwestern region and Puerto Barrios on the northeastern coast along the Caribbean Sea. The tour operator has a web site where computer users can learn more about this South American adventure aboard an authentic steam locomotive built in 1948 that goes by the name of the Ferrovias Guatemala No. 205.

After tourists climb "All aboard!" the tenacious locomotive and the engineer pulls twice on the whistle cord, the train is off and running. The Ferrovias Guatemala features a baggage car, a restaurant car, a coach car for sitting, and the presidential car, Michatoya, where passengers can view the passing sites from a brass-railed observation platform. Along the way, the steamer makes stops in cities like El Rancho and Gualan, which sits along the Motagua River. The train also transports tourists to the Mayan ruins in Quirigua and a nearby banana plantation.

At night, passengers stay in such hotels as the homey Hotel Longarone in Rio Hondo and the elegant Royal Hotel Palace in Guatemala City. It's important to note that the crew is skilled and well-equipped in dealing with unforeseen events like washouts, derailments and cascading boulders, so the passengers need not worry about reaching the scheduled destinations safely and within a reasonable time frame. For more information on seeing Guatemala by rail, Internet users can go to the web site belonging to Trains Unlimited to find out more about their exclusive tour that is offered only once a year in February for both train enthusiasts and average tourists alike.