I was obsessed with El Paredon (Guatemala) from the moment I arrived. My love for the place only intensified when I discovered a slew of abandoned structures around the town.
While on a walk early one morning, I spotted several abandoned houses nestled among other not-abandoned houses. Obviously, I went inside.
One property even had the remnants of a swimming pool, now filled with murky off-green water.
The farther I walked, the more desolate it became. The concrete structures started disappearing, giving way to stilted shelters, and also just plain stilts sticks, protruding from the sand. With no one in sight it felt like a moderately-apocalyptic wasteland. Aka glorious.
Abandoned Hotel
There is an abandoned hotel amongst the houses, which I entered despite the black spray painted warning (NO ENTRAR) on the front wall. It seemed structurally sound enough to climb the stairs and explore. There were a large number of bats in the bathrooms, though, which totally freaked me out. Thankfully, I did not contract bat-borne rabies.
Concrete and Graffiti
Perhaps my favorite was the small concrete building I found not far from the Nativa hotel. Hidden (not hidden at all) in plain sight, I glimpsed it one night while collecting trash on the beach with a girl from my hostel. I hurried back the next morning to scope it out and was not disappointed.
Of course one visit was not enough, so I returned the next day to watch the sunset from my new favorite spot in El Paredon. There is also a similar building about 1 hour 20 minutes walking outside of town, slightly to the east of El Naranjo. At the time I visited there was a [very cool] spray paint dragon on the side. Clearly worth the walk.