Flores, the timeworn island citadel resting upon the cerulean waters of Lake Petén Itzá, has been at the centre of Guatemalan culture for millennia.

Leave the waterfront restaurants and brightly-hued churches behind to venture further into the heaving jungle, along dusty tracks lined with ramshackle villages, and you’ll find the ancient Mayan temples of Tikal.

Beneath a cacophony of howler monkeys, these stone pagodas tell the stories not only of the Maya, but of humanity.

This region – beautiful and historic and cosmopolitan and wild – is the intrinsic link between Central America’s mystical past and modern future.

But forget about all that, because the true cornerstones of Guatemalan culture can be found at the newly-constructed Maya Mall – a Pollo Campero chicken restaurant, a well-stocked La Torre supermarket and, most exciting of all, La Vasija de Todos los Chapines.

Roughly translated: The Crock-Pot of All Guatemalans. No, not a Teapot – that’s down the road in Tecpán.

The enormous terracotta pot could hold enough pepián to feed everyone in Flores for a month. As the beating heart of Guatemalan culture, millions of Guatemaltecos make the pilgrimage to worship its bulbous body and spirited – yet ultimately utilitarian – lid.

Or maybe they just want to take advantage of the two-for-one cans of Gallo cerveza on offer at the supermarket.