Today we just woke up, got on a shuttle one last time for Guatemala City, and went to the airport. For me, 9am is the perfect depart-the-hotel time. Some of my friends can go visit museums and stuff in the morning before an afternoon flight, but I’m too paranoid about missing a flight; going to the airport is the first thing I will do of the day, no matter what time it is.

All in all, a good trip. Not too short (we felt that we did a good job seeing everything Antigua had to offer), and not too long (we hadn’t yet started feeling bored of the town).

Lessons for next time:

• Bring the laptop. Even a third-world country has internet access, and it’s funner to blog about things right away instead of a week later.
• Purchase foreign currency at home beforehand (from the bank, not at the airport).
• In a market situation, avoid middlemen, shop around, and deal directly with the boatman or taxi driver. All boat rides, purses, T-shirts, and other goods are all the same, and are all visible by all merchants, so make sure they know you are shopping around.
• Skip the 5-star Casa Santo Domingo (stay there the night of the wedding), and stay at the Hotel Aurora.
• Sample lots of Guatemalan coffee.