![[photo]](/photos/2007/20070809-guatemala/Aug-18-Headed Home/IMG_0664/160x120)
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.
#1 by The Donald on Fri Aug 24, 2007 - 9:23 am
nice summary of the trip.
#2 by Jim T on Wed Aug 29, 2007 - 1:20 pm
We stayed at the Hotel Panza Verde in May of this year and loved it. We toured the Casa Santo Domingo and found it wanting.
I’d agree with your lessons for next time 100% and would add to bring a large empty bag for all the cool gifts you will return with.
#3 by Anonymous on Thu Sep 27, 2007 - 10:37 pm
why didn’t you bring the laptop? at the very least you can download your pics. I brought my laptop on my honeymoon and optimized the photos during the trip so I’d have a nice coffeetable book ready by the time we got back :-)