The gang from Quebec were headed of to Panajachel and I to Antigua as I had to catch a flight on the 13th out of Guatemala City. We decided to take a shuttle to Antigua, as it would be easier for them to catch a connection from there and I didn't feel like doing the endless bus changes back again!
Now travel in Guatemala is relatively safe, although there are instances of shuttles being held up (nobody would hold up a chicken bus!), however in the daylight all is usually fine...except if your bus breaks down! Ours broke down. Luckily the police showed up shortly after our driver left to find help, and we were guarded during the one hour wait!
Arriving back in Antigua (finally) we had the driver drop us off in front of the bus station so the gang could head out. I managed to find a great little posada El Refugio ( no website) on Calle 4 Poniente, just across from McDonalds. Once again, my clean digs cost me Q30.
Antigua is a great place, but having already spent a day here at the beginning, I was a little sad at spending another day revisiting the sights. In Antigua there are many travel agencies, so I decided to see just how expensive a one day trip (by plane) was to Tikal. I arranged the trip through Gran Jaguar Tours They would pick me up at 4 a.m. (yikes) drive me to Guatemala City, I would fly to Flores, be met by a shuttle, taken to Tikal, given a 4 hour tour and lunch and then do all the travel in reverse, landing me back at my hotel by 8 p.m. for a measly $130 US....I signed up on the spot. |
