Reflecting On A Trip To Guatemala & El Salvador
Hello everyone! Just got back to California on Monday and have been exhausted ever since after two brutal red-eye flights. While I am going to break down each incredible aspect I visited on this 3-day adventure, I wanted to do a quick trip recap before. I had such a blast visiting countries 74 & 75.
Delta Flight
The trip began with a redeye on Delta from Los Angeles Airport to Guatemala City on Thursday night. I sprinted out of class and made it to the airport where there was no wait in the TSA precheck line. The flight was decent, we were a little bit delayed due to having to offload the bags of a passenger who was having a medical emergency. We hit some rough air over Mexico but I was still able to get a solid 3 hours of rest on this flight. The view on arrival was gorgeous!
Antigua
Once I landed in the early hours on Friday morning, I took a taxi over to Antigua. I adored this little town, it gave off Latin American vibes with a touch of a European vibe. I walked everywhere across the town and found so many cute pastry shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars throughout my 2 days there. While I will touch on the town more in a separate post, I cannot recommend going enough. These chicken buses were so cool!
Hiking Pocaya
Even though I slept about 3 hours the night before on the flight, I had booked a group tour to hike Pocaya. It might have been one of the most beautiful things I have ever done in my life. I was on top of the world, like literally on top of the clouds watching the sunset and a volcano erupt. The people I met were amazing as well, a psychologist from Alaska, a man from Germany, a woman from Costa Rica, another woman from Canada, and the list goes on and on. We roasted marshmallows in lava...
Hobbitenango
I am obsessed with Lord Of The Rings, I could probably recite all of the movies with noise-canceling headphones on. So when I read there was a version of the Shire in Guatemala I had to go. While it wasn't as big and detailed as the one in New Zealand I visited, it was nonetheless extremely fun. I shot arrows, threw machetes, walked around and had a coffee with the most incredible view.
They have a place to take a picture which overlooks the three volcanoes. Once again I met some more friendly people, who offered to take my picture. This family was from Costa Rica and we just started talking. People are so friendly down in Guatemala.
While there were a few other activities that I partook in, these were the two that blew my mind.
El Salvador
After a flight on TAG Airlines, an interesting one at that with a light not working on the wing 😂, I made it to El Salvador. I could have stayed in the airport and not exited but I am so happy I chose to get my passport stamped. I met this guy from Denver who works remotely, we watched the Super Bowl together once we landed 😂. I talked with some of the locals who said that this country is doing a lot better thanks to the president. Immigration was super friendly and welcoming to the country. I honestly wish that I could have stayed a couple of days in El Salvador but sadly I had school to get back to.
United Flight Back To The USA
I had class at 8 am Monday which meant I had to take the brutal redeye back from El Salvador. Since I have a United Credit Card I was praying for a CPU upgrade but sadly missed out by one person. Is what it is. Instead I sad next to two toddlers screaming all flight 👍. The flight was late, departing at 3:45 am and landing at LAX at 7:02 am. It was a fine flight, I slept the whole way. I made it to class 15 minutes late, half dead, half hungover and half asleep😅.
Final Thoughts
While this is just a brief recap, I felt so accomplished in what happened this weekend. Every experience was invigorating and I felt alive being out in the world. I loved how open everyone was in Guatemala and how friendly everyone was in El Salvador. Stay tuned for reviews, recommendations, and more regarding Guatemala and airlines.
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