Too Early...?

We arranged for a shuttle direct from Copan to Guatemala City. Not to the airport, like we would have liked, but at least to the city. Because of the ridiculous amounts of traffic, we chose the early trip from Copan to Guatemala City. Our flight was leaving at 8 pm, which meant that we should be there by at least 6 pm. The trip from Copan to Guatemala City takes around six hours, and the shuttle choices were 6 am and noon.

If the road work was still mucking up the drive, it would take more than six hours, and we'd still have to get over to the airport from wherever we were dropped off in Guatemala City. In evening rush hour traffic.

We played it safe, and left at 6 am. Of course the roads were super clear and the driver sped like crazy, and we were dropped off at some random restaurant around 11 am. We hadn't realized it was so early, otherwise we would have just ridden along all the way to the shuttle's termination, Antigua, the white-person's tourist destination. There was a gentleman riding from Copan to Antigua.

There were a few problems, though, mainly that a return trip to Guatemala City in the evening from Antigua are harder to arrange than in the opposite direction.

Also, this was about the time that my, eh, dysentery, was kicking in. It probably wasn't dysentery, but I wasn't having such a pleasant final day in Central America, to say the least.

After a quick bite at the restaurant where we were dropped, Corrie haggled rather well with a cabbie (Q 100 down to Q 20)("haggled" might not be the right word--once we figured out what he was telling us, we turned and walked away, then he called us back and told us what he would accept), we made it to the airport before noon, and decided to speed off for an afternoon in Antigua after arranging a private ride back to the airport in time for our flight.

It takes an hour to get from Guatemala City to Antigua, but it seems closer than that. We did make it back in time, and, for the record, international flights from Guatemala City to anywhere are the most painless airport experience I've ever really had (besides the constant feeling that someone was standing on my stomach).