19 August 2007

Arrival in Guatemala

Yay, my 36th Country ever! Early Thursday morning, I flew to Guatemala City. With a quick change of planes in Charlotte, I landed in Guatemala in the early afternoon. The landing itself was incredible. Guatemala is an incredibly mountanous country, and the airport is right in the middle of the city. As we were landing, we came incredibly close to buildings beneath us and skyscrapers around us. Also, all around, while still on the plane, I could see mountains.

I was a bit nervous arriving, because all the warnings seem to state that tourists are targeted the most from the airport en route to their hotel -- at gunpoint. There are stories from public buses, private shuttles, etc. So, I decided to pay for a personal van that woudl take me from the airport and take me to my 1st hostel in Antigua, Guatemala. Although it was very expensive by Guatemalan standards, the extra peace of mine was worth it when I saw somene holding up a sign with my name on it.

The Guatemala City airport is in the middle of a huge renovation and the airport itself is quite modern. They sold luxury goods and liquor as I arrived at the airport.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yay! I'm so glad they came and picked you up on time! (Phew - My advice came through and my reputation is upheld! Oh yeah, and you didn't get mugged/attacked either - that's good too).
Cat