On the 24th we departed early for Guatemala City for our plane trip back to the USA. When we got caught in the incredible traffic heading steeply downhill into G.C. I understood why we left so early. What should take 45 minutes took nearly 2 hours.
The international airport is very modern, it could easily be mistaken for one in any other big city, except for the sight of the volcanoes out the windows. One nice thing was that at checkin we were given the US immigration and customs forms so we could fill them out in advance instead of having to dig through our carryon bags for passports and pens to do so in flight. It would be nice if more airlines did this.
This was our 4th or 5th trip with Odysseys, and as always, it was well arranged and handled. We enjoyed this trip very much. While not in our top five all time best, it certainly wasn't in the all time worst or most boring and we did see another interesting and different part of the world. Guatemala suffers from the effects of the vicious civil war, much violence, lack of educational opportunities, being on the drug runners track from Columbia to the USA, and great inequality. Nothing that effective and incorruptible government couldn't put right. The question is if the ruling elites have the will to do so. Secure land title in the Highlands would go a long way to making things better and really free mandatory public education (no fees for uniforms, books, supplies) would be a blessing.
Our travel director Estuardo Rodenas was excellent. English is his 5th language, and clearly not his best, but once you got used to his accenting English in the Spanish manner, clearly understandable. He is very knowledgable and expresses himself well. He demonstrated superb patience with one very high maintenance couple on the trip for whom nothing was ever right. He is the father of 4 daughters and told us the story about how marriages are arranged among the Mayan still in the small towns and villages. After much haggling and discussion between the families, the couple are allowed to become betrothed. The wedding date is set based on how big a pig the groom's family can purchase. If they can afford one big enough to feed the guests, the wedding happens soon. If they can only afford a tiny piglet, then they have to wait until it is grown and fattened to schedule the wedding. We teased him about not having to buy 4 big pigs to marry off 4 daughters since the groom's family pays for the wedding but he said the traditional coming of age ceremonies and parties for 4 daughters were even more expensive. His youngest is 13 so that expense is coming up soon but then he is free of such obligations. For middle class families, life is a mixture of old traditions and new manners.
Our next trip is already booked. In July we will circumnavigate the Black Sea counterclockwise starting and ending in Istanbul. We missed out on the Crimea, especially Sebastopol and Yalta, on our abortive Dneiper River cruise so it was good news when this trip added an extra day there. Our only repeat destination is Odessa and everything else is new. I've been doing some preparatory reading on Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire, filling in the blank spaces in my knowledge. We'll go down to Livermore to visit both before and after and will fly out of San Francisco, as we have done before.
Bon voyage.
The international airport is very modern, it could easily be mistaken for one in any other big city, except for the sight of the volcanoes out the windows. One nice thing was that at checkin we were given the US immigration and customs forms so we could fill them out in advance instead of having to dig through our carryon bags for passports and pens to do so in flight. It would be nice if more airlines did this.
This was our 4th or 5th trip with Odysseys, and as always, it was well arranged and handled. We enjoyed this trip very much. While not in our top five all time best, it certainly wasn't in the all time worst or most boring and we did see another interesting and different part of the world. Guatemala suffers from the effects of the vicious civil war, much violence, lack of educational opportunities, being on the drug runners track from Columbia to the USA, and great inequality. Nothing that effective and incorruptible government couldn't put right. The question is if the ruling elites have the will to do so. Secure land title in the Highlands would go a long way to making things better and really free mandatory public education (no fees for uniforms, books, supplies) would be a blessing.
Our travel director Estuardo Rodenas was excellent. English is his 5th language, and clearly not his best, but once you got used to his accenting English in the Spanish manner, clearly understandable. He is very knowledgable and expresses himself well. He demonstrated superb patience with one very high maintenance couple on the trip for whom nothing was ever right. He is the father of 4 daughters and told us the story about how marriages are arranged among the Mayan still in the small towns and villages. After much haggling and discussion between the families, the couple are allowed to become betrothed. The wedding date is set based on how big a pig the groom's family can purchase. If they can afford one big enough to feed the guests, the wedding happens soon. If they can only afford a tiny piglet, then they have to wait until it is grown and fattened to schedule the wedding. We teased him about not having to buy 4 big pigs to marry off 4 daughters since the groom's family pays for the wedding but he said the traditional coming of age ceremonies and parties for 4 daughters were even more expensive. His youngest is 13 so that expense is coming up soon but then he is free of such obligations. For middle class families, life is a mixture of old traditions and new manners.
Our next trip is already booked. In July we will circumnavigate the Black Sea counterclockwise starting and ending in Istanbul. We missed out on the Crimea, especially Sebastopol and Yalta, on our abortive Dneiper River cruise so it was good news when this trip added an extra day there. Our only repeat destination is Odessa and everything else is new. I've been doing some preparatory reading on Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire, filling in the blank spaces in my knowledge. We'll go down to Livermore to visit both before and after and will fly out of San Francisco, as we have done before.
Bon voyage.
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