Since we came back in October we've done more traveling. I did a separate blog article about our trip to Antigua because it was so much, but we also did a trip to Mexico and a local trip back to Flores and the Tikal area.
In October we did a 3 day trip to Flores in northeastern Guatemala and visited the ruins at Yaxha with IP 38 Slow Flight crew Steve and Chi, In the same area but not as well known or large as the Park at Tikal, Yaxha is a beautiful and very natural setting to see much less visited Mayan sites. The Park is
Lunch at a hostel
The courtyard at the hostel
back into the jungle and down a dirt road so it has far fewer visitors than the more well-known Tikal but the ruins are every bit as stunning. The fact that fewer people go there makes it even nicer. We met and talked with some of the other visitors including a Guatemalan family that was there on holiday. But, we got to enjoy 2 nights in Flores which is such a pretty little oasis on an island in Lake Peten with lots of clubs and restaurants to provide lots of zing to your visit. It would be easy to spend a week here visiting the many ruins and natural sites.
Views of Yaxha
Moonlight over Lake Peten from Terrazo Restaurant
For a week over the Thanksgiving holiday we traveled to Puerto Vallarta to visit our good sailing friends Trish Cribb and Tom Morris from the catamaran Double Up at their beautiful beachfront condo in Puerto Vallarta. For the first time we were flying out of Guatemala City instead of San Pedro Sula and our taxi wanted to leave at 0400. So we left the marina at 0330 and got to the airport about 1000 for a 1350 flight. We were flying on Aeromexico for the first time and anxious to try a new experience. We tried to check-in when we got to the airport but they were only checking-in an earlier flight and the agent told us to come back later. There are many flights a day to Mexico City from Guatemala, but we were surprised they could only do check-in for one flight at a time. So carrying all our bags we found a place to get a very late breakfast and wait until we could check-in because we could not pass through security and customs until we checked in. Making it worse there was no airport wifi.
View from the PV condo
For the first time we were flying to another foreign country from a foreign country and returning to a foreign country without going through the US. When we arrived at the airport there was a large crowd of people standing around what looked like the door. We found an open path and walked to the door when a security guard stopped us and asked for our passports. Inside the airport the large cavernous hall was empty. Only travelers are allowed inside the airport terminal. That is a first for me. Asking for passports is reasonable because all of the flights are international with the exception of a couple flights a day to Flores. There are no other commercial airports in Guatemala.
Views from the Malacon
We've never flown on Aeromexico before and found it very interesting. Apparently, they have very frequent service from Guat City to Mexico City but less frequent flights to Puerto Vallarta. The flight service was excellent. We got a snack of a pretty lousy turkey sandwich and a free drink of our choice even in coach. What was most interesting was when I made the reservation and tried to select a seat the website listed a price for each seat so I didn't reserve a seat. When I did my online check-in I tried to select a seat and again it identified a price. So I just downloaded our boarding passes and we had assigned seats. Go figure.
Thanksgiving Dinner
We connected through Mexico City which is a fantastic airport. I never realized just how big Mexico City is until we flew into it. The City is huge! We had more than a 4 hour layover to kill and there was little wifi in the airport. We found a restaurant for lunch and then wandered the Duty Free shops looking for what we might want to buy on the way back. Eventually our flight time arrived, and our flight got off mostly on time for the short one hour flight to PV.
Black Friday dinner at the Bambinos
At the PV airport we tried to get an Uber but we would have had to walk out to the main highway so we just got a cab that took us to Trish's condo. We arrived about 2300 but we sat up talking until about 0200. Almost a 24 hour day for us having gotten up at 0300 the previous day.
Linda's birthday dinner
Our time in PV went fast. First there was the prep and celebration for Thanksgiving which included a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings and Trish invited her neighbor Trina to join us. Then there was the celebration of Linda's birthday. Then finally there was shopping and getting things to take back to the Rio. We brought an extra bag and used it for things we needed but couldn’t get back in the Rio. We’ve found shopping in Mexico is really good compared to countries like Guatemala and Honduras.
Our last lunch out at the El Dorado
Puerta Vallarta has changed dramatically since we were there almost 20 years ago. It has grown from a quaint little village resort town to a sprawling urban complex with high rises, shopping malls (including Wal-marts and Costcos) and lots of tourists. The government has managed to keep PV relatively secure and the criminal syndicates have not yet infiltrated into it. On one of our trips we talked to an Uber driver who explained how the syndicates have ruined most Mexican cities but not yet gotten into PV.
Back in the Rio with our travel completed we could now focus on getting life on board back to normal. With all the travel over the past 6 months things were always a little unstable. But now we could focus on stocking up with supplies, finishing boat projects and making plans to leave.
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