It was another early morning, but we had also gone to bed around 9pm, so it wasn’t too bad. We felt relatively rested other than the Mayan-inspired slab of hard mattress that we slept on. The rental car return went smoothly and we were back at Mundo Maya Airport. We checked in and received seats without issue. Initially we were placed in row 32 (a long way from the “business” class we received on the inbound flight), but were later moved to row 9 before boarding which was a sort of economy “plus” with supposedly extra room.
Both of our knees were touching the seat in front of us, but we did notice that we are also about a foot taller than the average Guatemalan. Either way, it was only a thirty minute flight and we were back in Guatemala City’s La Aurora International. We then checked in with Alaska Airlines and Nicole was able to buy herself a Guatemalan soccer jersey while we were in the customs line. Now we can be twins.
After going through the rather tedious security checkpoint, we went to the Casa del Ron lounge on Nicole’s still functioning Priority Pass. We were allotted some free food. They were out of waffles, so Nicole naturally had a brownie. I had some ranchero-style eggs and plátanos. After noshing, we headed to the gate. At the very end of boarding, we were issued seats together in our own exit row on the Alaska 737. Not a bad seating arrangement for our last leg.
And with that, we have completed ten out of ten flights without paying full fare, a much better outcome than our last trip to Guatemala in early 2020 that resulted in not making three separate flights to LA, and ending up on a redeye to Newark instead. So all in all, this was not too bad, but we did make the mistake of trying to watch Oppenheimer on the flight. It was a poorly executed movie that didn’t justify its three hour run time, but it might be good for insomnia. While we were successful in getting on all of our flights, the effort (not unlike watching Oppenheimer) was admittedly a bit trying. And that brings me to a little reflection on our trip to the bottom of South America and back.
Ten flights, eight different airports, eight different hotels, four Hilton properties, two rental cars, and Nicole thinks she took four pepto. That’s a lot of stress and moving around. Within that, we hiked 13 miles to see Fitz Roy alone which proved to be just one of many long hikes of this trip. The places we visited were not easy to reach both physically and logistically. I have done the tally on the cost of flights, and even the shorter ones were at least a few hundred dollars. It’s not easy to get down to Patagonia, and once there, it is not a forgiving environment.
At the first hotel we stayed at in El Chaltén, the other guests were almost exclusively of retirement age. This is not to say that such people can’t also hike 13 miles on undulating rocky terrain through blasting winds, but it does make it a bit more challenging. It did seem that there were meetings and briefings about the hikes held in one of the lounges, so presumably many of them did actually do the hike, but it is fair to say that many also did not. Cruise ships that come to Patagonia only visit the glacier near El Calafate, and don’t even make it to El Chaltén. For me, it seems incomplete to visit the land of jagged mountains that inspired the Patagonia brand (and logo) and not see any of those things, but it is such an intense physical experience, that not everyone can be capable of such feats.
I feel fortunate to still be able to tackle such challenges and it made me appreciate the many perks that have been afforded to me so that Nicole and I can well . . . afford to travel like this. What many have made into a bucket list trip, Nicole and I have done on a whim during a quick February break. We are still in relatively good fitness and intend to take advantage of this until she has to help me onto my rascal.
I have made much out of the physical challenges as well as the travel challenges of this trip. For those reasons, it was not the most relaxing of trips we have taken. There was not much lounging around. There was no listening to the ocean with mai tai in hand, though Uruguay made a small effort in this direction. In order to see the things that we wanted to see, we had to literally walk the walk. It was at times physically painful. I lost feeling in my fingers. I was blown off of a wooden bridge. Within the same hike, I was both freezing and sweating. Nicole hurt her knee while getting blown into a boulder field. I twisted my ankle landing wrong on a rock in Tikal. But these challenges had to be faced.
The hike to Fitz Roy is the opposite of accessible. But throughout all that effort, we witnessed some amazing vistas. The mountains met the sky in such dramatic fashion and I was glad to see it. So too in Tikal, we shared a view of the mist-draped temples with just each other. Not a soul was in sight. Despite all of our troubles to get places and see things, I think the reward was worth the effort. In fact, it all went even better than I was expecting. There are people who have hiked the entire length of the trail to Fitz Roy only to have the mountains obscured by clouds. I also couldn’t have imagined that we would ever be able to see Tikal without masses of people. I was very pleased with it all.
And thus, we end this trip a bit tired, sore, itchy, bruised, a bit malnourished, and travel-fatigued. I regret nothing, but I know Nicole would definitely agree with me when I think that our next trip needs to be a bit slower paced and more relaxed to balance things out. I don’t need to have mai tai in hand, but some more varied food options could go a long way. We might have ordered some Islands burgers for our first meal back in Los Angeles. Until next time . . .
passports & pepto bismol 