Q&A from Family

Howdy!

So, we've been a little slow getting back to you guys but we now have a tentative literary for everyone so far confirmed or contacted directly-leave more posts, I have enabled the comments section so that everyone who writes one will be published. Thanks for leaving the first one Melinda, say hi to the family for me.

Leslie and I will publish a calendar with "activities" tomorrow as soon as I figure out how to get this damn thing on the web!

Below I have published email questions sent to me along with their answers and I hope you find them helpful-email me with more please or write them in the comments section and let us know what we can do to make things smoother for you.

Q.1. The Hotel Porta didn't give me a discount and stated my reservations were not refundable if I changed plans.

A.1. Don't worry, we have a special rate for guest of our wedding and after you emailed us we called and had your price knocked down 40bucks. Also, we checked and the confirms are refundable working through our wedding planer so don’t worry and we will take care of it if need.

Q.2. We were not planning to stay at the Porta Hotel, and I have some email inquiries out for other accommodations. It appears that most places are within easy walking distance. I no longer have the name of the Lions??? Place, or web address, if you could send it to me that would be great. Also, I would love to do a day excursion. I have a book and will also review the suggestions you made on the web site.

A.2. Nice Q KT, thanks for asking and we will make sure to help you with your reservations. We found some suites on the other side of town that hold up to six people and the rates are better also. It is next to the Lions Inn where some other people have also confirmed and they have plenty of availability and everything in this town is good and in walking distance. I want to hold off giving anyone more suggestions before we get some agreement on the day trips so that we can get all the scheduling done at once, which brings me to your next question about day trips-keep reading please.

Q.3. Your grandmother asked, however, that I write you directly with questions, so here's one. Is Chichicastenango close to where we will be staying? Neither your grandmother nor I want long car trips. I spent several times at Otavalo Mountain in Ecuador and always enjoyed their huge local market, and I read that the Chichi market is huge. Might be fun. As soon as I have time, I'll check elevations though.

A.4. The day trip to the market is totally doable from Antigua and if you want, we can stay at lake Atlitlan (Pana) over near there for a night and then do a boat ride around to the villages surrounding the lake it would break up the driving, about 2-3 hours each way by car via windy roads. Two general problems though, one, all the roads here are long and twisty and two the elevation in that area is high. Chichi is over 6,000 maybe 7,000 feet and Guatemala City is 5000 ft. along with Antigua.

If you are interested in we could also go lower into the pine tree and rainforest's area of Coban (4,300ft)? We can bird watch and check out the lagoons in Semuc Champe?

I think Tikal is a harder trip because of the plane ride but the tours are first-rate and the hotels are nice. I have never been there personally but Leslie says that it is the most Myan part of Guatemala and a must see.

Q.5. I don't know much about anything you're considering. It all sounds great. The Mayan area sounds interesting to me, but the other stuff does too. I do have a couple of concerns.

One - High twisty roads scare me but if you tell me I can trust the driver and the vehicle, I will. I don't mind a long ride; just don't want to fall off the edge.

My other concern, though, is the altitude, because I have experienced altitude sickness. It was about 15 years ago and we visited relatives in Colorado. We flew there, so we hadn't had time to get acclimated, and they took us up to the top of Pikes Peak on the same day we arrived. I was OK that day, I think, but was in bed for much of the next day with a bad headache and vomiting. My husband was just fine, so apparently I'm more susceptible than some. I've been told that there are things one can do to prevent this, with the most important being to take time to get used to the altitude. I'd be game to do a high altitude trip as long as we take those precautions.

I'm not sure what the issue is about the plane ride (the altitude?) so have no opinion about that.

A.4. You shouldn't have any problem with the altitude here. It is the same height as Denver Colorado at 5, 000 ft but nothing like Pikes Peak at 14,000 ft. These are not elevations that should concern anyone unless they have a heart problem or some medical issue etc... To note though, I also used to live in Colorado and in my opinion your friend or family played a dirty trick on you!!! That is a famous local Colorado trick to drag people out hiking or driving at elevation straight off the plane and from sea level! They got you good. Even people who live there get altitude sickness from Pikes Peak.

As to the drivers in these regions, they are usually OK and they drive these roads everyday so, you have nothing to worry about there but, if you haven’t gotten your will in order, you should probably do that before you see the driving here!

So, everyone, write more and thanks for the feedback. One general questions for you guy too; do you want to do stuff in groups or on your own or do you just want to chill and do nothing? Let me know so that I can help you decide, more comments and emails please!

Jungle Josh