28 de Diciembre 2010

We arrived safe and sound from our 7.5 hour trip from Flores to Lanquin, and I have to say it's quite amazing here. It's mountainous, jungly, vibrantly green and lush. On the trip out we passes green mountain sides with farm plots And small villages and houses interspersed. It's by far the most beautiful bus trip we have taken to date. We are staying at a hostel named Zephyr, set on a mountain side with amazing views in each and every direction. There are several people here from Flores that makes traveling feel somewhat like an ever changing family packing from place to place. Friends come and go, but they are all interesting and from all over the globe. We are sitting outside on a terrace talking to A guy from Spain, two girls from Holland, and a couple from Germany. Plus there are more than 30 more people sitting at other tables around us. It feels lively here, and the surroundings and atmosphere are awe inspiring.

It's times like this that make me thoroughly enjoy what we are up to right now. Sometimes I question the travel bug, but today I can embrace it and accept the joys it can bring. We arrived a little too late for exploration so I can't wait till we can get out and about tomorrow. We will be exploring some local caves, and visiting a local river that looks similar to aqua azul in Mexico. I will be taking photos.

Ciao for now.

27 de Diciembre 2010

Today we visited Tikal. I must say, its a pretty amazing ruins site stuck right out in the jungle. For the first time in our trip, we had a tour guide - and I found him pretty amazing. He was full of good information and he had a great charismatic and energetic way of talking. Tikal differed from the sites we visited in Mexico by the expanse and breadth of the site, as well as the density of the jungle between temples. Tikal is spread out, and has the feel of a days nature hike out in the jungle as we walked between locals and not just a parking lot leading into a site of ruins. Not to belittle the other ruins, they were all great, this one just had an air of mystery a bit more. The guide said that 80% of Tikal is still untouched in the jungle, but it looks to my untrained eye that all the major buildings have been unearthed.

I have provided only a few photos here, and most likely not the best of teh bunch. But enjoy.


Welcome to Tikal - great list of prohibited items



Tikal Temple - Mari near opening on top



Tikal Temple - Close up of Mari near opening


Tikal Ruins - Travis in the plaza on top of temple seen above



One great thing about traveling is the signs you see everywhere. This one is supposed to mean do not sit on certain ruins, but looks more like no pooping on the ruins.

We met a great girl from New York on this trip named Stephanie. We hung out all day today, but she took off tonight headed to Antigua. Mari and I purchased tickets to head out at 9 am to Lanquin. The asked some people staying at our hotel how long it took to get there and they said around 3 hours. Then we hit the first ticket office to check on ticket prices and times, 100 quetzals (Q) each and 5 hours. We hit another ticket office to compare, and they told us 130 Q each. After talking to a woman at an information booth, we hit still another ticket off. Here we bought tickets, 75 Q each, and the trip is 7 hours. Now I know what you are thinking, we bought the cheap tickets that take longer to get there. But you would be wrong. Welcome to the wonderful insight of Central America, where its hard to get good information. After purchasing our tickets, we finally went out to have a beer with Stephanie and send her on her way, when we saw a board advertising trips all over Guatemala - which said our trip would be an 8 hour bus ride. Luckily, we ran into two Germans just arriving from Lanquin today that verified this info. We paid 75 Q each and the 3 hour trip we were hoping and expecting, miraculously turned into an 8 hour trip. Shitty for us. But oh well, Lanquin here we come.

By the way, we are staying at an okay, mediocre at best hotel Doña Goya. Not great at all. We stopped by Los Amigos Hostel to pick up Stephanie, and were blown away by how cool that place was. If anyone is coming to Flores in the future, check out the Los Amigos Hostel. It is beautiful. I kick myself for believing advice I recieved to not stay there without checking it out myself. By far one of the coolest looking hostels I have seen in Central America.

T

26 de Diciembre 2010

Well, last night was quite a Christmas. The hostile sorta banded together later in the evening and had some fun together. We played several rounds of a game called Werewolves, a murder mystery type game where a group of 8 or more draw cards and play against each other, werewolves vs. villagers to see who will survive. As people got bored and left, we adapted into another group game called Assessin - sorta along the same principle, a group has one assassin and one cop and as people die in the group the cop needs to figure out the assassins identity. Anyway, it was pretty fun, especially considering the motley crew assembled in Caye Caulker on Christmas night.

As little groups took off to bed or headed to bars, there was a small bunch of us who stuck around to play a bit of cards. Because we all didnt understand the rules 100%, we played one open hand to illustrate the rules before setting into the real game. Just as we were starting the game, a massive wind swept through - overtaking the island and gaining in intensity. The problem is the hostile wasnt equipped with real walls, they are constructed out of chicken screen and mosquito netting, so when the wind picks up its more like a wind tunnel. Seeing as cards was out of the question, I stepped outside just in time to feel a few rain drops coming down. I ran to the clothes lines, grabbed the freshly washed (and dried) clothes, just as it started to unleash a massive downpour - dumping rain. I ran back to my shack listening to the rain and wind howling and wondering if my little structure would sustain the force.

Mari and I packed our bags that night during the storm in preperation for our early morning departure, and laid down to sleep just after midnight knowing we had to be up before 6 am to eat and catch the 7 am ferry. Inevitably, it was a restless, sleepless night as the rain and wind pounded and tortured our little structure. It was a beautiful display of force, and an interesting insight into island weather.

In the morning, we:

• Caught the 45 minute ferry from Caye Caulker to Belize city ($10 each)
• Then split a taxi with another Seattlite towards the Belize City Bus Terminal ($1.50 each)
• Bought tickets for the 3 hour bus ride from Belize City to the Belizean border town called Benque Viejo del Carmen ($4 each)
• Crossed the border - (Belize exit fee = $20 each) (Guatemala entrance fee = $2.50 each)
• Caught the 2 hour shuttle from the Guatemala border to Flores ($3 each)

We are officially in Guatemala! We rolled in after a long day of traveling with little sleep. Found some food (Burritos and Enchiladas and beer), and are getting ready for bed. We have an early morning scheduled for tomorrow as well. At 4:30 am, a shuttle is scheduled to whisk us away to Tikal first thing in the morning. Hopefully we can catch a sunrise, and if that fails at least we beat the crowds. It wasnt my prime choice for a departure time, but it didnt seem like we had a ton of options.

Wishing the best to you - Travis