Day 1 – Another Long Travel Day
After we had been picked up we drove around the island
collecting a few more passengers before we drove to the airport where there was
another pick-up for people who had just flown in. most of the people were elderly Americans and
for once we were the youngest people on the trip.
The bus then travelled for about 30 minutes until we
pulled up at a shop where the guide led us to a room where it had a scale model
of the whole of the Tikal Mayan Site that we were visiting. He gave us some brief history regarding the
site, Mayan culture and the route that we would be taking once we got
there. After this we were then given 10
minutes to pick up some bits from the shop and use the facilities, being told
that it might be quite bitey there, we picked up some overly expensive mozzie repellent
(we had forgotten to pack ours).
Once he managed to get everyone back in one place we then
started a very slow (due to the age of the group) walk into the park. Along the way, we spotted some spider smonkeys
and the guide stopped at regular intervals to give us information. Apparently one of Guatemala’s biggest exports
years ago was the gum from a tree he was pointing out, Wriggley’s used to harvest
and export this for their chewing gum products. This stopped and they now make
it out of synthetics.
After walking for about twenty minutes through the jungle
we came to the first of the Mayan Ruins, which was a large stone pyramid with sacrificial
alters at the bottom that had been partially excavated. Tikal is a world heritage UNESCO site the
second largest Mayan settlement in Central America and is currently only 20% excavated. The Guatemalan’s are continuing to excavate
the site but it is a painfully slow process due to the jungle which has imbedded
itself into these ruins.
Whilst we stood looking at this first pyramid the guide
gave us information regarding the place.
The Mayan’s had lived and built it from 800 BC to 12000 AD, continuously
living here for 2000 years (take that you rubbish 100 year Inca’s!). The classic period though is considered to
have been between 600 – 900 AD, presumably when they had been on top of their
game, building wise.
From here we were led across to a standing stone which
had carvings on it depicting one of the many kings. The guide went on to explain that these were
a memorial to remember the dead king and also give a written history to the
Mayan people so the king would not be forgotten. The inscriptions on the stone, when
translated, gave details of the kings name and when he ruled.
The guide then led us to a back of one of the larger
stone pyramids which was really impressive and he gave more information
regarding the site (at least to the people who could be bothered to listen,
rude bloody Americans!!). He pointed out
on nearby building, the different styles of building and how techniques had
changed during the settlement here, pointing out some classic period buildings
with carving of some of their gods on them.
At this point the guide explained that the walk was going
to be a little tougher and pointed out an easier route for those who felt they
could not do it. Once a couple of people
had opted for this we headed off and we had a small climb over some of the
ruins to one of the main Mayan squares.
Here we got to see some of the royal residences which surrounded a
grassy central area. The guide took us
round some of the ruins showing us inside some of the rooms, which incredibly
still had the original wooded beams and lintels supporting them.
After we had wandered round here for a bit we were then
led through some buildings and we came out in the main square. The sight was quite awe inspiring with two of
the largest pyramids on either side, alters and other buildings surrounding a
central grassy square.
The guide explained a bit about what they thought would
go on here and then he gave us 30 minutes to have a look around and climb one
of the pyramids if we wanted to. We looked around taking picture for a while
but passed on the climb as we wanted to save ourselves for the biggest one.
We all met back up with the guide and he then took us
through the jungle and advised us to watch out for all the tree roots along the
way. As we walked we suddenly started
hearing very loud animal calls and after checking with the guide he confirmed
that these sounds were from the resident howler monkeys. Although they became very loud unfortunately
we did not manage to get any sightings of them, but it was pretty magical to be
walking through a jungle containing ancient Mayan buildings whilst listening to
the calls.
Our final stop was at the largest excavated pyramid in
the Tikal complex and the guide stopped here giving us ½ to either climb the
pyramid or sit and take a rest here.
Shell and I had saved ourselves for this one so we quickly went ahead
and started to climb the wooden staircase that led up the back of the building.
The climb was not that bad and after about 10 minutes we
found ourselves at the top. The view
from the top was wonderful, above the canopy with jungle as far as the eye
could see. Looking across this vista you
could see the odd Mayan pyramid poking through which made for nice pictures.
Once we descended and the guide had rounded everyone up
we then had another walk through the jungle, spotting a colourful woodpecker
along the way, to where we were going to stop for lunch. There was a large dining area where we all
sat down to have some lunch, we got chatting to an elderly English couple from
Devon who were very interested in our travels.
After dinner, we then had to walk back through the jungle
to the park entrance where we all boarded the mini-bus to take us the hours
journey back to Flores.
Today we were continuing with our whirlwind tour of
Guatemala and were up early to pack, grab a quick coffee and then wait for our
mini-bus to take us to Flores. As usual
we had to wait anxiously for the bus to turn up outside our hostel.
A mini-bus did not turn up, in fact it was one of the collectivo
jeeps which we had to climb into the back of, standing and clinging on for dear
life as we hurtled at speed over very bumpy tracks, our feet leaving the ground
every few seconds. As we went from
hostel to hostel picking up more people it became very cramped and more
uncomfortable.
The one amusing thing that happened was when a stupid
young French couple came on board with full beakers of coffee. Once we had ensured we had moved as far away
from them as we could, we were amused as the jeep bounced along at speed to see
them trying as best they could to keep liquid in their cups, pretty much like ‘It’s
a Knockout’ (One for our older readers!!).
In the end, I think they gave up and ditched them.
When the bus turned up we were unhappy to see that once
again we were the last people to get on therefore had no choice where to
sit on this cramped bus without air-conditioning. I did slightly better than Shell, a seat
without any leg-room, whilst Shell had a fold down seat that was half the size
of a normal seat, meaning she had to roll up her top to pad the bar that was
digging into her back.
The drive was going to be a long 8.5 hours long with a
couple of comfort breaks, the first one at the McDonald’s that we had visited
on the way in. So we grabbed some breakfast
there, Egg McMuffin’s had never tasted so good and the service was so quick it
was untrue.
We then continued with our journey for a few more hours
until the afternoon where we stopped for pit-stop two. It was at a roadside shop/café where we had
20 minutes to stretch our legs and use the facilities. At this point I thought it only right to swap
seats with Shell, to be honest although the seat was uncomfortable I did get a
bit more leg room.
The rest of the journey was about 3 hours and to combat
thinking about how uncomfortable it was Shell and I plugged into our talking
book and zoned out for the rest of the ride.
Late in the afternoon we finally came to the bridge that
took us over a lake to the Island of Flores where we got off the mini-bus and
went in search of our next hostel. The
hostel was a bit of an upgrade on previous ones and it was located right next
to the lakes with nice views, however we had not upgraded so much as to get a
balcony room overlooking the lake. The
room itself was very pleasant all the same.
Once unpacked we headed out to have a look around and
find an ATM. The small town was very
quaint and we soon found ourselves in the main plaza, but no sign of the ATM,
so we headed back towards the lake and soon found what we were looking for,
cash!
Now that we had some more readies we headed around the
side of the lake to where we found a lakeside bar with a good deal of buckets
of beer. So, we found ourselves a seat,
then moved due to the amount of midges and then ordered ourselves a
bucket! Enjoying the view as the sun
went down this then turned into two buckets.
After we had finished our drinks it began to pour down so
we made our way across then road to what looked like a nice restaurant. We both
opted to go for traditional local dishes, however when the food turned up
although it was different we found it to be quite bland, no hint of the spices
suggested on the menu.
After we had finished eating we headed back across the
road as I had seen a couple of pop-up tents where the local ladies were selling
various food, included what looked like nice cakes. Opting for what looked like a nice dense
moist slab of cake and then Shell persuaded me to get another one that looked a
bit like bread and butter pudding.
Sampling both the bread and butter pudding one quickly went in the trash
can as it tasted very much like fried fat, however the dense cake turned out to
be banana cake and was delicious!
Having my fix of cake we then returned to our hostel for
a relatively early night as we had to be up the next day for a trip to the
ruins of Tikal.
Day 2 – Mayan Ruins
Waking up to a lake view was pleasant and our trip today
was starting at a decent time so we managed to get a nice coffee and drank it
whilst overlooking the lake. As usual
though, we had to sit around and wait for our mini-bus which as usual was late.
It was then a further ½ hour drive until we reached the
entrance to the Mayan site. I felt a bit
sorry for the guide as two mini-buses had been merged into one large group and
at the entrance there was a toilet break and loads of touristy shops. It resulted in people wandering all over the
place and the guide looking very frustrated as for him it was like trying to
heard cats!
It was now baking hot so we found a seat under a tree in
the shade and just sat and admired the view.
Whilst sitting there one of the native critters, a coati, wandered past completely
unfazed by all the visitors. I must say
however there are a lot less tourists here than at other places we have been to
like Machu Pichu.
It was now late afternoon so Shell and I thought it would
be nice to walk around the promenade that surrounded the lake. As the island is only about ¼ mile in circumference
this took all of ten minutes and we soon found ourselves sat back in the bar
from the day before.
A couple of buckets later (not as bad as it sounds, only
5 small beers in a bucket) and we were feeling a bit tired so we headed back to
the hostel.
Once back inside we suddenly realised we were hungry so I
went out to see if there was anywhere that did takeaway food. Reporting back to Shell that I could only
find an Italian, she was happy with this so I went back out to get us some spaghetti.
The restaurant was very busy so I had to wait about 45
minutes until I got our food, allowing me to have another cheeky beer whilst I
waited. By the time I got back I found
Shell anxiously waiting on the porch of the hostel, apparently worried as I had
been so long, that or she was desperate for food!!
As it was valentine’s day we went back to our room and
ate our spaghetti Lady and the Tramp style (actually I just made that up!!),
before turning in .
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