Tikal

---

We had a rough night in our first night. Lupe woke up at 3 and found a large rodent in the bathroom, she ran to the bed and woke me up. I closed all of the luggage and went back to sleep, I was not going to stick my hand under the bed. On our first full day in Belize, we took a day trip to Tikal, Guatemala, it took a 3 hr ride from San Ignacio to Tikal. The interesting part about crossing the border from Belize to Peten, Guatemala is that you are allowed to bring firearms, ammunition, and explosives, but not produce, meat, animals, or agriculture. Once we were driving through Guatemala, the red triangles with yellow dots, stating DIA was everywhere, on rocks, and trees, it is suppose to be the party that has the most money. Once we got into Tikal, we walked 4 miles and hiked up as many temples as we could. Wear comfy shoes and clothes, it is a workout. We climbed Templo IV and Mundo Perdido, which are 2 of the largest and you get to see a beautiful view of Tikal, with the temples peaking out from the rainforest. There are many animals in Tikal, but we did get to see Spider Monkeys playing in the trees, no tapirs, coatimundis, howler monkeys or jaguars unfortunately.
When we got back to Belize we were all exhausted but went to see Cahal Pech ruins. We have to decide if we want to get married at Cahal Pech or Xunantunich. We will see the other site tomorrow. So far Lupe likes Plaza B, it has grass, but is not very tall. Do not let the name fool you, the Place of Ticks, does not have ticks, it may have decades ago when it was used for pasture. Tomorrow we are off to Belmopan and Xunantunich. Time to go to relax and go to bed. My dad arrives tomorrow midday before we go to Barton Creek Cave.

---

Photos

Templo IV
We are on the highest spot you can get to on Templo IV in Tikal, the scaffolding is for the restoration of part of the temple.

Mundo Perdido
One of the views from atop of Mundo Perdido, has a nice 360 degree view of Tikal and Guatemala.

Templo I
This is one of the temples that are in a courtyard surrounded by an underground system of temple chambers.

Templo II
They call this temple the Taj Mahal of Tikal as it was a tribute to a woman.

Cahal Pech
There was a concert going on in the Plaza, we are going to go to the other possible site of Xunantunich tomorrow to pick a wedding location.