Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 21

So the evening of my last entry I had booked a bus ticket to Flores, about 500km north of Antigua. It is a small island town joined to the mainland by a bridge, and it is in close proximity to the Tikal Mayan ruins. At 6:30 I took a shuttle to Guatemala City, then got on the actual bus heading for Flores. It was a pretty uneventful ride, except for when another tourist accidentally pulled the emergency window release when he tried to open the window. The window almost fell out and it took an hour to rig it back into place, with a makeshift system of ropes and knots. I arrived in Flores at around 6:30 am. It's quite cold in northern Guatemala, and the sky was covered in clouds. I walked around the small ... read more

Guatemala is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited in my life. The people are generally friendly and genuine. It is also a good place to travel on a tight budget. My trip began in Cayo district, Belize. At around 9:00am me and a few friends decided to catch a cab to the border of Belize and Guatemala. The 11 mile trip cost us a grand total of $5 BZD (~$2.50 US). The border crossing is pretty hassle-free, though you have to pay a $35 BZD exit fee from Belize and 10 quetzales entry fee into Guatemala. Once you hit Melchor the touts come out of every nook and cranny. All the taxis and van drivers are throwing offers this way and that, none of which are good deals. If you've asked around before ... read more

Jawel beste lezer, I´m still here. Na ongeveer twee en halve week in en rond Antigua te hebben verbleven, ben ik maandag dan toch maar op pad gegaan, samen met mijn rugzak(ken) en mijn mini gitaar als trouwe kompanen. Eigenlijk wilde ik zaterdag al vertrekken naar de Maya-ruines van Copan in Honduras, maar het geval wil dat ik me vrijdagmiddag ineens behoorlijk beroerd voelde. Gelukkig had ik nog geen bus-ticket gekocht en mocht ik ook nog wel even blijven bij de familie waar ik verbleef. Dus eventjes een dagje wat rustiger aan gedaan en vrijdag maar vroeg onder de klamme lappen, wat jammer was, want er was een lokaal feest voor -of waarschijnlijk juist tégen- de duivel en daarna had ik een aantal mede-studenten nog even gedag kunnen zeggen. Hoe dan ook, zondag de tombe bezocht ... read more

Our flight to Flores was at 10am but we had to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight. For some reason you can't get any busses from Antigua that would get you to Guatemala airport at 8am, so we were at the airport at 5:30am :( finding out that we would have made the flight at 7am easily. Ah well! The duty free area is a lot better stocked than the Miami airport when we went to Guatmala and Ed found out that Bushmills is the oldest Whiskey distillery in the world. There's some trivia for you. Anyhow, we get to Flores alright and we're the only people getting off the flight to go to Tikal. As soon as we stepped out the airport there were around 10 taxi drivers running towards us saying: ... read more

Hello from Guatemala, This is one is going to be long because a LOT of stuff has happened. First, I want to say thank you so much for the emails back. The times when I have been homesick, lonely, or heartbroken have really been cushioned by your letters; I love and miss you all. So when I last wrote I was on my way into Guatemala the next morning. The day was a long one. I was up at five, leaving on my first of several buses by six. I was trying to get to a small town where I could take a four-hour bus ride down the river into Guatemala. A friend of mine had tried it over a decade ago and said it was wonderful. After much confusion, I figured out my route and ... read more