Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 32

Apres un passage de la frontiere et un trajet plutot laborieux, quelle joie de me retrouver dans ce site extraordinaire! Rappelez vous Xunantunich, et bien la les ruines sont bien plus hautes (jusqu'a 60m) et pour y acceder on doit se faire des petites rando dans le jungles environnantesm en compagnie des Singes Araignees, Singes Hurleurs, perroquets et autres toucans... Il y a auss des petits mammiferes avec un long nez et une grande queue qui m'ont fait le plaisir de venir traverser le chemin au moment meme ou je passais par la, pas farouche les betes! Un peu d'histoire: Tikal est une cite tres veille (elle debuta vers 600 av JC) je crois mais son apogee fut vraiment vers le fin de la periode classique, vers 700 apres JC, periode pendant laquelle la cite s'etalait ... read more

We left Belize this am, first in "collective" taxi to the border and then a collective mini bus to Flores. The collectives collect passengers til they are full to bursting....it cost $3.oo for a 2 hour trip! Belize was really wonderful! The people are charming and kind and helpful and the country itself is beautiful. We spent our last few days staying at the Parrot Nest in Bullet Tree Falls (named after the rapids there in the Mopan river...and the trees which are made of very hard wood...bullets will bounce off them). The Parrot Nest was great....the manager, who is the owners' daughter, cooks breakfast and dinner for guests and the food was delicious.... Many Americans are settling in the area...both to retire and to start tourism businesses. It is very easy to become a Belize ... read more

Pieni epailys taas paassa etta ei hirvean nopeasti onnistu paikanvaihto, olinpaikkana talla hetkella El Remate (yep, imagine), Lago Peten Itzan rannalla, muutaman sadan asukkaan raaauhallinen paikka, lampotila cerca 27, mukava pikku tuulenvire ymparilla ja kaikki ihmiset mukavia ja ystavallisia. Ja taalta poispaaseminen, 8-10h:n, 500km:n bussimatka Guatemala Cityyn (2milj as) huonoilla teilla huonolla kalustolla eei nyt pahemmin kiinnostaisi. Guatemalaan saapuminen on tahan mennessa ollut pelkkaa ylamakea, ihmiset taalla tuntuvat olevan viela meksikoakin ystavallisempia, joka tuntuu erikoiselta, ottaen huomioon maan surullisen ja vakivaltaisen historian. Talla hetkella seurana toimii Nate ja Rachel, kanadalainen pari, jotka tulivat samalla veneella Cruzaro Fronterasta Betheliin. Rajavartiolaitosta ei taalla pain ole erikoisemmin nakynyt, oficinas de imigracionit saa aika omatoimisest... read more

I crossed the boarder and spent about 2 1/2 hours in buses before arriving in Flores. Flores is a beautiful little village on an island on Lake Peten Itza. I arrived late in the day, got a room and had dinner. I met a girl named Sophie and made plans to check out the caves the next day. The following day it rained all day. We hiked the mile to Actun Kan Caves and explored for about an hour. The caves are quite large and filled with bats (imagine that). Afterwords we went to get some lunch and I came down with a fever. I slept the rest of the afternoon and by the next morning was feeling much better. Since the weather was poor I decided to travel with Sophie to Antigua and catch Tikal ... read more

A riddle for you. It is 11 AM in a small town in Guatemala. You own the only bus company in town and the next bus out is at 2.30 PM. What time would you tell a group of tourists the bus was leaving? I guess the obvious answer is "the next bus comes at 2.30 PM. Why don't you go off and get some food, explore the town and return a few minutes before then". However, in Guatemala time is a more fluid notion - instead, we were told "the bus will be here in 15 minutes" every 15 minutes for 3 and a quarter hours. So we sat in the terminal, watching both the pouring rain outside and the ticket salesman scare unsuspecting customers with a huge phallus that had been safely stored in ... read more