Tikal

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Easter Monday morning five of us set of on our descanso (our week long monthly break), Pilar, Lara, Miguel, Javier and myself. We got the 10.30 bus from Rio Dulce to Flores in the north of Guatemala. The bus ride was my worst yet, we were standing for half of it, all squashed in like sardines in a can, gripping onto what ever you can to stay upright. After about 4 hours we arrived in Flores, a small town on an island in the middle of a lake. We booked into a recommended hostal for Q25 (about 2.50 euros), Doña Goya, nice, clean, and safe from what we seen. We headed out for lunch at the side of the lake and spent the day walking around the town and checking out the little shops. After a well deserved steak for dinner and a few beers we went to bed to get up for the 8am bus to Tikal the next morning.

The bus ride took about an hour and a half and I left my zebra style hoody on it like an eejit. Tikal is basically an old Mayan temple site with about 6 big temples and more being uncovered. It was found empty and covered in jungle, nobody knows why they deserted it. We spent the whole day here and I don´t know what else to say apart from that it was pure amazing. We were able to go up some of the temples, the first one had a sort of wooden stair case that was so steep it was almost a ladder. I made it to the top but didn´t go too close to the edge. Breathtaking view of the rest of the temples poking out of the jungle canopy. The main square had 2 so called twin temples because they are facing each other across the square (even though they weren´t identical), and a kind of temple structure at each end, one of which had a sacrifice table on it complete with drains for blood to run down. We were only allowed to go up one the twin temples but again the views were outstanding.

After a long days walking we headed back for a bus to El Remate, a small village not far from Flores on the shores of the lake. Thanks to an hours wait on food being served we never got a chance to take a swim in the lake, but not to worry, me and Javier were heading to the Caribbean the next day. The original plan was for all 5 of us to go together, but the 3 Madrileños decided they couldn´t afford it and were going east and staying in Guatemala. Another early rise to catch the bus at 6am and we were on our way to Belize.

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Photos

Mayan Paintings in Flores
Pilar and Miguel

First Ruin in Tikal
Miguel, Lara and Javier

Inside one of the Ruins
I wasn't supposed to go in but no one was looking

Comments

[Cool jerome]

up your's
I hate looking at you enjoying yourself. go fuck. Hope your well and gettin sex of the kids. Called in with your mother and got tea and sex. Moving into a new house in bangor so your going to have to call up. I'll drop you a better line when i get more time. up the R.A