Tikal

---

Been off-line for a while now, many installments all at once. Apologies to all, but when travelling at the speed of light, or more appropriately the speed of an almost non-stop bus it can be difficult to write emails. I guess if we were travelling at the speed of light, it would be impossible, so that is lucky.

Anyways, we left Coban as sweatily as we arrived, using the multitude of mini buses that run around El Peten and got up to El Remate (beyond Flores towards Tikal) in a day. Here we stayed two nights (a mistake) in the novelty place in town, where you sleep on a hill with wonderful views of Lake Peten Itza due to the fact that you have very little in the way of walls, just a bed and a roof.

Our plan was to be near Tikal, and we were. We tried our first hitch hiking (three very successful attempts made) experience, in replacement of the lack of paid transport.

Tikal. Who can visit Guatemala without visiting it. In fact I don´t think they let you out without a used Tikal ticket. You can take day tours there from Flores (2hours away), Guatemala city (3 hours by plane and bus away), many places in Mexico, probably including La Ciudad de Mexico, and well probably any our guide in the entirety of Central America can offer you an all inclusive day trip to Tikal, even if you are parachuted in and helicoptered out. In fact this would be cool, hands of the idea its mine.

Its a funny place really. You walk in through thick jungle past some little stone mounds, that are over grown in a thousand years of Jungle, that you can locate on your map as "group F" or "temple XVI" or something, and your thinking, "Hey, I had to fucking parachute here?" (scuse language) but then you find yourself in the Grand Plaza, with Temple I (which has taken lives in past years due to the steepness of its 60m of staircase) and temple II either side of you towering like ancient sky-scrapers above the jungle canopy in this the business, financial and of course religious centre of the 750AD Mayan world. But unfortunately you have to helicopter out in a few hours so don´t gaze too long.

Five of these huge temples can be scaled for a vast jungle scape, we have pictures (but then so does everyone else who has been to Guatemala, or as I say even central America, and they probably have better cameras than us). We wondered around, bumping into virtually everyone that we had met on our travels, listening to the whoop of the howler monkeys, the clatter of toucans and the rest.

The growing power of the jungle is astonishing. But given that now apparent growing power, the good state of the ruins is equally astonishing, or maybe both are not that surprising, if you know what I mean! I adore the vegetation, it is everywhere hugging everything, encapsulating even you if miss your bus home. Isla adored the ants, which are walking in mile long lines across every bit of this vegetation.

We both thought the ruins were alright, but a mere distraction from the nature!

Oh yeah and then it rained. Lots. Now know why people go in the morning.

Anyway we have certainly been tikalled or tickled, whichever.

ewan

---