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More great Guatemalan food
My wife loved the fact that avocado was everywhere here, and ridiculously cheap These are the days you least look forward to - a full day of just sitting in a bus traveling to your next destination. As a traveller that tries to account for every minute of every day, these are the things you try to optimize out. But the only other way was a ridiculously expensive flight, so the bus it was for us.
At 5am we arrived at Chetumal, having departed from Cancun the night before. It was farewell to the nice comfy Mexican bus, and onto a rickety minibus. We managed to secure the front section at the back, which meant extra leg room, but also meant I was sitting right on top of the vibrating engine. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because our daughter loved the vibration and hotness of the engine heat, and used it to lull herself to sleep.
The border crossing into Belize was uneventful - a tiny little border house with minimal security. Belize charges a stupid $20 fee, even if you are just transiting for the day (despite being told according to blogs that this was not the case).
Its amazing how one second you are
Friendly nut seller
Guatemalans are truly friendly folk. Pity Guatemala has such a dangerous reputation. in Spanish speaking Mexico, and the next, you are in ex-british Belize, where everybody is black and speaks English. The change was so distinct - social geography is an uncanny thing.
The trip to Belize city went through the Belize countyside and a few towns. Its not particularly scenic, but is a nice way to get a quick impression of this tiny country (which I never new existed before this holiday, always thought Belize was a city). Belize city itself is quite rundown and didn't look particularly interesting. We had a short bus break in the downtown area. Most of the tourists we saw were simply in transit through the city enroute to Caye Caulker, a nearby famous diving spot.
We then got back on the bus for another 4 hours to Flores, Guatemala. The Guatemala border crossing was really informal, I think you could probably pretend to be lost and walk across bypassing the check points and nobody would stop you.
A few meters into Guatemala and suddenly you realize you are in the middle of hte Peten jungle. Roads change into dirt lanes, and roads become more lonely. Its a hot dry jungle, the air
is thick, the foilage dense, and suddenly we started to think about all the stories we had heard about Guatemalan hijackers that have attacked tourist buses in the past. Our paranoia was unfounded though, and soon we saw the beautiful lake Flores up ahead.
Flores is a tiny little town set on a tiny island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza and linked to its twin town Santa Elena by a narrow causeway. Its the prettier of the two cities, a colorful town, with vivid colors on every wall, and cheery vendors vying for tourist attention. Its definitely a tourist town, but doesn't feel like a tourist town. There are plenty of squat hotels built along the water, but none are fancy. The rustic small town feel is preserved, and if you wander off the main circuit road, you do see real Guatemalan life, devoid of tourist trimmings. Our hotel, Hotel Casazul, was run by a cheery bunch of folk, that made you feel more like you were visiting a friend's house than a hotel.
We dumped our stuff and went for a walk beside the lake. It was there that we were approached by some uncouth
Flores streets
They look so 'fake' and touristy, but these are real functioning houses, and I don't think they go to that much effort to fake things for the tourists thuggish looking teenagers - viscious nasty types looking to knife us and steal our organs. Or at least, this is what they appeared to be through the seriously distorted xenophobic glasses I had put on from imbibing one too many horror stories of Guatemala and hijackings and gun-point assaults. In reality, it was a bunch of thirteen year olds that just wanted a photo with us. But I was being safe, and rudely just walked away. Terrible me, I was so rude! I'm sure they spent the next few minutes wondering what they did to offend me. I definitely chastised myself (as did my wife), and then and there decided we weren't going to let those stories turn us into paranoid tourists for the rest of the holiday.
We meandered a bit more, stopping at a little cafe for a meal of yuca. This become my wife's new favourite starch - its got the texture of sweet potato, but is not as sweet. Its not particularly flavorsome, but some how, that Flores cafe knew how to make it taste amazing. Guatemala eating had started on a good footing!
A bit later, we stumbled upon an easter procession. Guatemalans
Welcome to Belize
Such a warm and welcoming scene. take Easter really serious. This procession was full of locals walking side by side with nuns and priests, holding signs, icons and generally looking mournful (in rememberance of Christ's sacrifice). Its moving stuff to watch, particularly when some of the older women started kneeling and praying at the knees of a priest offering blessings. Back in the west, we definitely don't take Easter seriously enough, or at least, don't make enough of a show and dance of the fact that we take it seriously.
In the evening we ate a bit more yuca, together with a few other Guatemalan local specialities that tasted great but had names too complicated for me to remember. There isn't much to do at night in the sleepy town of Flores, so it was an early night to store up energy for a very early start in the morning. Tomorrow we were off to Tikal, one of the biggest and most impressive Mayan temple compounds ever.
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