Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 33

We crossed the border into Guatemala without incident and were faced with our first collectivo ride to the village of El Remate on Lake Peten Itza. Collectivos are cheap alternatives to buses used by the locals, basically a mini van crammed full of at least 20 people or more where often the doors are left open for maximum capacity. The lake was stunningly surrounded by jungle covered mountains with white horses grazing by the lake's edge giving the place a magical feel. Accomodation is dotted around the lake with the place we had decided to stay being a 2km walk with backpacks in the midday sun. The walk was well worth it though, with the hostel providing one of the nicest dormitories you would ever want to see. Attic style thatched cabanas with a large hole ... read more

Hello again! Ok, the exclamation mark is trying to be enthusiastic but I have a stupid head cold and I am very cranky this is REALLY going to be short! Jan 10th 06 Antigua - really fun day. Explored the colonial buildings. Andrew and I got a deep pore cleansing facial which was really good although a bit painful when they did their tweezer work. No I didn´t bully Andrew at all for those of you who think he was coerced. Afternoon - went on a coffee tour. Sounds boring but it was sooo good and interesting. Learnt how to taste coffee properly and how they make it and so on. Jan 11th 06 Travel day from Antigua to Rio Dulce. Stayed at a place which is basically shacks above a swamp, and which was the ... read more

The journey to Flores was long but interesting. After a bus ride we caught a small boat down the river to cross the Mexican/Guatemalan border. Along the way we saw kids playing in the river and adults washing their clothes in it. Then we embarked on a small minibus for a long, bumpy journey along winding dirt tracks, but the scenery was beautiful, very green and unspoilt. Flores itself is a pretty town situated on an island. The first night we had dinner on a jetty over the lake with no-one else there which was really nice. The next day we got picked up at 4am to watch the sun rise over Tikal. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to appreciate the sunrise but Tikal was amazing! There were barely any tourists there so it felt as ... read more

Well I had received several emails from home asking whether I was back from the expedition safe and sound, so rest easy because I´m OK. I had some trouble publishing my last entries before departing for the jungle so I hope everyone read those OK. Sorry to all my devoted readers who are struggling with my spelling mistakes, I blame my lack of formal education, these keyboards, lack of Outlook for spell checking and time constraints on the pay computers. I´m not sure who sent the anonymous comment about the filming location of Raiders of the Lost Ark (which is in Tikal thanks) but I didn´t opt to pay a tour guide so no, I did not know that. So, let´s talk about the expedition for awhile. We left last Monday morning at 6:30 even though ... read more

Well we signed up for a trip today to see the Tikal ruins. For more information on these Id suggest you just google it, but in the meantime I will recount our delightful trip in the jungle. We woke up at 4:30 AM in Flores, so that we could catch our bus at 5am. This was to get to the ruins for sunrise, but holdups and late people prevented that from happening. The bus was packed, no room at all so numbness in my more lengthy limbs occured quickly but more pleasantly than expected. Then this guy beside me fell asleep on my shoulder. I wasnt happy about that, I guess I was just tired but it really irritated me. As it turned out he fell asleep beside me again on the way back home so ... read more