Blogs from Flores, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 8

Tikal is a national preserve in the northeast jungle, the largest Mayan ruins with the tallest temples, and so a major tourist destination. Nothing there except the ruins, so everyone stays in Flores and makes a day roundtrip to Tikal. Maureen still wanted to see it and we had to get to Belize so the only solution was nine hours on an overnight bus from Guat City to Flores, never an item on my bucket list, but at least feasible. Taking a Midnight Express sounded good until I remembered the movie. First we took a mini-van from Antigua to Guat City. Uneventful, great. In two hours we at the station with only a half hour wait for the overnighter. If it had left on time. It was only an hour late, so no es importanta. ... read more

Justin and I decided to head into Guatemala today, leaving the Frasers in Belize. We took a taxi from San Ignasia to the border for 5usd apiece (could have for 7.50 total but missed that deal). We made it to Flores, Guatamala just before noon and checked into Los Amigos Hostel. We met a Dutch girl named Muriela and 3 Canadian girls from Victoria. Went swimming with Muriela and Justin and wandered the town. Got called a gringo countless times and practiced Spanish all day on the locals. At 4 our two australian friends (Lauren and Alyse) showed up, so we went swimming again. Got our laundry done by a local, being the first time that's happened in many years (if my mother loved me she would have done mine like the old guatamalan woman here). ... read more

Our first bus journey once it finally left Belize City proved to be mega easy. The driver did not believe in hanging about so we arrived in Flores in about 4.5 hours. Loved Belize but it was time to move on and by going by bus you get so see so much of the countryside along the way. It was also nice to see the war memorials just outside the city still with their poppies in place. The border was a piece of cake and as there was only four of us on the bus it meant we got through the paperwork in two minutes and paid a small fee and we were in. It was amazing how much it changed instantly. Belize is so much more Caribbean than Central American with English the official language ... read more

Tourist hassle From Lanquin I went to a small town Flores. This was the first time I took one of the tourist shuttles. So the busride was less interesting but surely much faster. After six or seven hours we reached the destination. But just before the busdriver stopped at an ATM nearby and said the ATM’s at Flores didn’t work. Kind of strange, especially when I saw later that the ATM’s did work. The guy that stepped in the bus said he was from the same company and wanted to drop us at a hostel and most people followed him. Of course he get’s a commission for bringing people in, but I wanted to go my own way. So I grabbed my bag from the roof of the bus and went to the place were I ... read more

After a short mini bus ride back to Guatemala City, we jumped on to the bus to Flores, armed with jumpers in case it was cold. Unfortunately, jumpers weren´t enough and we found ourselves shivering in our seats and praying that the journey would go quickly. It wasn´t to be, and we arrived virtually sleepless in Flores early the next morning. As soon as we got off the bus, we were surrounded by taxi drivers offering to take us straight to the Tikal ruins. As we wanted to dump our stuff at a hostel and get a couple of hours rest first, and we had managed to find another couple who felt the same, we all got in a taxi to Hostel Los Amigos and arranged for the taxi to come back at 8am to take ... read more