Blogs from Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 47

Pieni epailys taas paassa etta ei hirvean nopeasti onnistu paikanvaihto, olinpaikkana talla hetkella El Remate (yep, imagine), Lago Peten Itzan rannalla, muutaman sadan asukkaan raaauhallinen paikka, lampotila cerca 27, mukava pikku tuulenvire ymparilla ja kaikki ihmiset mukavia ja ystavallisia. Ja taalta poispaaseminen, 8-10h:n, 500km:n bussimatka Guatemala Cityyn (2milj as) huonoilla teilla huonolla kalustolla eei nyt pahemmin kiinnostaisi. Guatemalaan saapuminen on tahan mennessa ollut pelkkaa ylamakea, ihmiset taalla tuntuvat olevan viela meksikoakin ystavallisempia, joka tuntuu erikoiselta, ottaen huomioon maan surullisen ja vakivaltaisen historian. Talla hetkella seurana toimii Nate ja Rachel, kanadalainen pari, jotka tulivat samalla veneella Cruzaro Fronterasta Betheliin. Rajavartiolaitosta ei taalla pain ole erikoisemmin nakynyt, oficinas de imigracionit saa aika omatoimisest... read more

I crossed the boarder and spent about 2 1/2 hours in buses before arriving in Flores. Flores is a beautiful little village on an island on Lake Peten Itza. I arrived late in the day, got a room and had dinner. I met a girl named Sophie and made plans to check out the caves the next day. The following day it rained all day. We hiked the mile to Actun Kan Caves and explored for about an hour. The caves are quite large and filled with bats (imagine that). Afterwords we went to get some lunch and I came down with a fever. I slept the rest of the afternoon and by the next morning was feeling much better. Since the weather was poor I decided to travel with Sophie to Antigua and catch Tikal ... read more

Starting off on my trip to Belize and Guatemala I was a bundle of nerves. I had never travelled by myself before and I was very intimidated by the thought of navigating airports and catching connecting flights, as well as travelling for two weeks with a bunch of people that I had never met. But all went well. I made it to my destination with everything intact and quickly realized I would be travelling with some great people. Our first night was spent in Belize city getting to know eachother and going over the itinerary and other details of the trip. The next morning we got up bright and early (or at least what i consider to be bright and early..7am) and caught a bus to Flores, Guatemala. This was a nice little island town situated ... read more

My time visiting the beautiful country of Guatemala has been an undeniably positive and memorable experience. I hand wrote the draft for this journal from atop a monument in the majestic grand plaza of the Tikal Mayan ruins, and it's a glorious location to provide inspiration for my travel blog! The ruins of Tikal, along with the sublime beauty of Lago de Atitlan, and the gorgeous colonial city of Antigua with it´s vibrant nightlife are wonderful attractions to rival the tourist highlights of any country in the region The tourist industry in Guatemala has potential for substantial growth, but let´s touch base again from the start of my visit... We left off in San Salvador, dear reader, where I caught connecting buses across the border into Guatemala and on to Antigua. Once again I experienced a ... read more

Just realised I never published this before...better late than never! ************* I´m writing this having got up at 4.30 in the morning so apologies for any typos! I went to see the ruins of Tikal this morning. They were amazing. These are the ancient Mayan ruins and date back thousands of years. They are in the middle of the jungle, and some of the temples are still covered in jungles (you can tell these by the hills). The culture had everthing including saunas! Although not wheels.... Clearly they had their priorities straight! Before that we went to a place called Rio Dulce, where we stayed in a swamp (nice!). It was very close to nature! i.e. loads of insects, argh! But we were able to have a very good time despite that. We took a boat ... read more