The Bad and the Better

Grand Plaza, Tikal
Tikal, Temple IV
View from Temple IV


Sunset, El Remate
El Remate
Our smashed shuttle bus

Another adventurous week in Guatemala. We left Lanquin last Friday and it was a hell of a ride. It was raining...which should´ve been a sign for us to just stay another day. All the roads in Lanquin are dirt...so it took us hours just to get up to the paved road, and we thought we were smooth sailing from there. Just outside of Coban, we were chatting away and enjoying the scenery. We were preparred for the 8 hour bus ride to Flores but we weren´t preparred for what happened next. As we were heading around a bend, a pickup truck was coming strait towards us, obviously out of control. Our shuttle bus driver quickly realized what was going on and that we didnt have any option but to position and brace ourselves for the crash. The truck hit us head on...I was in the front seat, middle, no seatbelt (there was no seatbelt), and as soon as I realized what was about to happen, I envisioned my face smashed into the winshield. It wasn´t that bad though, everyone walked away with a few minor bumps and bruises. We are all so lucky.

Eleven hours later, we made it to Flores, a tiny island in Lake Peten Itza, in the Peten. It´s absolutely beautiful here, but quite touristy. We spent 2 days here, walking around the island, swimming, watching sunsets, eating great food at our hostel and we even had a night out on the town. Let me tell you, Guatemalens in Flores know how to party!

Sunday Alex and I headed to El Remate, a very tiny town at the end of the lake. We spent the afternoon swimming and wandering around the town. We witnessed a beautiful sunset while eating dinner next to the lake. We stayed the night in a very...interesting hostel. Our dorm room was practically a tree house. When we entered, we encountered a scorpion and a bat. Lukilly, we had mosquito nets provided which came in handy.

Monday, we headed to Tikal...it is majestic, words cannot describe what we encountered. We entered the park at 3:30pm and were there until just after sunset. We spent an hour alone just in the Grand Plaza climbing the temples, gazing and taking photos. We later headed to Temple IV, which is 65 meters high, and watched the sunset from there. It was unreal. We left the park and camped in a tent we rented right behind a restaraunt. We were quite excited about camping...until we learned there was a leak in our air mattress...which wouldn´t have been a big deal, but the tent was on the concrete. So, by midnight we were laying awake, on the hard, cold concrete. Ill just say that it was a long night. Lucky for us, we were getting up early to be back in Tikal by 6am. We were some of the first people in the park and it was just as spectacular this morning as it was last night. We spent a few hours looking at wildlife, the ruins, the jungle, the amazingness of it all. We saw a howler monkey, tons of birds and some rodent type animals.

All in all, it was amazing. Now, we are back in Flores for one more night to catch up on some sleep. We plan to take an early bus out tomorrow to head to Belize, more specifically Caye Caulker Island. Let´s hope it´s an easy breezy bus ride...

Until Next time...