Mayan Internacional Flores

... lunch, which – however – turned out to be quite disappointing with a very dry piece of meat. On the other hand, the place had the advantage of having a pool. I spend the afternoon doing nothing but relaxing by the pool and reading. I decided to go to the Jaguar Inn hotel next door for dinner, because they served "chicken mole", which is chicken with a spicy chocolate sauce. But this was – as with my previous meal – very disappointing. Did not have ...

... to make up time by driving in a way that… suffice to say, cannot be legal in the United States.

Upon arrival in Flores, we needed to transfer to another bus via taxi and we encountered the first "sheisters" trying to take advantage of the unsuspecting travelers. No longer an amateur traveler, Rachel swiftly put them back in their place in their native tounge (Spanish).

As we arrived in Tikal National Park, we were blown away by the amount of wildlife ...

... had no door, just a cloth curtain and slopping thatched eaves on both sides, but it was cute. Having secured a room, we then explored El Retiro which is a collection of wooden huts on stilts scattered over a bank leading down to the Lanquin river. There is a veritable menagerie at El Retiro, a couple of cows, countless chickens, cats, dogs, mosquitoes and bugs that fall out of the thatched eaves on your face whilst sleeping.

The main restaurant serves good grub ...

... date and I was a bit disappointed, but then I found the mural rooms. Two small rooms still had the original Mayan paintings on the walls. Reds, yellows and blues showed contemporary rulers and some kind of ceremony. Really nice. I don´t have any pictures to post because... well it´s technical. The buildings, in general, look similar to the other ones I´ve posted.
I met a fascinating man on the bus to Flores. Alex was ...

... of Survivor Guatemala...) and the flora and fauna of Tikal but he didn't seem to know anything about the people who had lived there or the buildings. We left without knowing anymore about the Mayans than we arrived. By 10.00am it was soo hot that we returned to Flores to hunt down a cash machine that would take our card (unsuccessfully) and swim in the lake. The next day we left for Belize at the surprisingly late time of 5.00am!

... and we found out that our large group was going to be more helpful in deterring any pumas we may see. Apparently there were 8 living in the Tikal area but the area has no borders so its possible there are more. The tracks we walked along were sometimes wide and
well worn but other times almost bushbashing (or rainforest bashing) so most of us walked quickly and scanned for large angry felines or overhanging snakes and spiders. Wasn’t really happy about that but then ...

... have built such monuments to their gods in more favorable climates. I don't think I have stopped sweating since I arrived yesterday, and I don't think there is a toxin left in my body. Actually, you get used to being soaked after a while and I guess the best sites in the world require some sweat and effort to see.

Tikal is the second Mayan site I have been to now with Copan in Honduras being the first. It's fascinating that in 900 BC ...

... so prostovoljno. Bojda so bile zoge v zacetku iz kamnov in so imeli nekaksne scitnike iz koz zivali, da se niso cisto polomili.

Bili so majhni, kruti in imeli so dobro razvito astronomijo in agronomijo.

Glede filma Apokalipto, pa je vodic rekel, da je 98% Holiwooda in 2 % resnice.

Slike bodo povedale vec...

Jutri pa 9 urna voznja v Palenque v Mehiki...pa upam, da bo gsm delal.

A lot has happened in the past couple days! After arriving in San Ignacio Vanessa and I got settled in our hotel called the Hi-Et (the pun is kinda endearing). Then we went and booked some trips and ate an amazing dinner of tacos and nachos, with very fresh and delicious ingredients. The following day we woke up early and took the day tour to Tikal, Guatemala. The ruins there were amazing! There was one girl on the tour with us, Valerie, and ...

... get your passport stamped from the boy and you are through. Go to the Guatemalan people, get another stamp, pay some more money and you are in - so easy compared to other border crossings I've experienced. We actually had our own van today which was pretty luxurious! Air-con was a treat for the 3 hour trip to Flores.

They were doing a heap of roadwork so there were a few ...