Its not every day a monkey sh$ts on you!
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2008
1
7
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Tikal National Park,
Guatemala
Sunday, September 14, 2008
BTW Israelis are everywhere! Apparently most 20 somethings go traveloing after they have finished their army service (guys 3 years, girls 2) or during their college holidays. I´m questioning whether anyone between the age of 20-25 is left in the promised land right now!
8-9 hours later and my face covered in phlegm we arrived in Flores...joking aside Isralies get bad press...on first meeting they can be a little frosty but they are pretty friendly people who have cooked dinner for me a couple of times on this trip to date...They were even quite forgiving of my social faux-pas when stupidly offering them pork scratchings during the trip.
On arrival, the local tourist banditos in Flores tried every trick in the book to push us all into a certain hostel, but; me being me - refused out of principle and went and stayed to blocks down at the cheap and cheerful Dona Goya - great showers and fans in rooms. That evening I walked around town and stumbled accros Guatemalan Independance day celebrations....lots of marching bands and baton twirlers..I only stayed an hour or so as I needed to be up at the crack of dawn for my Tikal Sunrise Tour.
I begrudgingly woke at 3am the next morning, to embark on the tour. By 4:30 I was scaling temple IV in Tikal and won pole position for the impending sunrise that didn´t happen. Unfortunately the odds of seeing a Tikal Sunrise are small due to the mists rising form the rainforest, however I was not in the least bit disappointed as the unwordly roars of the howler monkeys created an incredibly eerie atmosphere. Tikal is where the forests of Endor were filmed for Star Wars 3: Return of the Jedi so I´m keen to see the film again (only for reference - certainly not for the annoying Ewoks). I wasn´t initially knocked for 6 by Tikal and the ruins but I think thats just because you can become a bit blase about all the great experiences whilst travelling in this way as they are constantly occurring. In retrospect the ruins were pretty amazing when you consider their age and the astrology and science that went into building them, however Im still more impressed by the Egyptian Pyramids but both are worth the visit.
I got back to andand out of Flores by 1 hoping to catch the 2pm bus to Rio Dulce. Its a Sunday, so contrary to what I was informed, buses do not run hourly. I had the choice of a 230Q deluxe ride at 2pm (I tried to convince the receptionist to let me on for 65Q - no joy) or sit on my arse for 3.5 hours waiting for the 65Q economy option. Suffice to say, my arse is well rested although wrist rather tired as I took the time to write my memories on paper for now.
After an hour of Spanglish with the cafe manager, I´ve only got a short while before I´m on my way....
Oh...forgot to mention - whilst taking pictures if the Tikal Howler Monkeys, one of them purposely shat on me from above - cheeky monkey!
