Surrounded by the mystic of TIKAL

  Tikal, Guatemala
Monday, November 26, 2001

The sleep was good in the quiet jungle surroundings. No too much mosquitos, or maybe all my available blood have been drained yesterday. I woke up when it was still dark outside. With no electricity in our room, i yelled quietly at Juliette for her cigarette lighter. I lit the candle we've been carrying since Tulum (I know it would come handy), and to my astonishment, it was 10min to 6am. Our bus (only one of the day) leave at 6am. We hurriedly packed and left the hotel still sleepy and the stars was still shining above us. The bus was waiting, the "Che" in charge who reminded us yesterday he would not wait for us this morning, echoed his usual words, "Vamos! Vamos!" We got on, and the bus was full again. And everyone who had a machete with him have to handed to the front, I guess in case of accidental slashing. We stopped frequently, and in the middle of nowhere, someone would get off and run into the jungle with a machete. Me and Juliett just looked at each other not saying a word, but we had the same wonder -- where the hell are these people going? The road was worse than yesterday due to the overnight rain, and it seemed that the jungle has grown as the tree branches hit the buses like Quetzalcoatl's thunder.
We arrived in Tikal around 8:30 am, had some breakfast at the cafe and checked our bags for storage at the cafe. Tikal and Uaxactun are rivals in the classic age of the maya, but Tikal today (although rebuild) is awesome compared to Uaxactun. The Pyramids were very impressive and the view from the top felt like I was surround by ancient gods. This was by far the best ruins I have seen. The setting surrounded by the jungle was pure fantasy. Sometimes I have to pinch myself making sure I was not dreaming. We left after a tired day and took the tourist bus back to Flores. Somewhere in my heart I wish I could take the Pinta bus one more time.....
We checked in at a hotel in Flores and we took a HOT shower (first time since Mexico city). I even tried to wash some dirty laundry by hand (first time since Mexico City). We are true travellers now....