Another week of school is behind me. Friday we went to the market in San Francisco. It is the largest market in Guatemala and was very interesting. They had everything for sale from clothes, to house wares, to food, to live animals, to just about anything you can think of. The Spanish lessons are going well. I still wish it would come faster to me, but I know it takes time. And that is what I am here for. This week, I’ve pretty much just gone to class and studied in the afternoon. We did go to the mall one afternoon. They have a large American style mall that has Paiz (Wal Mart owned store—pretty much a small Wal Mart), GAP, Adidas, and some other American stores along with the local ones. And then a food court that has burger king, subway, dominoes and the local fast food places. And finally, a 5-screen movie! The cost for a movie is 13 Quetzales, which is about $1.50 right now I think? For sure under $2.
Last weekend a group of us from school went to Tikal. It was possibly one of the best travel weekends I’ve had! We left school Thursday afternoon and caught the bus to Guatemala City. That is about a five-hour ride. Then we found a McDonald’s near by the bus terminal, grabbed a quick and cheap bite to eat, and back on a bus to go to Flores overnight. We arrived in Flores around five or six in the morning. We had decided to stay in El Remate, which was probably our best call of the weekend. I simply fell in love with the town. It is just my kind of place. It is halfway between Flores and Tikal. Tikal is just north of Lake Peten Itza. Flores is an island city on the bottom of the lake. We wanted to see it because it is supposed to be beautiful and cool, etc. So, we got to Flores, caught a bus to El Remate, which is on the east side of the lake. We went to a hostel I had found in LP and got our accommodations. It averaged out to be $3.50 a person for our room with our own bath. The hostel was Hostel Sak Luk. It was perfect! It sits up on a hill off the road and provides a gorgeous view of the lake. We all showered and some took naps. Jack and I wandered the town and it was just fabulous to walk through the town (all 2 streets) so early in the morning. To explore it and meet it as it met the new day. Children were walking to school, stores were opening up, mothers starting their day of household chores. It was simply perfect. Jack wanted coffee so we stopped in a “restaurant” that was nothing more than a thatched hut and had coffee. The lady tending the store was busy sweeping her dirt out front of the huts. I always am intrigued by the sweeping of dirt, but then again, if my floor were made of dirt, I have no doubt I would be out there sweeping also.
Friday we took a microbus to Flores and wandered around the island. The bus lets you off in Santa Elena and then you walk across the bridge to the island city of Flores. It was a magnificent day full of sunshine, good times and good friends. We walked around the entire island enjoying the views, discovering the city and then went into the interior. We shopped and strolled for about 2 hours. Then we enjoyed lunch with a waterfront view. The last bus to Xela was supposed to leave at 2:30 so we had about 4 hours in Flores, which turned out to be just right. We walked back to where we had been dropped off and tried to find the bus back. In Santa Elena we stopped at the market and bought a bunch of fruit. While the rest of the group was shopping, I asked several people about the bus and got a different answer each time. Finally, we figured out we had to go to the terminal (versus the roadside stop we got off at). We had paid 15 Quetzals to go from El Remate to Flores. I got to the terminal and this man was trying to charge us 30 or 40. I refused and finally through much haggling (which gave me great enjoyment), I found a man that would take us for the same price we came for—15 Quetzals. So, we load up on the bus and then man says 20 and he will only take us to a town several km from El Remate. I said, “No. You said 15 and to El Remate.” So, I make everyone get off the bus and walk away and am looking for another bus to get us home for a fair price. Finally, the man relented and said El Remate for 15 Quetzals. So, we load back up on the bus and then proceed to pick up about 30 people for this ride to El Remate on our 10-15-passenger microbus. As the bus got to the city limits, it stopped and let us off (just inside El Remate) and then it turned around and drove the other way, but we got to El Remate and for the right price. Our hostel was probably 100 yards from where we got dropped off so it was all good.
That afternoon, we hung out, walked around town some more. Found a guy on the side of the street and worked out a ride to Tikal the next day for a fair price and then found a guide from our hostel to take us on a tour Sunday morning in Tikal. Overall, a pretty productive day. And then it was sunset. We packed up snacks to share and headed to the dock. We had the most amazing sunset over the lake as we were sitting on a dock that just jutted out into the lake complete with a small thatched hut and hammock. It was a magical time where six strangers came together as friends and enjoyed one of God’s most beautiful pieces of artwork—the sunset. There are five of us on the trip that are what we call “long termers” because we are all here for months at a time versus the normal week or two. And then our friend Karen, who was on her way home. She had been in Xela for 3 weeks and this trip was on her way to Guatemala City to fly home. And Nicholas, whom we had just met on Tuesday. But through the gift of travel in a foreign land, we were a close-knit group of six friends sharing in a special time. And it only got better.
After our sunset and swim in the lake Friday afternoon, we had dinner and enjoyed some stargazing before going to bed. Saturday was a lazy morning where everyone got to sleep, enjoy the views, the town, and just embrace El Remate for a few more hours before we had to leave. Nicholas and Jack had gone out that morning and walked around and found a house that they wanted to buy. Later in the morning, the three of us and Peter went to view the house. It is tucked up on a hill with a magnificent lake view. Along the main roads of El Remate are shops and restaurants. Then you go off the main road, which is paved, and there are these dirt roads leading to the homes back in the “residential” section. I loved walking through there. We went up and saw the house and then I left before the boys and walked backed down towards town. Before, as we were walking up to the house these precious children in one yard kept yelling, “Hola! Hola! Hola!” I had to go back and visit with them. So, I walked back and enjoyed the simple, slow, yet content life of these locals. They were all just going about typical Saturday chores: getting water, sweeping dirt, repairing the thatched roof, etc. I just strolled along until I saw this monkey in a yard. I went down to see it and found the children from before. I sat and talked to them for probably 20 minutes or so. The children were the 3 oldest of 5 kids. Two boys and a girl. They were so precious. And intrigued by my watch. I don’t know that they had ever seen one? The house this family of 7 lives in is probably a one room wooden house with the thatch roof and is maybe 500 square feet? And yet, there is such contentment there. The girl went and got her baby sister that was only 7 months old and proudly held her up to me and told me her name. The yard has a barbed wire fence all around it so we had this entire conversation through the barbed wire. Oh to see these children with so little and yet so happy, how it moves me and convicts me of my own greed, needless wants, and selfish desires.
After walking through the neighborhood and visiting with the children, I went and met our group for lunch. The boys had found a perfect spot the night before while the girls were swimming. So, we enjoyed lunch on a patio overlooking the lake. You had to cross a rope bridge to get there. It was a perfect goodbye to El Remate. This simple town and its warm and inviting people and beautiful countryside had stolen my heart. But Tikal called and we had to go.
We got to Tikal at around 3:00 pm, which was perfect. We went to the Jaguar Inn and asked about tents to camp in. They did have tents for us. It was 70 Quetzals a night for a tent with a huge air mattress, blanket and air pillow. This also included use of the bathrooms and showers, which were right by our tents. 70 Quetzals is less than $10—a steal to stay IN Tikal. We settled in and then headed for the park. We bought our tickets at 3:30, which was just the right time. If you go in the park at 3:30 then your ticket is good for the next day. So, we explored this magical place in the jungles of Guatemala for about 3-3 ½ hours. The views of these majestic temples and pyramids and structures are seriously breathtaking as you walk through the jungle and then you just come upon it. I will never be able to do it justice with words, but maybe the pictures will help. It is a must see if you are in Guatemala.
We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset in Tikal. We explored Gran Plaza, and then headed for Temple 4, which we were told has the best sunset view. Doesn’t make much sense because it faces east. A local told us Lost World had better views so we went there. There was a pyramid facing west, but it had a no climbing sign. So we took the temple perpendicular to it and decided we’d watch the sunset on the pyramid. A guard came up after a while and mentioned the view being much better from the pyramid. Apparently the rules do not apply if you bribe the guard. So, after haggling for a good price, two of our group headed up the pyramid. The rest of us watched from the temple and then the guard walked us out. It was a good ending to our first taste of Tikal. After viewing Tikal and the sunset, we had dinner and visited before going to bed early. The park is open 6:00 am to 6:00 pm and so we were to meet our guide at 6:15 am.
Sunday we awoke and the boys went into the park to try and catch a sunrise promptly at 6:00 am. The girls went and met the guide. He was really interesting and very informative. We toured most all of Tikal with the guide from 6:15 to almost noon. The boys met up with us by 8:00 am or so? We went back to the tents at lunch and packed up and ate a bite and then it was back to Tikal. It is so large and we wanted to see it all so we went back and saw the few parts we’d not explored the day before or with our guide. So, we saw every square inch of the place, which is large indeed! Around 4:00 we headed back to Flores to catch our night bus to Guatemala City.
In Guatemala, nothing is on time. Everything is late. Except apparently the night bus to Guatemala City. It was 45 minutes early to pick up in Flores! So, we missed our bus and had to speed off to the terminal and find another bus to get to Guatemala City that night. For 4 of us, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. We could make up our class on Monday if we got stuck in Flores, but for Karen, she was flying out the next day and we had to get going to make sure we got to Guatemala City that night so she could catch a flight out to America Monday afternoon. We did get a bus and made it just in time. Whew! The adventures of travel. It is very rarely boring! We got to Guatemala City and found some breakfast. I enjoyed some fresh orange juice and a piece of bread from the roadside vendor. Some of the best orange juice I’ve had as I drank it from the plastic bag with a straw. The options are the glasses they serve from over and over again or a to go cup. . . or in Guatemala, a to go bag. It is simply a small plastic bag and a straw. After breakfast, we caught the bus back to Xela and grabbed a quick shower before afternoon classes. Our break from school was over and it was back to the reason to be here. But what a fantastic break it was!
Tikal is often compared to Machu Picchu, but I think that is comparing apples and oranges. They are just different. I had high expectations for Tikal from what I had read and heard, etc., and that always makes me nervous. Thankfully, I was not disappointed. It was a magical weekend overall. I discovered a new town and fell in love with it. A group of strangers became good friends. I saw some amazing things and a magical place. And was blessed for a weekend with the total contentment that the people of El Remate enjoy every day. I challenge you to find that simple pleasure each day that shows you total contentment in God. He is the only one that can provide true contentment.
