Flores and Tikal, Guatemala
I caught the ferry from caye caulker to Belize city with a nice couple from Brisbane. They are also headed to Tikal so at least between the 3 of us we can work out how to get there!
Turns out we got a direct bus from the dock to Flores for $25 instead of having to change at the border.
We were talking and they told me one of the Germans staying at our hostel got locked up in the little caye caulker police station on the beach for smoking pot. He's been there since tuesday waiting for a trial. Idiot, there are signs everywhere that they take drug offenses seriously.
Anyway, we are on a pretty shitty bus for the next 4 hours to get to the border then I think it's about an hour to Flores. Exited to see Guatemala and I'll be there for day of the dead too which is cool.
We got to the border and pretty easy again. Just jump off the bus and walk through immigration for both countries.
We changed to a mini bus just outside of town, we all thought it was a scam but turns out they took us to look at accommodation all over Flores island until we were happy. We scored a hostel right on the lake and my private room is $9. We also booked our bus to Tikal for tomorrow, I'm going
at 8am but the others are leaving
at 4.30am.........fark that!
The tour operator also told us, after getting the goss from a mate by the side of the road, that two men were shot by the military yesterday at Tikal.
Apparently they drove through a checkpoint without stopping.
The plan is to stay another night in Flores and then take the
9am bus to Coban where I can take a day trip to semuc champey. I think the couple from brissie are keen to do the same instead of the overnighter to Antigua.
Flores is absolutely beautiful. This tiny island surrounded by picturesque lake with not a ripple on it. It's actually what I dreamt it would look like. Kind of reminds me a bit of San cristobal.
I've hit burger king because I'm starvin Marvin and its right on the lake next to the swing bridge so it feels like I'm in a swanky restaurant!
We got some takeaway beers on the way home and climbed up onto the roof overlooking the lake........wow! It's a million dollar view for under $10.
Met some Aussie surfers who are headed to Nicaragua so I've got them coming to the casa. It seems everyone in this part of central America is headed that way which is making selling the place dead easy.
I've headed out for a walk and have found a cute little restaurant on the other side of the island that makes fresh pasta, yum! The piña colada smoothie is possibly the best thing I've ever tasted. The pasta was not :( damn you lonely planet guide book.
Day 2 - Tikal
Up early to head to the ruins which is about 2 hours away. It's a beautiful day so I think I'm in for a treat.
Bad start, the tour forgot me and luckily the dude from the agency is just across the road and hooked up a tuk tuk to the main station and now, 2 hours later I'm in a mini bus all by myself headed to Tikal!
He was really nice and felt bad so he gave me a good price to get to lanquin and semuc champey tomorrow and then onto Antigua on Monday.
Well it turns out the farker put me on a chicken bus that stopped about 1800 times on the way to Tikal to pick up locals carrying everything from bags of beans to piles of sticks. I also noticed that everyone was paying Q20 instead of the Q80 I paid.
So we finally get to Tikal and I have the option of the bus back
at 1pm or
5pm, well I'm not hanging around for 6 friggin hours so I start to fang it through the ruins.
On the trail in I ran into all the Aussies staying at my hostel that took the
4.30am bus. They were leaving
at 1pm so I said I'll see them at the bus then.
Talk about el rapido tour of Tikal. I bolted around to see it all and it's huge. Absolutely spectacular and luckily hardly anyone around. Saw some monkeys and some turkeys, no toucans unfortunately.
I got back in 2 hours and saw the bus with all the aussie crew on it, so I showed him the ticket but he said I had to wait for a different bus......WTF?
The Aussies were asking him to stop but he assured me I had to get the other bus.
20 minutes later the friggin chicken bus rolls up and I jump in knowing that it's going to stop for every Tom, dick and Jose on the way back. The icing on the cake, it went only to the bus station in Santa Elena not to Flores. So I got a tuk tuk with 2 guatemalans and off we went.
As you can imagine I tore the tour operator a new one and he agreed it was shit but I had to speak to the boss. Everytime I went back to see the boss they had shut shop! Little farkers.
Ty and Karl are on the same 8 hr bus so they can share the pain!
The three of us had some beers on the roof then went for a burrito down on the lake. On the way Ty nearly shat her pants when a dog started going of its head out a window we were walking past. The locals were pissing themselves!
Flores is a lovely place and I would highly recommend it to anyone headed to Guatemala. P.S if katelyn or Lisa are reading this, they have a burger king and a guatemalan KFC just across the bridge!!
