Summary
We made three entries into Guatemala. We arrived from Palenque in Mexico after three changes of minibus on the Island of Flores. We spent a night in nearby El Remate to facilitate a visit to the ruins at Tikal then moved on quickly afterwards to Belize. The second entry was via boat from Punta Gordo to Livingston, exiting again into Honduras near Copan Ruinus then the final time from that same border on the through-bus to Antigua. The otherwise excellent experiences we had in the country were marred by a couple of robberies - not high value but never the less annoying and the disruption caused by the loss of a passport in one was particularly irritating and time consuming.
Flores-El Remate-Tikal
We'd taken the advice of the Lonely Planet to book a through ticket to Flores from Planenque rather than trying to take local transport as it seemed simpler and not much more expensive - but it probably wasn't the right decision in retrospect. We were the last ones picked up from our hotel in the shuttle so got cramped into the back on on a "fold down" temporary seat. Most of the others on the tour were on a day trip returning to Palenque so there was a long stop for breakfast just an hour or so in that wasn't included in the price of our ticket and was horribly overpriced to us for what was on offer. We eventually were let off near the river (which is the border between Mexico and Guatemala) then took a little tin ferry trip to the other side.
Livingston
Rio Dulce
Antigua
Quetzaltenango (Xela)
Lake Atitlan (San Marcos, San Pedro, San Juan)
Guatemala City
