Without smiles and camera we cross the border to Guatemala at 7am, Sunday 4. January. Walking between many abandoned buildings we cannot spot any uniformed personel and the only custom officer we can see looks like more a taxi driver. He opened our passports and without words he waves his hands towards Guatemala which we understood was the signal to go. No stamps, no computer check, no forms to fill, no questions asked. Supposedly direct 1/2 hour collectivo minivan to Rio Dulce stops at another village for one hour and some 50km takes almost three hours. Hmm, by now we should be immune to fibs and tricks drivers use to get customers. Nevermind, today we have no appointments. Need some local currency so visiting ATM and cafe bar fills an hour we have before next bus to Flores-St Elena. Six hours on not so comfy bus is enough for today and by late afternoon we relax in lake-front restaurant having tacos and cold beer. Before we take a tour to nearby Tikal ruins we need to buy new camera so we can start taking pictures again. Flores-St Elena is very nice to visit but would be the last place in the world to buy decent digital camera, but we have no other option. With limited shop selection we settle for an overpriced and simple "cheapie" at $250, far cry from our compact Canon we had before but at least we have smile on our face again. Tomorrow we are going to visit famous Tikal ruins which is the main reason to travel to northern Guatemala. Another sleepless night, we can compose a list of reasons for lack of sleep. This time we can add "firecrackers at 4am due to national celibration", but we still hate roosters! Why would someone start this noisy frienzy before dawn is not easy to understand. Sunrise breakfast on the lake is actually quite nice complimenting many previous sunset dinners. Tikal ruins hidden in jungle are trully magnificent and magic. Stone built towers rise up to 50-60m above ground and views from tops over jungle canopy takes our breath away. We climb almost all of them, sometimes on very narrow and steep steps leaning against the wall to defy vertigo feelings. Jungle is surprisingly quiet (except some tourist, of course!) and we are lucky to see few monkeys and the best of all - TUCANS in wild!!! Beautifull birds. This very rare sighting was waiting for the last minute of our latin america travel. At the end of day we are tired, but at the same time we are filled with sensation of beauty, tranqulity and peace.
Now we have only one more week for southern part of Mexico before we leave latin america for good. Leaving Flores-St Elena by 5am (this night was short but at least not noisy) by mid-morning we arrive to river which forms border between Guatemala and Mexico. About 30min ride on narow and wobbly boat through strong currents and whirlpools is half fun and half nightmare exadurated by unreliable engine shuting down few times in hairy situations. Luckily boat driver managed to restart overboard engine always before river took complete control of our boat. Glad to be back on solid ground! Another collectivo and by two afetrnoon we are in Palenque. Day trip to turqoise water cascades Aqua Azul turn out better then we expected from printed posters and we can even take a dip here! No words can describe colors so look at pictures. Here we meet nice couple from Germany with whom we find easy to connect and we make a date for dinner tonight at local pizza. Funny enought next few days we run into each other several times until our paths take different directions. Friday 9 Jan we had off to St Cristobal simply because everyone talked so nicely about this town. Oversupply of hotels and restaurants make this place nice stopover except perhaps it is very cold here. Next morning we leave St Cristobal and about an hour later a chicken bus drops us off at the highway near Canyon del Sumidero. Well, we still have to walk 4km or hitchhike to get to boat pier before we cruise on river between 800m tall canyon walls. Very impressive! Later in arvo we have quick coffee and then catch collectivo to the last mexican destination Oaxaca which is famous for great markets and best hot chocolate. We cannot miss meka of chocloholics! Oaxaca looks very sleepy on Sunday morning arrival and except few taxi drivers there is no one on streets. Hostel recommended by Lonely Planet is located in poshy part of town (hotels $200-300 per night which is ten times more what we ususally pay) so we need to walk 8-10 blocks to find something more reasonable. It actually works out nicely as cheap hostels are near markets and before midday we enjoy our first cup of delicious hot chocolate before we watch an afternoon concert at main plaza. We like this small but lively town, also we feel very safe and relaxed here. Very soon we learn about another product this town is famous for - mescala destilate in all sorts of flavours. I like coconut and one 0.7L bottle at $10 is a steal. Another bottle of premium Tequila will provide excellent internal heating while we stay in cold Barcelona next few days, now we are ready to leave Mexico and Latin America. Seven hours bus trip from Oaxaca to Mexico City takes us for the last time through dry and rugged mexican mountain range where only cactai can grow and by late afternoon we check-in our bags at Lufthansa counter followed by last and very tasty mexican Fajita and Tacos with Corona bear. Adios Mexico! Adios Latin America! Adios todo amigos!
