guatemala city-flores-tikal

This is going to be a shakedown of the last three days in Guatemala. I hope. Amy and I arrived at about 8 pm Guate time, which I think is the same as Utah time. I´m not sure about this, you should check. We were picked up by a man named Victor who was holding a DOS LUNAS sign. He drove us to Dos Lunas, and we basically went to bed. It was a little surreal to realize that I was actually in Guatemala, because the flight was so short. Max 6 hours from Utah to Guatemala City. That morning we decided to buy tickets to go to Flores, which is a toursit town close to the Tikal Ruins. We got on a red bus, and rode forever and ever, and then realized that we did the whole run of the bus. It was actually a lovely thing because we got to see alot of Guate City. We then rode the bus back to the bus depot, bought our tickets, and wandered around for a while. We went to the main plaza and looked at the vendors things, and let me just say, Guate city is unlike any city I have been to. It is a mad house. So I was glad to see things from the bus. It´s a very lively city, but I think any more time there and I would have been insane. It´s loud, you know, like a city. I am taller than everyone. My castellano is working just fine for me. Amy has made fun of me every time that i say something with the portenyo shh, so I have tried to have a better accent. I´m afraid though that the argentina won´t get out of me. Call it pride, call it what you will. The Guatemalan lilt can be a little hard to understand. I think it´s more relaxed spanish. I´m no linguist. You tell me. Anyway, after the insane day at the city we went back to Dos Lunas and put our stuff in the closet. So Amy and I only have a small backpack each right now. It´s nice to travel like hippies. We got on a Linea Dorada bus at 9 pm and headed to Flores. The bus ride was about 9 hours long, including a 2 hour ¨layover¨ in Poptún, but I slept through that. Just so you know, the movie for the night was American Ninja 2 and I tell you i have never seen something more compelling. Action, ninja skills, and great acting combined to put me asleep about 5 minutes after it started. I recommend it over Tylenol PM. And, so you know, the plane movie was The Painted Veil, which I had never heard of, and it was a lovely film. I recommend that one. Moving on. We got to Flores yesterday morning at about 7 in the morning, and we promptly boarded a micro to got to Tikal. It was a long ride and I nodded off before we got to the entrance of Tikal. We got reservations and wandered into the park. It was hot and muggy and it felt good to sweat Guate city out of my system. The first animal we saw was the darndest thing. The call of this bird is wild, and I recommend googling it. I recorded it, so you can hear it later. It´s called Montezuma Oropendula. Amazing. It lit´rally entranced me. And then we saw the spider monkeys, climbing through the tall ceiba, cedar, and other trees. They were evil and cute, and they didn´t venture to come near us. I took some terrible pictures. The ruins are inexpressibly awesome. My imagination was going a bit wild as we climbed in and around and atop the temples and complexes. We took a lot of time exploring. It was surreal to climb the trails through the jungle and then have a temple pop up right before you. We went back to the hotel during the hottest part of the day to swim. We stayed at Tikal Inn, and it was lujo. But not too lujo, I mean, we could afford it. We took a nature trail and saw some parrots, you know, hanging in the hood. Then, today, we went back and we were confounded again. The first day we had looked at little ruins mainly, and then today we stumbled upon the big mothers. We climbed temples that towered over the jungle, on rickety wooden ladders, and I got nervous a few times indeed. The view was astounding and I thought alot about the people who lived there. Most of the intricate artwork had eroded, and I thought that if I was thinking it was lovely now, it must have been a diamond back in the day when everything was ornate and decorated. We also saw a toucan. The one with the bluish beak. I would talk more about the ruins, but I can´t really express it, so I will load up some pictures someday. So the days were lovely and full and sweaty, unorthodoxly sweaty, and now I am sweating away in Flores. We were driven back, through Santa Elena, to get money. At the ATM there was a guard with a semi automatic gun, just hanging out while the money changers changed the money. We got some money, then moved on to Flores, where we are now. We are staying at a place called Mirador del Lago, the lago being Petén de Itzá. We are right on the lake. It´s pretty, but I don´t think I will venture to swim in it. Unless I get terribly desperate. We are just staying here for the night and then it will be back down to Poptún to stay at Finca Ixobel, which everyone has been recommending from day 1. The plan is then to go to Río Dulce, take a river tour to Livingstón, and then take a ferry to Belize. We will see about that. But I won´t write anymore about the future, because who knows. I take some comfort in knowing that I won´t be living in tropical rainforest the whole time. Amy says the highlands are more gentle on the sweatglands. I hope you all are doing well. I forgot to mention that I saw an elaterid, and it was lovely. It clicked at me. Also, I look like a hippy. Sorry to loved ones. The thing is, I can´t control my hair, when it is this humid and windy AT THE SAME TIME. And my chacos are soaking in the soul sole of the country on which i walk. also, i have drunk alot of water. alot of water. alot of water. salvavidas. que rica el agua pura. ok. i think i am going to end this. i will update more in the future, but let´s not talk about it now.