After a bus-journey and a very interesting 40 minute-ride by canoe across Río Usumacinta we were back in Guatemala, greeted by a very friendly, but corrupt, border guy charging us 40 Quetzales for the pleasure of his entry stamp (no receipt, of course). 4 hours later we were in Flores, a peninsula on Lake Izabal, 70 minutes away from Tikal. After the busy last week, our plan for the first day was to do nothing, and that's what we did.
Refreshed, the next morning it was time to get up at 4am to catch the shuttle bus to Tikal - The site is in the middle of the jungle, and the reason why we came so early is that there is more wildlife to be spotted around sunrise time. The effort to fight the desire to ignore the alarm clock in the morning was rewarded quickly: During the first hour of our guided tour, we saw a crocodile, monkeys, a couple of
coatis, many beautiful toucans and other birds.
Tikal is named the New York of Maya cities due to its high-rise pyramids rising out above the already very tall trees in the jungle. Some astonishing views can be had over the endless jungle from the top of these temples. We learned even more impressive stories and facts about the ancient Maya culture from our knowledgeable guide, but felt like we'd had enough ruins now to deserve some relaxing time in the Carribean for a few days, which is why we headed further North-East to Belize.
After a bus-journey and a very interesting 40 minute-ride by canoe across Río Usumacinta we were back in Guatemala, greeted by a very friendly, but corrupt, border guy charging us 40 Quetzales for the pleasure of his entry stamp (no receipt, of course). 4 hours later we were in Flores, a peninsula on Lake Izabal, 70 minutes away from Tikal. After the busy last week, our plan for the first day was to do nothing, and that's what we did. 
Refreshed, the next morning it was time to get up at 4am to catch the shuttle bus to Tikal - The site is in the middle of the jungle, and the reason why we came so early is that there is more wildlife to be spotted around sunrise time. The effort to fight the desire to ignore the alarm clock in the morning was rewarded quickly: During the first hour of our guided tour, we saw a crocodile, monkeys, a couple of coatis, many beautiful toucans and other birds.
Tikal is named the New York of Maya cities due to its high-rise pyramids rising out above the already very tall trees in the jungle. Some astonishing views can be had over the endless jungle from the top of these temples. We learned even more impressive stories and facts about the ancient Maya culture from our knowledgeable guide, but felt like we'd had enough ruins now to deserve some relaxing time in the Carribean for a few days, which is why we headed further North-East to Belize.
No comments:
Post a Comment