I dont think it has been that long since our last entry, but so much happens in a couple of weeks! Last time we were in Belize and about to leave for Guatemala.....
We took our time leaving Belize, it truly is an amzing country, the population is only around 250,000 people, but everyone has a different background (& language) and are all characters (they just have a short fuse)! From Belize city we headed north to a town called orange walk where the main attraction was a boat trip thru croc infested rivers to a mayan ruin called lamanai.... we spotted our fair share of crocs, some amazing birdlife and even some howler monkeys.. the ruins were pretty ok too.... during this time we got caught in the heaviest rain shower imaginable, it truly is mind boggling how much it can rain here...
From there it was another chicken bus ride to the border with Guatemala... we have had varied success with the busses here, they run often and are usually pretty fast, our first experience was particularly fast... the driver thought he was michael schumaccer and took some of the bendy mountain roads at breakneck speed.... its funny how as a tourist(a/gringo) you will sit back and laugh at the fact that your life is in the hands of a man that has prob just downed about a half bottle of rum (most have by about 2 in the afternoon, they drink it straight like water), thinks he is trying out for a formula 1 career, and you are all sitting in an overcrowded recycled american 1960´s school bus (probably still with the same pair of brake pads since leaving the states).... we only started panicking when the locals started screaming from the back of the bus to "slow the fook down man... we nooo goooin no early grave mon" but regardless we survived, a few days later we were lucky to survive another bus ride, but this was smell/passenger related, but that is a whole other story!
The border town of San Ignacio in Belize was a real surprise, we got to see some more great ruins, and also got to do a fantastic caving trip into the heart of a cave used for mayan sacrificing. There were many well preserved remains, and tools and pots etc...These Mayans sacrificed anyone and everyone it seems, it didnt pay to be a good looking commoner thats for sure, it seems the more pain during the sacrifice the happier the gods were too. The skeleton below showed that the young girl sacrificed had had her heart ripped out thru her back (a bit like reading that the crows lost to Melbourne)! Gruesome stuff.... pain and sacrifice still happen in the Mayan world today, they are now called Guatemalan collectivo taxi rides!
We crossed the border into Guatemala spirits high, wallets lighter. Leaving Belize you have to pay a $19US exit tax for the "conservation of Belize´s natural landscape" interesting we thought, as the Belizean idea of eco-friendly rubbish treatment is hoicking any trash at hand out the bus window while at high speed. From the border we made our way to Flores, and quaint little island town near the impressive Mayan temples of Tikal. We shared our first collectivo experience on the way. The Guatemalan collectivo is pretty much a van going in one direction, a guy hanging our of the door yelling out the direction headed and people flagging him down for part or whole of the journey... you wait by the side of the road and they will grab you, sling your bags onto the roof rack and away you go. There are no restrictions on numbers however, at best count we had 25 people crammed into the back of a ford econovan!
From Flores we made our way to Tikal where we viewed a sunset across the magic ruins, slept the night at the visitor centre outside in a hammock and then awoke early for the sunrise tour. Although the sky was misty the sight of seeing the sun come up over the ruins was both powerful and tranquil. Tikal ruins are spread throughout dense jungle, and there are monkeys and toucans everywhere, and despite the Lonely Planet warning us of possible murder, probable rape and certain robbery we survived intact feeling richer for the experience.
From there we travelled across Guatemala in 2 bus rides of about 7 hours each, with a stop in a town called Coban along the way for a few days, we got to some more great caving here too, i don´t know how safe they were, we spent most of our time swimming thru the caves, our only source of light, a couple of candles that we had to hold above our head in the deeper stretches and a crazy guide... we saw a massive snake at the entrance too, poisonous apparently, it didnt seem to bother the guide too much as it dissapeared into the water that we were wading thru, but i cried like a little girl for a while....
We are now in Antingua in Guatemala about to go back to school and try and learn some spanish, the town here is amazing, ringed by volcanoes, one of them active, which we will be hiking in a couple of days.
All else is well, we are being safe, and wish all of you were over here enjoying the lovely weather the sites and the cultures with us....
Brett & Carrie
