Guatemala is a little piece of paradise
No Xanax last night. Andy passsed out at 830 and I was right behind him. That was until the discoteque started blaring and played until 2am. Ear plugs couldn't stop the bass from vibrating our beds. The alarm went off at 4 because we were catching the 430 bus to Tikal for the sunrise tour. It wasn't until we were about to walk out the door that I realized it was 315 not 415. OK, I'll go back to sleep for an hour- it didn't work out that way. Downstair and ready to go at 430. We called twice and the dude didn't show up until 530. The bus was packed full and the others weren't too happy that we weren't going to be at Tikal (Tic al- echo city) for sunrise either.
The ride there was pretty uneventful- that was at least until we reached the park. The driver was hauling ass through the park as most Guatemalan drivers do. Well a Brit didn't care for his reckless behavior and told the driver such. The driver didn't appreciate it too much and got back in his face. The two stepped outside the bus and were about to through down until an intervention. No blood was lost and we moved on to the tour.
Twenty of us moved through the gates and started for the first set of ruins. There was a set of pyramids, the one of the east was uncovered and the west was still until lots of trees and fauna. The second stop at the Plaza we were taking pictures and Andy found the infamous Bullet Ant. He blew on it to get it out of the way of our pic and the damn thing charged the camera. After waiting a bit for it to move on we met up with the group to find that some girl in our group sat on one and it stung her ass. She turned out OK- no lymph nodes swelling today.
Along the way to pyramid 4 (the big one) we saw a White-Chested Spiker Monkey, a Coati, lots of orange centipeds, a small tarantula, and lots of army ants. After seeing a bunch of army ants we started walking off and Andy was talking about a bug jumping. As soon as he said jump he jumped up int he air because an ant bit his inner thight. hehe. It was hilar.
We climbed lots of pyramids but #4 was impressive. At 20 stories tall we hiked up to almost the top where we overlooked the jungle. Donaldo (our guide) said they took panoramic shots for Return of the Jedi there. Once I was there I could see why. It was amazing. The humidity created an almost smoking sceen above the green jungle with several pyramids sticking out at the top.
We headed back and I was getting hungry and tired. Along the way we saw a huge any colony (a huge mound of dirt w/ different species of ants working harmoniously) and a huge wasp. I couldn't tell it was a wasp because it was so big but I wasn't about to get closer so I went w/ trusting Andy's knowledge. It was 1130 when we got back and really hot. We only had a snack to eat so far today and water. Starving and thirst we got dos cervesas to relax. The dude took my money for the cervesas and owed me change. He took a bit to come back so I went inside to tell him I would take cookies instead of change. When I was at the cashier I waved down the guy at the window signaling I was going to take the cookies. He nodded his head and the cashier got the message. As I was sitting down eating the cookies the guy who actually took my money gave me my change. Apparently I didn't the 'ol "confuse the non English speaking dude to get free food" trip. It wasn't on purpose, I was just a little out of it from being so tired. I didn't feel back as they took my $25 USD just to get in the park.
We headed out the park (w/o the Brit who started the fight) and the bus dropped us off at El Remante. When we told him where we were going to try to get a room he said "it's only a 5 min walk" and gave us our bags. A 5 min walk is a 1 min drive for you dude. Then we hoofed it in the blazing heat- Andy carrying the 75lb bag he brought w/ all our scuba stuff. Then we see a sign that said "Casa Roja- a 5 min walk". Well let me tell you what- a min 5 walk is like them picking us up at 430- it ain't accurate. We finally found a cheap place to stay for $10. We immediately hoofed it back outside looking for food and a place to jump in the lake because our skin was melting.
Andy decided we go for a scenic tour so we walked out of town into nothing. We headed back, even more hungry, thirty, and tired than before. We immediately went for drinks and food. The hamburger was amazing and so were the chicken empanadas. Now that we had a full belly we headed for the lake. It was only 2 and the water was amazing. So clear and warm- it's just what we needed. Realizing our sunblock wore off we headed back to the room, reapplied, grabbed a liter of Gallo and headed back for the lake. There were only 4 piers in the matter of a mile. It's such a beautiful lake it's hard to believe Guatemala is "so dangerous". The children played around us, the chill dogs came up needed to be pet.
For dinner we ate some pizza which was bomb and another liter of beer. Off to bed at 8 to get up for our 530 bus ride back to Belize. I'm hoping they really pick us up at that time because I need my sleep and I'd hate to miss another hour. Wish us luck at the border crossing tomorrow.