Touring Tikal...

Having spent our first two weeks of travelling chilling on Belizean beaches, I welcomed the change in pace brought about by moving onto Guatemala - there's only so much sunbathing and swimming you can do before wanting something more, hard to believe I know. Belize was a beautiful experience but I was ready to say goodbye.Not only did Belize have stunning scenery on offer but also paved roads and relatively reliable transport - a welcome change from Honduras. However, as soon as we crossed the border, this changed and I felt oddly at home, driving along the rugged rocky roads looking out across farms and hillsides which reminded me of Candelaria. The only bump in the road (ahahahaha) was when we had to pull over at a random farm to change the busted tire and I regretfully ate all the Swiss chocolate I had stocked up on in Placencia in one bored sitting. As we got closer to our destination of Flores, things changed and the roads straightened out and became lined with restaurant chains, and before we knew it we were crossing the bridge to little rustic town.

Flores is a small town in northern Guatemala and is an island on Lake Petén Itzá, only linked to the mainland by a causeway to the town of Santa Elena. It is beautiful, with a big white church located right in the middle at the top of the island, surrounded by twisting side streets of colourful cafes and a walkway which wraps itself all the way around the island. We arrived late at night, so the town was lit up by fairy lights and an enormous glittering Christmas tree was placed next to the Church, leaving us feeling festive for the first time so far this year (it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when inconstant sunshine and 37 degree heat everyday). After weaving our way through the back streets to our hostel Los Amigos, we dumped out bags in our dorm room and quickly headed out to find food as we were starving. There were so many options to choose from, and the food was so cheap in comparison to Belize so it was hard to decide but we landed on a taco stand as you just can't go wrong with tacos, can you. Then, after planning on an early night, we discovered that the hostel had a secret night lounge so you can guess where Esther and I spent the rest of the night :))

It was only the next morning in the light that we could truly appreciate how amazing the hostel was. It is full of big, open spaces and social areas where you can relax on Moroccan style sofa seats, while still feeling as though you are in the fresh air with the tall ceilings and forest-like canopy hung above your head. The food was great as well, and while eating our very late breakfast/possibly-even-too-late-to-call-it-lunch lunch, we were joined by the hostel rabbit (which is the biggest bunny I have ever seen) and the tiny chicken bird thing which wanders around in the awkward, slightly erratic way chickens do, cute nonetheless.

Our weird little twig-legged friend

Early evening came about way too soon, so before we lost the sun, we ventured out into the town and wandered in and out of the little tourist shops. Each and every one of them is full to the brim with little trinkets and multi-coloured hand-made Mayan-design rugs, unique shoulder bags and traditional Huipils. Huipils are tunic like pieces of clothing worn by the indigenous women of Central America and are usually heavily embroidered with bright flowers around the neckline and ribbons at the seams. The detail that goes into making these garments, along with almost everything else in the little stores, is breathtaking - the time and effort that goes into every little thing is incredible. We stumbled upon a small indoors market hidden away by the lakeside where we went a bit mad buying earrings, and this is where i bought my mum a chunk of turquoise. Like jade, turquoise can be found all throughout Central America and the different cultures as these two stones are believed to possess healing and protective properties. Pretty cool :))

The main reason we were visiting Flores was because it is known as a gateway to the nearby Maya ruins of Tikal. After speaking to some people at the hostel who had just returned from Tikal, we decided to sign up to the sunset tour rather than the sunrise as recently Tikal has been very misty in the mornings so people haven't been able to see much at all. I have to admit, I knew very very little about the Maya citadel before we went, so I was glad we had a tour as our tour guide was absolutely wonderful and knew everything there is to know about the ruins.

Throughout the day, our tour talked to us about wildlife found in the park to the ruin's alignment with the stars to Maya beliefs to the variety of plants with healing properties and more. It is said that Tikal was discovered, so to speak, in 1848, and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city of Tikal occupied about 16km2 with more than 3,000 structures yet the Tikal National Park and the preserved area covers 570km2, which I just can't even begin to comprehend. Within the park are hundreds, possibly even thousands, more Maya ruins under mounds of earth and foliage that have yet to be discovered but due to a lack of time and funding, they will most likely remain a secret forever. It sounds sad, but I quite like the fact that we will never know all the secrets about the Maya civilisation, keeping it just out of our reach and remaining a mystery....

(One of the many uncovered ruins - may just seem like a mound of earth but who knows what could actually be underneath)

Upon entering the park, we almost immediately came to a halt at the base of an enormous Ceiba tree, known to the Mayans as 'First tree' and 'Green Tree'; the Tree of Life which symbolised the universe. They believed that this tree signified a route of communication between the three levels of earth; while the roots reach down into the underworld, the trunk represents the middle world where we live and the canopy of branches is the upper world. This led onto a discussion about the importance of numbers in the Maya culture. For example, not only did the number 13 represent the thirteen levels of Maya heaven where the sacred lords ruled the Earth, but also to the major joints in the human body where disease and illness supposedly enter and attack as well as well as the 13 lunar cycles in a year. Throughout the day links between the Maya world and astronomy became ever more obvious. While I knew that the stars and the sky have been mentioned in the texts of numerous different ancient cultures and civilisations, I hadn't realised how much the Maya customs and traditions revolved around it. Maya astronomers were geniuses and their knowledge of varying constellations along with the calculation of Venus’ precise orbit around the sun was incredible. They combined what they knew with the skills of Maya mathematicians to decide how to position the enormous stones and temples in alignment with the stars and in an East-West direction to mimic the path of the sun.

Crazy - I still can't get my head around it all. I could go on and on about the amazing things I learnt that day but I'll give it a break for now and move onto what we did next which was have lunch in the Great Plaza, looking out at Temple 1 (Temple of the Jaguar pictured above and below) - which is one of the most famous ones in the park - while surrounded by little red Coatis, cat-sized raccoon like animals which run rampant around the ruins. Very cute, but very confident so be warned, their cocky little so and so's...

(Struggling with the giant Maya steps as per usual, I only have little legs okay)

The sunset that we watched that evening was something else altogether. Earlier we had climbed the 65m high Temple IV, thighs burning by the end, from where you can look out over the Guatemalan jungle and spot other temples poking out over the top. However the sun had started to set so we rushed down the wooden stair case and headed to another temple to watch the sun set and boy was it stunning. The park keepers ensured that everyone sat in silence so we could really appreciate the moment; as the sun fell, all that could be heard were distant howler monkeys and the odd squawk from a passing pair of parakeets, along with a cacophony of croaking crickets which only got louder the darker the sky became. Truly one of the best parts of the trip so far :))

Tikal was magical - we enjoyed exploring it so much that we decided to return for a second time the next day where we could go at our own speed and wander around, discovering the lesser known temples and hidden structures, which was definitely worth it. I'm still annoyed that we didn't see a wild toucan, but the fact that Esther made a fool of herself by flapping around in attempt to communicate with the billed bird in front of a park ranger kinda makes up for it :))) Also side note, if you want to enter a secret temple tunnel, check for bats first or else you will get the fright of your life when you are all of a sudden bombarded by little furry flying bodies :)))))

Click the arrow on the right side of the photo to see the little series of the Spider monkeys we met along the way :))

(the Howler monkeys were a little more elusive but you could always hear them shrieking not far away. Fun fact: Jurassic Park used the Howler monkeys' screams for the T-Rex roars)

After conquering Tikal, we spent the evening packing up our things and getting ready to leave the next day, although I felt pretty incapacitated as those old Maya staircases had killed my legs so it was early to bed for meee. The next morning, we said our goodbyes to the hostel chicken and wererabbit and got in a shuttle bus headed to Semuc Champey.

Travel fashun baby xxxxx