Viva Latin America!

After San Ignacio it was time to get some culture and we headed for Tikal, Guatemala. We thought it seemed eminently plausible to get from San Ignacio to Tikal, spend the day there, then catch the overnight to Flores.

Our first problem was that getting over the Belize/Guatemala border isn’t all that easy, and the bus we were hoping to catch on the Guatemalan side seemed very elusive. However, as luck was on our side and we met a very friendly Canadian lady travelling on her own with a whole taxi to spare who invited us along for the ride – a complete life saver as who knows how long we would have been waiting otherwise. So unfortunately I’ve not got much advice except to say that getting a bus from San Ignacio to the border is very easy, and getting one after you have crossed the border is a little harder – we just didn’t want to pay the exorbitant prices being asked by tour companies, although this seems to be the only option. If anyone has any further info on bus times it would be useful!

We arrived at Tikal about 11am, having decided to forgo the sunrise option. Tikal is everything I had hoped for: A wonderfully mystic maze of temples created by the Mayans with architecture dating back as far as the 4^th century BC. We had a fantastic time getting lost and finding ourselves at the bottom of monumental temples. Whenever I look around places like these I am amazed at how much was achieved with manpower alone.

We opted for using a guidebook we picked up along the way rather than getting a guide but there are plenty available at the entrance if you want a more inclusive tour of the area.

Climbing to the top of some of the temples is slightly gruelling in the temperatures but the views across the jungle are amazing with just the tops of distant temples poking through the canopy.

Once in a while we found ourselves in the middle of a ruin on our own, with only background noise of birds, and I could almost imagine the Mayans going about their everyday life.

After a good exploration of the site we headed back to book ourselves onto one of the mini-buses that do regular runs into the nearby town of Flores. This is not a tour bus and as such stops along the way to pick up locals. Once in Flores we headed for the bus company we were hoping to use for that night’s journey, reportedly a cut above the rest. Disaster struck when we were told they had sold out! So in my very poor Spanish I asked to be put on a waiting list and we checked our other options. I did find another company with spaces, so at least we had a back-up but I wasn’t too keen to spend all night on their bus, but beggars can’t be choosers – or can they! We headed out for a tasty spot of dinner in Santa Elena and feeling uninspired eventually ate at Burger King. After this we returned to the bus station to find out our fate. And praise the gods – due to popular demand they decided to put on another bus to Guatemala City going that night. It wasn’t the luxury bus we were hoping for but was a definite cut above the alternative.

In summary Tikal is definitely worth a visit but I would probably recommend trying to accomplish the trip from San Ignacio over the border and a visit to Tikal over two days. This will ensure you have time to book a night bus to Guatemala if you need to and time to enjoy the amazing atmosphere of Tikal.

Alice Bevan