2017 - 2018:  Punta Mita Mexico to Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Jan 5, 2018.  Hotel Posada de la Jungla, Flores, Guatemala 

• 8 hours on a mini bus with passengers from 8 countries aboard (Sweden, Poland, Austria, France, Norway, Ireland, USA, and Mexico).  I was the only yankee aboard.  In fact, I’ve seen very few Norte Americanos these past few months (not counting the cruise ship passengers at Cancún and Mahahual).  My fellow Americans don’t know what they are missing.  When I mentioned to one scuba diver that I was traveling around on local buses, he was shocked.  

• The few hours I spent driving through Belize were strangely unsettling.  Flat, boring scenery; run-down homes and shops; English signs, always somewhat “off”; U.S. companies everywhere.  And Belize City looked just awful.  Not sorry that I didn’t stop.  Most of the other tourists on the bus were headed for Caye Caulker via the Belize City ferry.

• Now sitting at a lakeside restaurant enjoying happy hour mojitos and my first Guatemalan food: bean, bacon, and something else soup.  My hotel is clean and comfortable with a balcony overlooking the Main Street, which has very little traffic (this is a Tiny island!). I’ve booked a 4:30 AM pickup to see the sunrise at Tikal, followed by an 8 PM overnight bus to Guatemala City.  Woo woo, I’m on my way in Guatemala!

Jan 6, 2018.  Bus from Flores to Guatemala City

• Bus to Tikal was 40 minutes late (I was just about to panic; then, after crossing to the mainland, the driver returned to Flores to pick up another couple.  Nonetheless we arrived by at opening time ~6:30, and By not heading directly for the Gran Plaza, I saw no one for the first hour.   It even after several hours at Tikal, it was never really crowded the way Chichén Itzá Or Tulum were.  The stepped pyramids were impossibly steep, and one was the second highest in the Mayan world, but there were few architectural details that stood out.  Perhaps best were the long walks between pyramids through really gorgeous jungle.  Heard a howler monkey, saw a toucan and a little black dog-like creature from a distance.  

• Sign along one of the paths: “Howler monkeys like to defecate on the heads of the people below to show their presence and scream loudly.”

• Back on the island, I spent time with Victor and Anna, from Poland.  She’s quite the traveler- over 100 countries.  He’s her boyfriend for four months now.

• Briefly watched and filmed a procession of giant puppets and young men and women in crazy costumes, singing their hearts out to the accompaniment of a motley brass band.  This marked the start of a week-long fiesta I am told.

• I got on the 8 PM night bus, a really shabby 2nd class affair, no extras, and packed: so much so that the child in her dad’s arms next to me ended up sleeping across my lap.  Victor and Anna were on the 9 PM bus, which was luxurious, and arrived in Guatemala City the same mine did, around 4:30 AM, in a really grubby terminal.