Guatemala - North
From Belize caught a minibus to the border, where I bribed the customs official so I could skip the queue and get my passport stamped without getting my baggage checked.
The next hour was the most painful bus journey every. Another minibus, but the road consisted entirely of potholes, even the potholes had potholes. This did not stop the driver careering on and off the road looking for flattest pothole to travel through. Stressfully, the on coming traffic was also doing the same.
Had a wander round the Mayan ruins of Tikal, but to be honest I was more interested in the wild life. I saw Spider and Howler monkeys in the tree tops and an ant eater chewing his way through an ant nest in a tree stump, plus there were loads of tropical birds. Its well worth visiting with some of the tallest pyramids to date and a great jungle setting, but I've seen enough Mayan ruins.
Caught a local bus to island town of Flores, connected by a causeway across the lake and a good hippy happy hostel. After the pounding my spine took I decided to fly south. The travel agent even gave me a lift on the back of his motorcycle to the nearest town to get some cash. How is that for service?
In the morning caught a three wheel tuk-tuk to the airport to see the antiquated turbo prop plane for my flight to Guatemala City. It came apparent that everyone had been given seat number five, so I felt a little smug as I grabbed the single seat behind the pilot. This offered some incredible views over the jungle and mountains, as we did not gain much height and vehicles below were still clearly visible. I felt a little concern when what looked like smoke started billowing out from under the seats and from the air events. Fortunately it was just water vapour.
Coming into the city meant passing a huge active volcano puffing great guffs of yellow smoke. The capital city was not as scary as I expected , but I did not hang around.
Antigua was also not what I expected. I watched Man U in an English pub, listened to dinner jazz while eating Thai noodles. It's just like a mini European city, with pretty churches and cobbled streets. Pretty safe and surrounded by some impressive volcanoes.
I can not adequately describe the bus journey from Antigua. The buses are old US school buses packed to the rafters with people. I saw a bus over take a truck uphill on a sharp mountain bend, straight into the path of an oncoming truck. To make this impossible maneuver possible the bus runs off the road and under takes the truck. In the space of one hour I saw a bus go into a ditch and a car transporter go up the side of a mountain. Insane.
But the journey is more than worth it for the next destination.
The next hour was the most painful bus journey every. Another minibus, but the road consisted entirely of potholes, even the potholes had potholes. This did not stop the driver careering on and off the road looking for flattest pothole to travel through. Stressfully, the on coming traffic was also doing the same.
Had a wander round the Mayan ruins of Tikal, but to be honest I was more interested in the wild life. I saw Spider and Howler monkeys in the tree tops and an ant eater chewing his way through an ant nest in a tree stump, plus there were loads of tropical birds. Its well worth visiting with some of the tallest pyramids to date and a great jungle setting, but I've seen enough Mayan ruins.
Caught a local bus to island town of Flores, connected by a causeway across the lake and a good hippy happy hostel. After the pounding my spine took I decided to fly south. The travel agent even gave me a lift on the back of his motorcycle to the nearest town to get some cash. How is that for service?
In the morning caught a three wheel tuk-tuk to the airport to see the antiquated turbo prop plane for my flight to Guatemala City. It came apparent that everyone had been given seat number five, so I felt a little smug as I grabbed the single seat behind the pilot. This offered some incredible views over the jungle and mountains, as we did not gain much height and vehicles below were still clearly visible. I felt a little concern when what looked like smoke started billowing out from under the seats and from the air events. Fortunately it was just water vapour.
Coming into the city meant passing a huge active volcano puffing great guffs of yellow smoke. The capital city was not as scary as I expected , but I did not hang around.
Antigua was also not what I expected. I watched Man U in an English pub, listened to dinner jazz while eating Thai noodles. It's just like a mini European city, with pretty churches and cobbled streets. Pretty safe and surrounded by some impressive volcanoes.
I can not adequately describe the bus journey from Antigua. The buses are old US school buses packed to the rafters with people. I saw a bus over take a truck uphill on a sharp mountain bend, straight into the path of an oncoming truck. To make this impossible maneuver possible the bus runs off the road and under takes the truck. In the space of one hour I saw a bus go into a ditch and a car transporter go up the side of a mountain. Insane.
But the journey is more than worth it for the next destination.
posted by Richard at
10:14 pm
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