I'm going to say right up front, I couldn't find it within myself to be amusing today. Some may claim that to be situation normal, but I do try to keep the text light where possible. In this case, this is more of a traditional, informative, blog entry. I think I need to be sent to bed early, possibly without pudding, and not try and talk to anyone until I've had a good hard look at my tired behaviour.
As much as I enjoyed my business class bus experience, after 4500 miles, I’m beginning to get to the end of my bus tether. Arriving bleary eyed in a strange town and having your pack thrown at you by a willing but somewhat task focused scabby local does little to improve a somewhat fragile patience.
After walking aimlessly around the jungle town of Flores for a bit, I decided I’d muster one last faint smile and find a place to collapse, possibly permanently. An hour and 13 fully booked hotels later, I finally found a place with a room and at £10p.n. You may be able to imagine the standard. There is actually one decent hotel in town, a Ramada would you believe, but they were fully booked - it was the first place I tried. Still, I was beginning to think I’d not find anywhere at all, so I shouldn’t complain about my little hovel for a couple of nights. Besides, there’s a little American cafe around the corner that does a decent breakfast and a surprisingly good cup of tea.
Flores is pretty much in the middle of jungle nowhere. It’s hot, sticky, isolated, and a bumpy 400km from where I began my bus trip. I’m here for two reasons. Firstly because it’s one of the few gateways to Belize, my final destination. Although there is a massive border between Guatemala and Belize, it’s mostly impenetrable jungle and I have learnt that it’s generally easier to cross borders with all your paperwork intact. Secondly, and the real reason why Flores is on the tourist trail is its proximity to Tikal. I’ll come back to Tikal separately, but in short it’s the granddaddy of all ancient ruins in the America’s, bar none. Chichin Itza gets all the headlines because it is close to Cancun, but it pales by comparison to Tikal - apparently - well hopefully we’ll see, won’t we!
Guatemala City bus station. Stab proof armour for the vulnerable citizen on a budget.
Guatemala City cops on scrambler bikes. They appeared in periodically x2 per bike and x6 bikes at a time, machine pistols held aloft. I guess it's a pretty effective fast response unit for a cash strapped service. They looked very menacing to me anyway.
I disagree with sweet waffles on a savoury breakfast on a fundamental level. That said, I decided to forgive the sin of of maple syrup and sausages on the same plate because the sugar rush had a much needed calming effect on me. ...It's still wrong though. Let's just be clear about that.
Soon be time to come home!
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