Teaming up with a couple of girls, the border crossing from San Ignacio, Belize to Flores, Guatemala was fairly straightforward, although we forgot all the research and planning as the hawkers at the border zoomed in on us to change money and offer taxi rides. On the other side the English speaking comfort was gone and I couldn’t remember how or where to get the colectivo bus from. So the 3 of us were ushered into a taxi at 100Q each ($18NZD) and promised to be taken directly to our hostel. With a quick stop at an ATM we were soon speeding along the windy roads to Flores which would be our base to spend a couple of days and explore.

Flores is a small island on Lake Petén Itzá, linked by a causeway to the town of Santa Elena and you can walk the outer ring road in about 15 minutes. It has narrow cobbled roads with colourful colonial buildings. We enjoyed exploring before torrential rain saw us retreat to our hotel and the weather caused the power to go out for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Without any internet to do any research we popped into a tour agency to enquire the best way to experience Tikal. Tikal is an ancient Mayan city scattered throughout lush rain forests in Northern Guatemala.

They offered a special sunrise tour which would require us to be picked up at 3:00am but we opted for something a little later…but only a tiny bit later at 4:30am, a bus and guide that would have us at the park right on opening time when the park was the quietest with people but potentially busy with wildlife.

Deeeespaaaaciiiito….rings out of my phone (my current alarm song) at 4:00am and we groggily get up and organised for our pickup. We wait out on the street at 4:30am and finally get picked up a tardy 45 minutes later. Still we arrived at the gates before the park opened and had a small wait until we could buy a ticket and go through with our guide. For all the ruins so far I have just explored by myself so it was interesting to get some proper details and perspective about the structures and the Mayan way of life.

We were back in Flores just after lunch and had a quiet afternoon. Mentally preparing for another early start the next day and a 9 hour bus journey onward to Semuc Champey. Another lie about what time we needed to be ready, this time with a wait of 1 hour, we were finally picked up in a coaster (bigger than a van but smaller than a bus) and on our way to Lanquín.

We thanked the Tikal gods for only 6 people in the coaster therefore allowing us to have a row each and lie down and read, watch Netflix, and sleep as the coaster bumped along the dusty roads. With a few toilet and snack breaks along the way we began to think this was too good to be true. As the driver pulled into a local bus stop in Cobán still 2 hours from our destination of Lanquín and told us to get out, we realised our comfort and space was over. We had to wait another 45 minutes to 1 hour for the colectivo to be full before we carried onward to Lanquín. And by full I mean completely utterly full like cannot even move, surely no more people can fit in yet another 10 people at least get in. The rows should fit 5 across however in broken English the driver explained more people had to sit there and on each row another 3 people were squashed in. Our backpacks were loaded onto the top of the van and just as we thought we were about to be on our way a couple of men show up with a huge 3 door dressing cabinet that was levered onto the top. We all look at each other as we all know that the roads from here are meant to be brutal with long, windy, bumpy, dirt roads. Finally with already pins and needles in my legs we are on our way. It was hot but having the windows open wasn’t ideal either as the dust would fly in as the crazy driver took the turns at speed.

After many stops we arrive in Lanquín with men from local hostels almost climbing in the windows asking where we were staying and if we needed a ride. We had already decided to stay out of Lanquín and closer to Semuc Champey at Greengo’s Hostel which was still another hour away so we definitely needed the ride. Loaded into the back of small truck the journey continues along another bumpy road and now it’s almost in the dark. Just over an hour later we finally arrive and realise people were not exaggerating when they said that it is a mission to get to Semuc Champey. We were looking forward to seeing if it was all worth it tomorrow.

We decided to have a chill day around the hostel and join the group adventure from the hostel the following day which also included caving and tubing down the river. In the middle of nowhere the Wifi was surprisingly good but only went until 2pm so I got some writing done and then we went for a walk through the corn fields to find some other waterfalls called Ch’i Bocol.

Some clouds started rolling in and soon we were scurrying back along the dirt tracks slipping and sliding in the torrential rain. It reminded me a lot of some work I used to do in the corn fields where the mud would cake onto your feet making it even harder to walk. A local family spotted us and came to watch/laugh at us) as we clambered down a ridge but we safely made it back with no injuries. We were thankful for a hot shower at the end of this.

Kicking off the next day we were off to marvel at the major draw card for this area, the natural turquoise pools on the Cahabón River.

Keen to get into that water we continued back down and relaxed river side for a couple of hours.

We returned back to the hostel for lunch and a quick break before the next activity -caving. Compared to my last caving experience in Belize we were only given a small candle to help light the way, no other safety equipment at all. We had to fit through some very small gaps, climb ladders, and try and keep the candle above the water. I even had the chance to jump into a small black hole about 1.5m, the young guide warned I had to jump specifically where he said otherwise the rocks will hurt. It was such a fun experience but still not the end of the fun adrenaline inducing adventures. Next up was a massive tarzan swing into the fast flowing river and then climbing up a rock face to jump off the side of the cliff (probably one of the biggest jumps I’ve done). Lastly we finished with tubing back down the river. A more relaxed activity but I’m sure my lips were turning blue as the sun wasn’t shining and I had been pretty much swimming all day. Just when I thought we were almost at the end a young local guy does a flying jump into the river into his tube with a small chilly bin full of cold beer and throws us one each and shouts ‘my name is Mario remember it, pay at the end!’ Nothing like a cold beer when you’re freezing.

Getting out of the water further down the river a couple of local girls, one called Mary with perfect English and carrying a Harry Potter book said Mario was her brother and we had to pay her the 15Q ($2NZD). I explained my money was back at the hostel and she insisted she would walk back with us, no problem. She also had some homemade chocolate for 5Q that I just couldn’t resist.

An action packed day and yet another early morning shuttle the next day saw me crashing out pretty early, deciding to get going towards Antigua. This time a pickup at 6:30am and a small wait in Lanquín for people from other hostels and then we were on our way. I shotgunned the front seat as didn’t want one of those fold out seats for the 11 hour journey.

I passed the time on the journey with more Netflix but for majority of the time I just put my headphones on and watched the stunning scenery pass by. So interesting. We safely arrived in Antigua at about 5pm.