Tikal Trip Cont.

Pardon the post delay! I had a busy week filled with family visits in the communities, a bike purchase, and (very unfortunately) I was STILL removing my bed critters. I just moved into a new apartment with Bryan, my old coworker who joined me in Tikal, and three other Guatemalans. After three washes, a doctors appointment, one fumigation session, my own spray down with a store bought leave-me-alone-bugs spray, a move and almost $200 spent, I truly truly truly hope this story comes to an end.

The first night I slept in the new house, and I woke up with bites that I didn't remember from before. The nights after, I have tucked my shirt into my pants, my pants into my socks so they couldn't bite, and I have not had any problems. I'm hoping I am being paranoid. If not, I am just screwed. On behalf of my readers who probably don't want to keep hearing stories about bugs in my room, I will kindly ask them to get moving so I can share more exciting and pleasant stories. If you have been in a similar situation, please let me know what you did to save your skin. I would like by next week not to look like I have some sort of skin disease.

On a happier note, and before I continue with my Tikal story, I would like to give a big thank you to Mr. Peter Deisinger who bought my beautiful bike Betty in Madison. It is with your help (ehem, cash) that I could buy Betty's successor: Bob, yet another cheap, used bike. Although Bob lacks Betty's style and is definitely her less equal successor, he sort of works. The gears are slightly broken. But hey, you can't ask much from a bike that costs less than $50. Bob and I just went for our first ride on Saturday and I think we will share many more lovely sunny days together.

Ok, now back to Tikal...

After our sketchy ride from the policemen, we went searching for the hotel with the cheapest accommodation. Tikal has only three hotels, so they can jack up the prices as they wish. We stayed in a tent that costs $10 a night, per person. That may not sound extreme, but when you think about how much we spent on an overnight 10 hour bus ride ($18.75), you realize how expensive that actually is in terms of Guatemalan prices. It was good we were exhausted because the heat and somewhat comfortable air mattress did not stop us from passing out right away. Unfortunately for our sleepy bodies, we woke up at 4 in the morning to watch the sunrise from the tallest pyramid.

Our alarm went off and I was warmly greeted by a pounding headache and a talking stomach. We had bought snacks the night before, but couldn’t get sandwiches because everything was closed by the time we realized we should get food for the next day. We clearly did not plan well as we also forgot to bring a flashlight, a necessity when you are going for a walk in the middle of the night in a place where street lights are about 17km away. Luckily, we could not enter without a guide that early in the morning, so we relied on another group's flashlights.

We walked in complete darkness, only able to see a few feet ahead. I asked the guide why we consider the Mayans one tribe when today there are many Mayan dialects throughout Guatemala. He gave me a very brief overview of the history, explaining the Mayans split into many different tribes to what have now become the various dialects. In his extremely brief version of the history, first came the Olmecs, then the Mayans, then the Aztecs. He said he would explain more later, so I didn't ask why they are still called Mayan communities when the Aztecs lived after them. However, I didn't realize we would later not be part of the group since we didn't pay for a guide--we just had to enter with one at four in the morning.

We climbed to the top of the tallest pyramid via a staircase, which was somewhat anti-climatic. I expected to walk up the actual pyramid, but I don't think it is even possible since part of it is still covered by the ground.

At the top, everyone sat silently, looking ahead into the dark emptiness. Any sound was abruptly shushed. Sitting in silence in the dark probably does not sound like the time of your life, but it actually was really incredible. You could hear the jungle wake up all around you as the gorillas roared their morning wake-up call and birds chirped and flapped their wings not far from where we sat. The gorillas and monkeys sounded incredible and their voices echoed throughout the jungle.

With the sun, the fog slowly rose, and our view evolved from pitch black to dimly lit fog covering blurred out trees to the entire jungle ahead of us. Sometime in, our tour guide pointed out one of the visible pyramids directly ahead of us in the distance. Little by little, more of the pyramids became visible as the fog lifted and the sun came out. When the view was clear, you could see the expansive jungle that looked like it never ended.

Our different morning views of the Jungle at Tikal

Bryan and I split up with the tour group and hiked the pyramids. Although our only educational guide was our tour book that gave us limited information, I think it was better we went on our own because we were able to hike all the pyramids we wanted and go at our own drowsy pace. I was happy that the other pyramids did not have a staircase that led to the top so we climbed the pyramid that was actually built thousands of years ago. One of the pyramids had a rope in front with a sign advising us not to pass, but an American guy told us to go up when no one was around. He climbed it the night before to watch the stars come out and he said it was worth it. He was definitely right. The view from the top was better than even the tallest one. You had a perfect 360-degree view of all the pyramids around.

Up to no good and climbing the forbidden pyramid. Shh... we were never there.

One of the pyramids was basically at a 90-degree angle with a ladder to climb to the top that was just as steep. I am usually not so scared of heights, but looking down from the top made my stomach drop. I made sure to keep as far from the edge as possible. Climbing back down was worse than going up.

The steep ladder to the top.

I smile for the camera as I carefully make my way down.

It’s such a cliche to say, but I’m going to go ahead and say it: I can’t even imagine how the pyramids could have been built at that time. I know it’s what everyone thinks and says, but really, how can you not wonder. That feeling is completely intensified when you see them tower over the jungle’s tree line in person.

A Tikal pyramid in all its glory.

By 11, we were beat. We toured all the pyramids, except the furtherest one that the tour book said did not compare to the rest. We ate lunch from a food stand, a much cheaper alternative to the overpriced restaurants. We were like zombies, and definitely needed to pack our body with more calories for some energy. As we enjoyed our desert of a cut open coconut, a tour guide approached us to sell us tickets to the zip-line. We calculated that if we went, we would have no money for the bus, but we decided to go and use a debit card or take out from the ATM later.

We went in the afternoon, which was not the smartest idea since it’s rain season and rains every afternoon. In route to the zip line, it began to downpour. The rain continued when we arrived, but stopped a half hour later. It didn’t cause any problem, but the monkeys all went to hide from the rain. The guide said you usually don’t see them, but you can usually hear them while zooming through the zip line. The monkeys started to come out on one of our last lines.

Bryan and I both had an awkward start. We stopped ourselves much earlier than necessary and needed to pull ourselves part of the way to the next platform, but after some time we got the hang of it. Our instructors showed us how to go upside down, but when I needed to pull myself up to stop myself, I lost balance and helplessly flopped around. On the longest line, we both went with an instructor so we could go face forward, “like superman!” This was my favorite because we had a great view looking straight down at the jungle.

Our next stop was El Remate, a city we passed on the way to Tikal that is right on the lake. This time, we easily got a free ride just as we left the zip line area. It was the first of several problem-free hitched rides for the rest of the weekend, a welcome change to the extreme difficulty we had the day before.

El Remate is a tranquil town, with little activity. We walked around after arriving in search of food. We saw more foreigners than I had expected in such a small town, but because it is on the way to Tikal I can see why we had so many gringo spottings. By the way, the term gringo here is not used offensively. It has pure descriptive purposes, so don’t be offended!

We ended up at a comedor, a restaurant that has typical Guatemalan food at an economical price. It is not abnormal that a comedor is located at a family’s house, and this one was no different. However, we did not expect our food to be prepared at homestyle speed. The lady did not have anything pre-made as most restaurants and comedors do. She cooked everything the moment after we ordered, so we waited about an hour for our food. The huge portions made up for the wait.

The next day we rented bikes and followed the main road toward the Belize border. The bikes were $7.50 for half the day, so you can imagine the shape they were in. The gears did not work, which at first was not a problem on the flat terrain. However, my body got a hard wake-up call when we hit a hilly area. With my bike on a high gear, I couldn’t make it, and I had to walk up the second half of the first hill. I know a good workman never blames his tools, but I am not a good workman. My weak, unworked-out legs were as much to blame as the old broken bike. Bryan and I switched bikes since his was on a lower gear. Although it was easier going up the hills, the bike was too high and I had trouble reaching the pedals, so we switched back soon after.

The easy flat terrain was a good warm-up before reaching the monster hills.

After a good ass-whipping from the hills, it was time to head back toward a small lake we had passed earlier. We went for a swim to cool off our sweaty bodies and then it was back to the road. After some time on the road, we were ready to eat, but there was no food in sight. We stopped at the side of the road for a coconut that young boys were selling in front of their house. They told us if we wanted to eat at a restaurant we would have to turn back around or bike another 30 minutes in the direction we were going. Interested in seeing what was further, we kept going and kept an eye out for a place to stop and eat.

A quick cool down in this small lake was warmly welcome after biking the hills.

Before we could find any food, Bryan’s bicycle pedal fell off. He said he could somehow attach it and keep going. I trusted his creative abilities and went ahead, but I was stopped by a couple on a motorcycle that told me he was stranded. I turned around and found Bryan continually attempting to cycle as his pedal fell out after a few seconds. With no other choice, we had to hitch a ride back to El Remate. We ended our day with a swim in the lake, and then it was time to go back home.

Bryan enjoyed a late afternoon swim before going back to Antigua.

I would like to say our way back to Antigua was uneventful and carefree. I would have loved to write about a comfortable bus ride in which I passed out and rested well, but we had no such luck. Like the great savers we are, we decided to go for the cheapest bus ride. It was 40 queztales cheaper than the bus we took to get to Flores, which sounds like a lot, but that equals $5.

As we ate dinner, a nice coach bus passed by, and Bryan said, “Take a look at luxury, because it is the last time we will be seeing it tonight.” We did not know how opposite of luxury we would be getting ourselves into. The bus was an old tattered wreck. It was basically the coach bus equivalent to a chicken bus. To make matters even worse, we had the most uncomfortable seats on the bus--all the way in the back with no reclining seats. The chair in front of mine was broken and leaned at an angle, so I had no leg room whatsoever.

We were hysterically laughing at first. The situation was just so ridiculous there was nothing else to do. Our laughter stopped as soon as the bus started moving. The seat in front of me jiggled and constantly hit my knee. Plus, the driver was an absolute lunatic and drove extremely fast on very curvy roads. I cringed anytime oncoming traffic came our way because I was sure we would hit something. I couldn’t stay in place and struggled between not swaying into the seat next to mine and finding a comfortable position for my legs.

A seat opened up three hours into the drive, and I moved to leg space and relative comfort. Unfortunately the man next to me decided he needed more room and took up almost half my seat. I tried to forcefully push him off. I poked him, shoved him, nudged him, but he slept soundly. Finally, he woke up and I told him I couldn’t sleep because he was in my seat and I had no space. “Me?” He replied. No, the man sitting completely on the other side of the bus, I wanted to scream, who else but you! If there is one thing that gets on my nerves is stupid questions, and he decided to push my buttons even more. “Are you tired?” What do you think, sir???? I’m on the bus ride from hell with a man next to me that is determined to push his way into my personal seat, making me extremely uncomfortable and in no way able to sleep. “Yes,” I said. “I am very tired.”

I did finally get some sleep, but I was in no way well rested. Note to self: never take a bus that is $5 cheaper for an eight-hour ride. In Guatemala, $5 goes a LONG way.