Tikal, Flores, Antigua, Guatemala

We crossed the border into Guatemala and started on a bumpy but not impassable road to Tikal. Before hitting the ancient ruins in Tikal, we spent a night in Flores a colonial island town not far from Tikal. Apart from Alex getting an electric shock from the shower our stay in Flores was comfortable and relaxing. When we hit Tikal we were refreshed and ready to see everything. We set up camp in the national park where the ancient city is located. The heat was unbearable as we were setting up camp and luckily a cold change came through before we went into look at the ruins. On our way into the ruins we saw spider monkeys and ant bears but thankfully, none of the wild cats or snakes, that do live in the park. The ruins were the most spectacular we have seen so far, and we sat in the ancient squares looking at these incredible buildings against a stormy grey sky wondering what the ancient Mayan lives´ were like. Tikal was one of the major cities at the time and the site is one of the largest Mayan ruins. We camped the night in the rain, which was more cheerful than it sounds considering the relentless heat of recent days. The next morning we finished exploring the ruins and found a huge ancient sky scraper. We ventured to climb the slippery ladder that took us to the top of the pyramid in the mist above the rainforest ceiling of tree tops where there were brids flying by, we looked over the whole city of ancient ruins emerging from the thick jungle. We wondered how many lives were lost building this steep enormous pyramid (pictures to follow).

We spent Easter in Flores and watched the locals spend hours creating beautiful elaborate pictures out of coloured sawdust and flowers on the roads. The humour and spirit of the people was incredible considering what the Guatemalan people have suffered in recent decades. An easter parade walked through the streets over the sawdust works of art in the evening and finished at the church. A peaceful and memorable Easter.

Next we headed to Antigua and planned to stop at Semuc Champey, a beautiful area of natural swimming holes and limestone. This journey was our toughest yet, we thought we had seen bad roads but we had experienced nothing like this. We ended up on a bumpy track carved into the edge of a mountain range that went on and on and on. The ¨road¨ did not have enough space for more than one vehicle so everytime a truck came the other way we had to wriggle our bike over to the side of the road to let them pass. The altitude of the road was increasing and it was a long way down. We were passing through what seemed like an endless mountain range where a few tiny villages without electricity or running water were the only signs of life. Locals looked at us like we were aliens and we were getting used to seeing people stop in their tracks and stare at us open mouthed. We were quite inadvertantly very much off the tourist trail. We were both wondering how we ended up here, we swore we would never do it this tough, but we were there, the real deal adventure motorcylcing, a little more than we bargained for. Our adrenalin was pumping and Alex drove incredibly well, his concentration was unwavering for the whole six hour ordeal, the bike did not fall once. Drenched in sweat and faint we finally made our way out of this nightmare by dusk when in the distance could it be a glimmer of sealed road, ashphalt never looked so sweet. We found a small town near Coban and stayed in the only hotel and enjoyed two days of sleep and rest.

Next we made it to Antigua and found that even this 100km journey on a sealed road took a whole day. We rode through a thick fog that was almost a white out, luckily that was only brief and we made into clear skys by the afternoon and hit Antigua by five. Antigua is every bit as beautiful as it promised to be. A gorgeous historic village surrounded by volcanoes.

Next stop? we aren´t too sure Lake Atitlan, Guatemala or perhaps we will head into El Salvador.