Vacations in Guatemala are Great Workouts!

:: Day 87 in Guatemala ::


So for the past month or so I have been looking forward to Chris (my sorority sister / line sister / captain) coming to Guatemala. Travelling by yourself in Guatemala is just not really an option - so this week we are taking advantage of having each other as travelling buddies!


:: Cobán ::


Friday morning we caught a 6am bus from Guatemala City to Cobán. No we didn't go on a chicken bus - that would have been awful and dangerous! We paid the extra Q100 to upgrade to Monja Blanca which is more like a Greyhound bus. We both managed to sleep through the first hour or so of the ride, so before we knew it we were stopping for breakfast. It took about 5 hours to get to Cobán. Then it took us about another half hour to figure out where our hotel was. 


We stayed at Casa D´Acuña (a.k.a. Hostal de Acuña). The restaurant at the Hotel was great, and the central courtyard was very pretty (Spanish style of course)! The accommodations were exactly what you can expect at $13 a night for a double room: a bunk bed and small table in a room with one overhead light, a window facing the kitchen sink and washroom, two big creepy spiders, and a shared bathroom in the hallway with motion-sensor lights that turn off if you don't make a big move every 15 seconds. Sounds like I'm complaining - but I'm just telling you what it was.


The trip to Cobán was really just a way to avoid wasting ALL DAY riding a bus to Tikal. So we got there around mid-day. We didn't really anticipate how difficult it would be to get around. We thought we might be able to take a few hours to do some touristy stuff around Cobán. But apparently it takes 45 minutes to get to a place that is five miles away because the roads are small and unpaved. 


So we opted for the closest option: el Balneario Cecilinda y las Grutas de Rey Marcos. The Balneario is like a park with a bunch of little ponds, rivers, waterfalls, and hiking trails. They have picnic tables and hammocks set up all over the place. It looks like a great place to come on a hot summer day - either with the family, or with a group of friends and an ice chest full of beer. 


From there they  have guided tours of las Grutas de Rey Marcos - a set of caves with some beautiful stalagmite and stalactite formations. The caves were just discovered in 1998 after Hurricane Mitch. The opening is a small hole that seems to have a constant wind of cool air coming out. From that small entrance we climbed through a tunnel that sometimes was big enough to stand in, but most of the time required us to crouch down and/or slip through side-ways. At first I was trying to not use my hands because the rocks were kind of slimy - like watery clay. I quickly gave up on that idea when the climb became steeper. As usual I pulled out my camera and took pictures of everyone as they climbed up behind me. I also liked the fact that the flash of my camera would give me a quick glimpse of the cave we were in. There was running water along the bottom of the cave and a constant mist. 


When we got to a big opening at the top of the cave the guide stopped us there. The cave continued onward but the guide said that the climb was more dangerous and there was a place where we'd have to swim for awhile (I want to say 600 meters - but that sounds exaggeratedly long). People have come here to spend a few minutes praying or meditating and some have reported having visions in that cave. So when we stopped he asked us to turn off our lights and take a few minutes to enjoy the silence of the cave. It was really nice and peaceful. Lately when I pray I don't know what to pray for so I just reflect upon the blessings I've had - in this case it includes the incredible experiences I've had in Guatemala. Suddenly I realized how DARK it was in the cave. It was absolutely pitch black. I had thought that I could still see the walls of the cave but when I thought about it I realized that was an optical illusion. I started to look around and freak out a little bit. You couldn't see anything! Not even your hand in front of your face. I tried not to think about it because I immediately started to think about how this has been the setting for plenty of horror movies. Soon enough he asked us to turn our lights back on.


You would think that the trek back would be easier - but you'd be wrong. Now we were climbing down wet and slippery rocks, instead of up. There was a point when I thought maybe it'd be easier to slide down on my butt, but all that did was make things more difficult and get my butt full of clay and water.


We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing - had dinner, a couple beers, and went to bed relatively early because at 5am we were off to Flores, Petén so we could see Tikal. 


:: Flores, Santa Elena, Petén::


The bus ride to Petén was awful. We thought that we'd be better off taking the earliest bus (microbus) possible to get to Flores so that we could at least spend the afternoon in Tikal and hopefully get 2 days of Tikal out of the trip. So we were up at 4:30 waiting for our cab, which was inevitably late. Then waited for the bus which they told us came at 5am and then left as soon as it was full. It came at like 5:30 and was full by 6am. At the first stop there were three girls - two tall blonde Swedish(?) girls and their translator who looked Latina and spoke English with a British accent. The bus driver said that we were full but that they were welcome to get in if they wanted to stand. They of course opted to get in - but rather than standing they insisted on squeezing in with everyone making us go 5 to a seat. I blame them for this horrible ride. I don't think they realized it was a 5-6 hr bus ride. I'll be honest - I did scoot over a little bit - just enough for one of them to squeeze their skinny butts into our seat - not enough for them to get comfortable. We were all uncomfortable now that they were in - so when she asked if I had more room to scoot over - I told her the truth: "No, we are already hip-to-hip." I didn't need to make the last 3 hours of the ride worse than the first 3. We were squished, hungry, sleepy, and hot! 

Our Bus - and you can't even see the back two rows here.

There was a point where we were stuck in traffic in a Saturday morning market. That was probably the worst part of the ride because now there was no air flowing in the van. Also... our van had to cross a river where there was no bridge. Quite interesting watching your van and a big-rig drive onto a little platform/boat and float across to the other side of the river.

I suppose we should be grateful it wasn't 6 hrs in one of these!

When we finally arrived in Santa Elena we immediately took a Tuk Tuk to Flores. We checked in to Hotel Santana. I had looked up all sorts of bus schedules before our whole trip even started. So we thought that there would be shuttles going to Tikal intermittently throughout the day. I was wrong. The only shuttle left at 3:30... arriving in Tikal at about the same time as the LAST shuttle leaving Tikal for the day. Since we weren't able to get a room at one of the three hotels in Tikal - that was not an option. So we had lunch and walked around the small island of Flores. 

As we were walking we were offered a boat tour of Lago Petén Itzá. Our guide was a young guy who said he was from San Jose - which is just across the lake. He was really nice and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the lake and the Mayan Itzá people. He told us that the lake used to be a valley in which the Itzá lived. When the meteorite struck quebro la vena de agua que corre debajo de la tierra y se llenó el lago - it broke the vein of water that runs below the earth (underground river) and the lake filled up. This underground river still provides a natural spring that fills the lake. In some areas you can see where the clear spring water comes up. The natural springs combined with the preservation efforts make this lake very clean - or so he says. He took us to the top of a hill on the Peninsula de Tayazal where we could see 75% of the lake. It was gorgeous! But it was really quite a hike! Both Chris and I were out of breath by the time we got to the Mirador Rey Canek. 

Lago Petén Itzá

That night we took a walk to the central park for dinner, had a few drinks at the local bar and called it a night because (again) we had an early morning the next day. 


:: Tikal ::


Tikal is probably the most famous of the ancient Mayan ruins - although not the largest. The name Tikal means "place of voices". One explanation might be that there is a certain area of the ruins where there is an echo. If you clap - you hear it bounce back off one of the temples. I imagine that if it was quiet out there (you know - without all us noisy tourists) then you'd hear voices echo as well. However, the hieroglyphics indicate that Tikal was originally called Mutal.


Of course, Chris and I agreed that this is not the kind of place where you just take a self-guided walking tour. So we paid for a guide to show us the highlights of Tikal national park. We had the option of taking the English guided tour - or the Spanish guided tour. Considering that (1) the English group consisted of about 30 people, where as the Spanish group had just over 10, and (2) those Swedish girls that I'm still annoyed with were in that English group, I think we made the right choice by opting for the Spanish tour. 


It was a 4-hr walking tour. There is no way to describe it accurately... so this is where I turn to picture blogging:


Not the first stop, but definitely the first big climb on the tour: Templo IV:  Templo de la Serpiente Bicéfala [Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent]. Built in 470 A.D., this temple stands at 65 meters [over 213 feet] making it the tallest in Tikal.

Me & Chris at the Top of el Templo de la Serpiente Bicéfala 

Here our guide is telling us about this tree that grows along another tree wrapping its branches around its trunk and branches until eventually it strangles the tree and kills it. It is known by two names:  (1) El Arbol de Muerte, (2) El Arbol de Amor.   [The Tree of Death, or the Tree of Love]

This is in El Mundo Perdido [The Lost World]. Here we see el Complejo de Conmemoración Astronómica [Complex for Astronomical Commemoration] - which is different from the other temples in Tikal which were built for religious purposes and to commemorate past leaders. And of course, we all know that the Mayan's were incredible astrologers. When you clap, even really lightly, this temple behind us sends an echo back - they think that's why they call this place Tikal "place of voices". El Mundo Perdido is the oldest section of Tikal - dating prior to 500 B.C.

The interesting thing about the typical Mayan temples is that they are solid - not hollow like Egyptian pyramids. The are built in layers. Archaeologists have found that as you go deeper and deeper into the temple you find smaller versions of the temple inside. Here at the corner of el Complejo de Conmemoración Astronómica you can see the inside layers of temples.

The temple behind me is one of the temples of the Gran Plaza or maybe El Templo de la Serpiente Bicéfala. Of course I was too busy running around taking pictures and didn't listen when he told us which one it was.

Below is Templo V, the second tallest at Tikal measuring 59 meters [over 193 feet]. Unlike the other temples that were built in layers - this one solid all the way through - built in one piece. Our guide says that this indicates that there were other influences in the building of this temple. It was probably built at a time when the leaders of Tikal had been overthrown by other  Mayan groups.

So, you see that very tall steep ladder on the left side? The guide told us that we were free to climb to the top - if we thought we'd be able to get back down. You probably can't see me in the picture - but here I'm standing at the top of the temple on the left side of the opening. Everyone I had watched coming down was really freaked out and moving really slowly. I put them all to shame when I climbed back down without any problems.

Behind me is a view of the Acropolis Central.

Here is a panoramic of la Gran Plaza. I'm standing on one of the buildings of the Acropolis Central. To the Right you see the Temple of the Great Jaguar - the most famous of the temples at Tikal. In the Center is the Acropolis del Norte, to the left there is el Templo de las Mascaras [Temple of the Masks].

Templo I: Templo del Gran Jaguar; 700 A.D., 45 meters [over 147 feet] tall.

Huge Mayan head carving at the Acropolis del Norte. It is probably as tall as I am. 

Well.. this by no means does justice to the incredible experience we had at Tikal. If you ever make it to Guatemala - either pay for a flight or just put up with an overnight bus ride to Tikal. It is absolutely worth it. We also saw birds, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, anteaters, a crocodile, some small snakes and some wild turkeys running around Tikal. I have tons more pictures, but they can't all go in the blog. Next time, because I hope there is a next time, I want to camp out in Tikal - yes I do mean pitch a tent and sleep outdoors. 


So, that's all folks. Sunday night we took the overnight bus. We were exhausted enough to sleep the whole way. Next up: Antigua for Semana Santa. 


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Date: Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Days in Guatemala: 87

Date of Return to Los Angeles: May 4, 2011 [15 Days!!]

Date of Return to Boston: May 18, 2011

Barbri Bar Prep Start Date: May 19, 2011

Graduation Date: May 27, 2011

California Bar Exam: July 26-28, 2011