Sunrise in Tikal

As We Finally Leave The BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OF GUATEMALA, We Leave you With:
ERIN and ALYECE'S 'TOP 10' of Guatemala:

1. A Scooter is a vehicle that frequently holds entire families of 4,5 or 6. (including babies).

2. Sinks are optional. We say this after working in a bar, where neither the bathroom nor the kitchen had a sink (and the cook had to go through somebody's house to use one.)

3. Both toilet paper AND toilet seats are optional. (Pretty much assuming this is true for all of Central America)

4. When they tell you to be ten minutes early for your bus, what they really mean is they will likely be an hour to two hours late, and there will likely be double the capacity of the bus on the bus (and you will likely end up with a large Guatemalan man sweating or sleeping on you).

5. Going for a run means being willing to have every person, scooter, vehicle and bus, honk, whistle, yell or laugh at you as if you're something they've never seen before.

6. Rules of the road - of any sort - don't apply anywhere in Guatemala. EXAMPLE: Where in Canada a large moving vehicle would slow down or stop for people or animals in the road, vehicles here step on the gas and hold down the horn.

7. During the months of September and October you are likely to hear more Hebrew than Spanish.

8. That no matter how small a village there is still about one tienda (corner store) to every 2 people: and on and in each tienda (and everywhere for that matter) the cell phone brand "TIGO" (usually with the slogan "CON TIGO" meaning "WITH YOU" has plastered itself over absolutely everything in bright blue paint and white writing) We're pretty sure you could read it off the rooftops from an airplane.

9. Drinks are served after food. At pretty much ever restaurant it is likely you will already be finished your meal and have to kindly remind your waiter that you would like your drink.

10. THE Abundance of LUSH LUSH VEGETATION and Plethora of COLORS.

Alyece Says:

Que Pasa?!
So with our final two days in Antigua (we promise this time) Erin and I settled into a cute little hotel in town; I mean, it was no "El Chillout," but there is something to be said for the presence of toilet paper in the bathrooms, so it sufficed. When we went for a dinner on Saturday, Erin finally had her chocolate birthday cake - she's worm free I'm pleased to report.

Our friends Miles and James, who we vegged out with at the lake, came back to Antigua early to join us for a last hurrah before we all parted ways. Erin, Miles, and I visited the local McDonald's, which appeared fairly standard at first, until we ventured into the back to see the outdoor patio and found one of the prettiest courtyards in Antigua, equipped with gardens, cobblestone pathways, brickwork, and Ronald
McDonald; apparently Canada is cheaping out on the fast-food scene.In the evening, the four of us hit up one of the local bars, La Sala, where another friend of ours from school, Meghan from Kentucky, works as a bartender. Almost all of the people from our spanish school ended up there as well... and it became a real school reunion when our spanish professors showed up! From what I was told the next day, we had a really fun night, and lots of ridiculous dancing ensued.(we were unaware that James was snapping photos of us dancing from his barstool).

(Alyece on the rooftop at the beautiful CAFE SKY)

The next day we took it easy and hung out with Miles, who graciously let us stay our final night at his uncle's insanely beautiful house in downtown Antigua. I actually thought it was hotel when I first walked in... Anyway, the kingsize guest bed made it extremely difficult to wake up at 3:00am for our bus out of Antigua.

We headed for Flores, which is in the north of Guatemala. Flores is a pretty and small town that is set in the middle of a lake and accessible to the mainland by a bridge. We had a waterfront hotel room with a balcony that looked over the lake, which I'm sure we would have enjoyed more if we didn't go to bed at 7:00pm that night... did I just say that outloud? Anyway, we felt it was justified when our alarm went off at 2:00am so we could attempt to make our bus shuttle to Tikal for the "sunrise" tour of some of the Mayan ruins. I don't mean to re-open the wound, but when we arrived we were greeted with torrential downpour, whichadded an element of excitement to the already pitch dark hike through the jungle to get to the temples, and I think we reached the climax of our morning as we sat in bright yellow garbage bags trying to see 10 meters in front of us through the fog and clouds... let alone the gorgeous sunrise display. But we are not bitter about it or anything... especially after paying double the price we were originally told... after not having that extra money on us when the bus arrived in the morning... and having to get our driver to
drive around town at 3am with a full shuttle looking for an ATM machine for the Canadian girls who didn't have enough money. Haha! Our day did get better though :)

The weather cleared up for our guided tour of the ruins...

and although we learned a lot about the Mayan culture and construction of the ruins, we might have learned more had our guide, "Caesar," who when upon the realization that Erin and I were Canadian, spent the duration of the tour telling us about his long lost Canadian love who he met 7 years ago and has been looking for her since. He asked us to help him find her, so now Erin and I are on the search for "Michelle" from Canada who's French-Canadian... and has a cat. What a character. Anyway, the ruins were pretty cool to see and climb on, and we got to see some interesting animals like howler monkeys, colourful birds, and some raccoon/anteater animal that I can't remember the name of now.We went for a romantic water-side dinner that evening and we may or may not have crashed at 7:00pm again...This morning Erin and I arose early yet again to catch a bus out of Flores. After staying in Guatemala, accidentally, for a month and half now, we finally crossed the Belize border where we stopped for 6 hours under the suspicion of possession of narcotics, thoroughly interrogated, and searched. Just kidding, we were easily waved through and it turns out Canada is one of the few countries that doesn't have to pay extra money for visa's etc. so it went smoothly. We arrived in a city called San Ignacio todayand we have signed up for a crazy jungle/cave adventure tour which may or may not happen tomorrow depending on the weather and water levels... but we'll let you know what happens in our next blog :)

Hasta Luego!