hasta luego guatemala

my last days in guatemala were bitter sweet. my host family threw a party for me and another girl who was leaving. it was also a family friend's birthday. we had a pinata, drinks, bbq, and dancing. i went out with my housemates to a salsa club for my last night. i had about 2 hours of sleep before my shuttle picked me up at 4am the next morning to take me to the airport. i flew to tikal, where the mayan ruins are because it's a 9 hour drive. it's one of the biggest sites for ruins. i hear it's difficult to go to other ruins after seeing tikal. part of star wars episode I was filmed at tikal. it is so indian jones like. there are huge temples, and areas where the mayans would sacrifice humans to the gods. the mayans had it going on with science and technology.

i met a really cool swiss girl named carine. we were the first ones at the airport in guatemala city before it even opened at 6am. she speaks some english but prefers spanish, so the whole weekend we hung out and i talked primarily spanish with her. it was great to practice my spanish! i was okay. the hotel we stayed at was set right next to the park with the ruins and in the jungle. the hotel is made up of cabins and does not have electricity after 10 pm. all night you hear all the animals in the jungle right outside your window- howler monkeys are loud. it was kind of scary, cool.

the next day i stayed in this little town of flores. right off of this lake and close to the buses. i stayed at this hostel that cost me 25 quetzales, between $3-$3.50, to sleep on a bunk bed. completely different than the jungle lodge with pool where i had my own room. i figured it was a good way to get back on budget and meet other travelers. the hostel was set up well, had a cool little restaurant and decorations, but i was too old for the crowd. lots of israelis, they travel after their mandatory service in the military, and australians. they all were like 21 and just wanting to party and drink. not my scene after sleeping the night before in the jungle at 10pm. i'm old. :)

the next morning i took a shuttle bus across the border into belice, into the town of san ignacio. it took about 4 hours and i didn't get sick! i take dramamine all the time now! i was most concerned about this part of my trip because i had heard of buses getting hijacked in guatemala. it was totally fine.