Guatemela Bound

We arrived at the bus station just as the 8am bus to the border was leaving, we were ushered on and found some seats, the short trip to the last town (Benque Viejo) was uneventful and we alighted into the arms of a throng of wating taxi drivers. We were whisked to the border (2 miles away) and deposited into the arms of waiting money changers. After paying out exit fees, we changed all our Belize dollars for Guatemalan Quetzales and left Belize into the arms of a throng of (Ok, two) taxi drivers.

After working out that we were actually in no-mans land, we got our entry stamps into Guatemala and continued haggling with the Taxi drivers (we had gone from 45 USD to 40USD by this point). Trudi wasn't keen on a taxi (most people wouldn't be if you look at them), so we decided to stop for a drink whilst consulting the guide book. The quote dropped to USD35 and then Q250 (about USD32). Meanwhile, we'd decide to walk across the bridge and try to get a minivan to Flores. We stopped a taxi, and for Q10 he said he'd take us to the town (uphill about a mile) to get a minivan. After about 200yds he spotted a minivan going the other way, asked if there was space and, before we could blink, our luggage was strapped to the roof and we were hurting towards Flores. He still charged us Q10 (but, very kindly told us that the fare for the minivan was Q30 - judging by what the others were paying - that was the tourist rate).

Our minivan driver dropped us (for USD9) outside a nice looking hotel that we'd spotted in the guide book and we went to the bar for a beer overlooking the lake.

Trudi did a bit of a scout around and decided we would stay there. We are here for 3 nights. The room looks out over the lake and the sunset views are astounding.

We decided that we needed one day for Tikal and one day for the town/relaxation/shopping/laundry. There are hundred of ways to 'do' Tikal from Flores and every third shop seems to offer tours. Eventually we decided that the sunrise trip (leaving the hotel at 3am) looked to be pretty astounding. Striking whilst the iron was hot, we booked for the following day (Tuesday). After booking flights to Guatemala city on Thursday We had an early night.