We departed Belize in pursuit of Guatemala with Flores being our first stop. The five hour bus trip involved four passengers including ourselves and a whole lot of hot air, sticky seats and an endless amount of sweat. Our bus driver seemed to be on his own schedule (soon we find out that this is the norm), stopping every so often from his insane driving skills to wee on the side of the road, talk to towns folk or buy the paper. The fine chap actually made us feel more at ease by actually reading said bought paper whilst driving through winding roads at crazy speeds!

We made it to the border with passports ready and approached the desk to ask for that magic stamp. My customs officer began the borish process, however was interrupted by a soft ¨ding¨ coming from his laptop. Ever the stickybeak, I leaned over to see the screen only to discover the hard worker was playing online poker... GOLD! What a professional. A quick giggle, another stamp thump and we were in Guatemala!

We finally arrived in Flores and was directed to a cheap hotel that overlooked the lake and mountains. Flores is a small island accessible by a 200m causeway, can be walked around in 20 minutes and explored in an hour. With small alleyways, hole-in-the-wall shops and restaurants and cobblestone streets, it made for a quaint town that provided us with a connection to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. That night we enjoyed a meal and a beer overlooking the lake watching a beautiful sunset. One beer here costs 10 quetzales which equals to $1.30... Score!

The next day our tour to Tikal started not so bright and very early at 4;30am. With a one hour shuttle ride and a short stop for driver and guide to buy some orange juice and chat to the vendor, we arrived bleary-eyed but looking forward to seeing the long expired, yet grand, ruins.

The grounds were huge and the walk from temple to temple through thriving jungle was beautiful. Tikal is a bird-lover´s paradise! We saw toucans, loads of other birdlife and quite a few monkeys swinging around in their treetop homes. After climbing Temple IV and revelling in the postcard views we headed towards the Grand Plaza. It was nothing short of its name. We then headed off on the slippery walk back to the shuttle avoiding moss covered rocks... or at least attempting to! We ended the day with a nice dinner and a couple of drinks before hitting the hay.

So far, Lex and I are pretty impressed with Guatemala. Next stop...Antigua!