Tikal to Guatemala City

6/1/13
Following Tikal, it was time to make our way back to Guatemala City. We did this via the small town of Flores. The weather looked ominous and Andrew and I were none too happy when our bus driver insisted on putting our bags on the roof. Almost as soon as we set off it started to rain... and our already damp clothes became damper!
We had a few hours to kill before our night bus to Guatemala city so we caught our first tuktuk to the island town of Flores. This was in the river, connected to the mainland by a bridge. We walked around looking at the many stalls, eating lunch in a nice cafe and enjoying the scenery - definitely a good way to pass a few hours. When it came time to catch a tuktuk back to the bus station we couldn't find one! It was extremely busy, there were people everywhere trying to flag down rides. Just as nerves started to creep in a friendly family in a people carrier stopped and gave us a lift - phew! The night bus back to Guatemala City was reasonably comfortable and armed with eye masks and ear plugs we both managed to get some shut eye.

7/1/13
We arrived in Guatemala City early in the morning and got a taxi to our hostel in Zona 2, a residential area not far from the main centre. It was a house with a large courtyard in the middle and was very pleasant. Today was a day for jobs and some sightseeing. We found a post office and sent our first parcels back to the UK/Australia with some souvenirs we'd bought - woven place mats and purses, jewellery and ornaments from the markets of Chichistenango, with our fingers crossed they'd make it. Afterwards we walked down the main pedestrian street from our hostel towards the city centre and the parliament buildings. We'd heard all the stories about Guatemala City being dangerous so we took some extra precautions - not carrying expensive belongings, wearing a money belt - but we didn't see anything to make us nervous on our walk into town. Actually, as we were running our errands we found the locals to be very friendly and smiley -even more so than in some other areas of Guatemala. We think that maybe because most travellers avoid the city the locals were very surprised to see us there. That night was a quiet one where we cooked in the hostel and packed our bags ready for heading to the airport the next morning to catch our flight to Cuba.

Our time in Guatemala had come to an end and what an amazing start to our Central/South America trip it had been. So many highlights, it had ticked all the boxes: rich culture, friendly people, tasty food, historical buildings, Mayan ruins and amazing natural spectacles!