an early start saw us heading for guatemala. the journey took 9 hours which included a collectivo, a short boat ride and a rickety old bus which blew a tyre.

the roads change drastically across the border to sandy rocky dusty tracks. we were covered in dust by the time we arrived in flores. we spent the night there it turned out to be a small island on a lake set up for gringoes before they visit Tikal, which we did the following morning. on the way we stopped by a lake which had a jetty which reminded louise of a card given to her by bry and dave. its the largest of all the mayan sites which sees you walking for sometimes up to 20mins between temples. spider monkeys
play at the top of the forest canopy as you walk below though we didnt get to see any jaguars which prowl out of sight. the site was amazing in both area and height it gave you a great sense of seperation from the outside world as you sat atop a temple and looked out over the jungle with the tops of temples peeping out from the trees. i found Palenque and Tikal more enjoyable to visit than the other sites due to their settings deep in the jungle and the stillness this created. found a little tunnel near a temple and shot a few photos couldnt decide which was best so you decide. alto, strike a pose, cave angel.

we headed back to flores that night and left the following morning, various crazy bus drivers later we found ourselves in coban. it was here we started to notice the difference between guatemalans and mexicans. they are alot more friendly and open to the point where they greet you on the street their intentions seem honest. coban itself is a large town which on the surface is fairly ugly but we started to like it and found an interesting market. it had todo cosas including a machette, Mike really thought he was some kind of Samurai with it and got rather carried away. He loves to whip it out at any given opportunity. Got to admit it does come in handy. Coconuts,melons, firewood and self defence. louise managed to find the traditional skirt worn by the local q´echi women. there are different colours for different towns in guatemala but she definately got the coban colour as we received many happy comments. one old lady even came over and adjusted it correctly for her. tortillas anyone? I think we should use these for our currency. magic beans beans they are good for your heart....

the q´echi people are ancestors of the mayans. they mostly inhabit the mountains with very little. they keep to themselves to the point where they speak little or no spanish. we found this strange as they live in a spanish speaking country. They are not supported by the Government so they don´t get the luxury of an education, it is a little sad as they are quite segregated from the rest of the society and although their traditions and simple way of life are quite beautiful and they seem content, there is little chance of any developpment or moving on. The young boys aged 6 collect heavy loads of firewoods and girls learn to make the tortilla and that is pretty much it! You get a sense that you have stepped back in time when you enter their world which we did. we found an eco tourism centre which was set up to help protect the cloud forest and the quetzales which inhabit them. the bird is said to be the most mysterious bird in the world and one of the hardest to see. the q´echi people live around the forest in the mountains and cut it down to clear space to grow maize. the centre gives the oppurtunity for people to stay with the familys giving the q´echi people an alternative way to making money. so we signed up and were met the following morning by a mysterious woman who spoke a few broken words of spanish and had us follow her through the streets of coban. she took us to a house where we were given a smell test by a strange wolf like dog. louise was given the green light though it wasnt so sure bout mike. with that we were off again and were led to the market. she purchased a 20kilo bag of oranges, put it on her head then led us off to get a taxi to a close neighbouring town. she was hobbit like and spoke in a strange tongue much like the gobble of a turkey. so from the next town she continued to purchase good though now it was mike carrying the bag in his hands as it was too heavy for the neck. we were told to wait she disappeared and soon enough we found ourselves on the back of a lorry full of goods and guatemalans. where were we being taken, were we to be slaves forced to work for the hobbit named manuella. the ride was both bumpy and beautiful slowly winding up through mountainous terrain and alpine forest. hold on tight. louise hurt her bum sitting up on the top bars as the roads got worse and worse and had to grip on like a buckaroo. we arrived in san lucas a couple hours later where we were to stay. it consisted of a few wooden shacks separated by a little land. we were introduced to the family which consisted of three chicos and anna, the daughter. 15 going on 30 already primed for motherhood and the fastest tortilla flipper in the west. louise posed for a family picture. the boys loved the cameraand being able to see the photos straight after being taken. we were both confused as to who our guide would be and found out that the trek into thecloud forest would be with manuella herself. we set off slowly with her and one of her sons. We trekked up the steep, muddy trail into the cloud forest for a couple of hours it was beautiful but after a while we felt a little guilty our guide was a 50year old woman and lagging behind and sweating profusely. Though on the way back she still managed to balance a large bit of firewood on her head. Where did you get that hat? coming down the mountain walter was keen to pose for pictures. the following day we headed back up into the cloud forest with martin and his son and spent the whole day treking through it. we followed little windy tracks hopping over roots and being led to points where we could hear but not see the elusive quetzale. we did mange to get a glimpse of one flyin through the tree and a flash of its jade green tail. well louise did mike just saw a blurr bah (colourblind anyway). our meals were small and we had to almost force feed the tortillas or you would surely go hungry. they eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner though it is interesting watching them being made. mike managed not to kill himself whilst playing soccer on a bomb crater where the ball bounced like an aussie rules football. was a wicked experience seein how they lived anyways but our 2 days were up and we jumped the early morning lorry back to town.

we got back to coban grabbed our big bags from our adopted aunty Olga and headed for lanquin a beautiful little spot in the mountains. we camped for one night next to a river and cave then headed for a wicked hostel where we camped for 3 nights beside the river. mas tranquilo lugar. we visited some caves where you had to swim in complete darkness holding a candle and hoping not to kick hidden rocks. it was complete with bats and little waterfalls that needed to be climbed. Next we visited some awesome waterfalls where we bathed and chilled out. When we arrived back in the afternoon Mike felt ill and his temperature soared, probably due to him diving into the cave and swallowing stagnant water or from drinking contaminated drinking water. Louise thought she had escaped this one but got sick the following couple of days.

Left Coban for Xela! louise still feeling rough, reassured by Mike that the roads were not too bad, experienced the worst roads (if you can call them that) yet! 2 days of this and she was feeling much better! chicken bus from chicken bus through more windy mountains. At some points the roads were so narrow we would have to reverse to allow other vehicles to pass. we arrived in xela and have started our schooling in the art of spanish. this is where we find ourselves now sitting in this internet cafe rushing so we can get to our respective houses and eat with our families. more to come soon...