Spent the last few days up in Flores, a picturesque island that boasts being the capital of the Peten province. It really is lovely and the lake surrounding it is large and clear but it is spoiled slightly by the fact that every third shop is an internet cafe/travel agents, every second shop is a hotel and every first shop is a restaurant, clearly, this is a tourist themed place.
It is also pretty dull, once you get past the beautiful scenery, and it is beautiful, Flores offers very little in the way of things to do. Especially if you are skint, like us.
We went to Tikal, of course, and stood in wonder at huge pyramids rising out of the jungle. Just a couple of the buildings through though and it all began to feel particularly same same, unfortunately, there were none of the intricate little bas-reliefs or odd quirks of say Ankor Wat or the Bayoun but the buildings were impressive in their size and age alone, none the less. There was a pagan group doing some sort of burning ceremony in the center of the Grand Plaza, not local Mayan or Ladino´s, mind, rather middle class Americans in guady short sleve shirts and socks with sandals.
On then to Lanquin, in the Coban region. We intended to only stay here for a few days before burning out the ast of our time in Antigua, that is before we saw the place. It is perfect. Tiny huts dotted casually surrounded by hills and mountains, a clear river lolling just down the hill. Our room is novel, a loft area above another room in a hut but the shared bathrooms are clean and there is an all you can eat buffet every night for just 55Q (around five pounds fifty,) 45Q if you opt to go veggie.
Here´s the rub though, isolated communes in the hills are all very good, but they´re just that, isolated. So much so that becuase we have decided to stay here for another few days I have to make a FIVE HOUR round trip to the nearest ATM, and that´s just driving time, not including waiting about scratching my bum waiting for a lift. Grrrr….
But, the place is wonderful, much more interesting and easy to spend time than Antigua (not to mention cheaper) and so it seems that tomorrow I´ll be packing a few books and waiting patiently for a shop owner with a pickup truck to drive me to the big smoke.
