Date: 06/12
City: Tikal, Guatemala
Kilometres ridden: 111
Cumulative kilometre: 27528

Took a couple of pictures and said goodbye to Rosa, our host. We enjoyed the time here and Rosa looked after us really well.

We jumped on our bikes and rode to the border. The border crossing from Belize was easy and on the Guatemalan side we had to change money to temporarily import our bikes. This time we had all the paper work needed, including copies of our documents πŸ˜€

During our process, we met Ron again, the Canadian motorcycle rider we meet in San Ignacio, Belize. We decided to ride together until we turn off to Tikal. On our way we had a breakfast break on one of the road side stalls.


 

After 60km we turned off to Tikal while Ron continued for another 150km to get to a very nice hostel in central Guatemala. When we arrived at the entry to Tikal – 17km from the ruins – there was a boom gate and a booth that sold tickets. The ticket purchased before 3PM were only valid for the current day, but after 3PM would be valid for the next day too. To get to the hotel tonight and to the ruins tomorrow we had to wait until 3PM, which was another two hours. Close to the boom gate there was a restaurant (a good place to have it πŸ˜‰Β ), so we had a coffee and wrote a posts for the blog.

While sitting there we noticed that a couple (Tobi and Donata from Germany) was trying to get money to enter Tikal- but there was no ATM at the entrance. We offered to lend them the entry fee and work something out later. In the end, they decided to drive back to the next town and get some money out of an ATM. When they came back, they stopped for a chat to waited with us until 3PM. During the conversation they mentioned that they had a package booked that included accommodation, a breakfast and dinner deal and guided tour in the morning for a good price. So we decided to check it out. After 3PM, they continued, so did we. On our way we found a nice sign, there must be cougars around.

The street close to the hotel was blocked, they were paving the road so we couldn’t get straight in. A nice guy suggested that we could ride on a foot path, over the lawn of the campground and then back to the road to get to the hotel, which is what we did. At the hotel, we asked for the package, got a good price, so we stayed. Easy! At dinner we met Tobi and Donata again and we found out that a special birthday for Donata was comming tomorrow. We kept it short this night since the morning walk started at 4AM.

Date: 07/12
City: Tikal, Guatemala
Kilometres ridden: 0
Cumulative kilometre: 27528

We really got up at 3.45AM, used our torches to get to the front office to get a coffee. When Donata arrived, we sang happy birthday with a candle from our camping gear.

Then we started our walk to the temple IV. On our way we could hear some howler monkeys making noise. They sound like lions or other wild cats. We went up onto the temple, sat down at the top and waited for the sunrise – listening to the voices of the jungle. When the sun started to rise, we saw some fog coming in over the top of the trees, it looked fabulous.

When the sun rose, we stood a bit aside from the centre and could see how it must look on the 21th December. The sun was rising just behind another pyramid.

After this experience we started our tour of the ruins of Tikal in earnest. Our tour guide was great explaining the sites and the animals as well

On the way Sigrid found a nice natural swing and couldn’t resist trying it out. We also saw some monkey’s, but they all ran away – even though I showered beforeΒ the tour…. πŸ˜‰


The trip ended at the grand plaza, a complex with two pyramids and the royal palace. By that time our stomaches were dictating the next stop – breakfast at the hotel.

When we arrived, the hotel had prepared a table for Donata outside in the sun and Tobi had as well organized a birthday cake. So the staff came out and sang happy birthday.

I liked the vase for the flowers, it was either freshly cut bamboo or a banana tree slice, what a brilliant idea!

After breakfast we had a power nap and had a second go at the ruins in the afternoon. We spent more time at the grand plaza. On our way we passed a huge ceiba tree, a holy tree for the Mayas- it linked the sky with the underworld. The tree was too big to get it on one picture, so I tried it with a panorama shot πŸ˜€


At the grand plaza we climbed a couple of buildings and had a look from the top at other temples, places and housing of the elite.


 

On our way back, the sun started to set which made the way back to the hotel really beautiful.

On our way to the room we found a group of strange animals roaming around. We were asking in the hotel for the name, they told us and …. we forgot :/


To top it up, there was a monkey in the trees and a deer at the back porch.

What a day. Below is the path to our room and the room itself.

We decided to stay a day longer, since our next target (San Anders) is only 60km away and we have to arrive on Sunday.

Date: 08/12
City: Tikal, Guatemala
Kilometres ridden: 0
Cumulative kilometre: 27528

We had breakfast with Tobi and Donata, took a couple of pictures, went together to the minibus and departed. They left for Flores and we went to the museum.

The museum was not as impressive as we thought. The best thing was a nice model of the ruins and a sign that warned people about a crocodile.


We saw only a small crocodile, not sure if there are others around.

The rest of the day was used for swimming and relaxing in anticipation for the next week.

Next week we try to learn Spanish; I hope the teacher is strongΒ πŸ˜€

Date: 02/12
City: San Ignacio, Belize
Kilometres ridden: 190
Cumulative kilometre: 27417

We packed the bikes and took some pictures of the hotel and the plants in Orangewalk before we left.

We arrived in San Ignacio without any problems and after asking around even found Rosa’s hotel easy enough. While parking our bikes, two guys approached us – Stan and Ron – they are on their way to Ushuaia as well, so we agreed to meet at the square later on.
After we settled in our room, we had a look at the festivity in the main square. The festivity was called ‘The taste of Belize’ and there plenty of stalls and some performances. So we watched the performances and had something to eat – Not sure what it was, so we took a picture of the sign…
At night we watched the “lighting of the Christmas tree” ceremony performed by the major of the town. A bit later we met the winner of the “Best BBQ griller 2012 ” in Belize and then Stan and Ron again.


Somehow we missed taking a picture of Stan and Ron, but we talked a lot! Stan recently had an accident, about two month ago, sombody t-boned him. Unfortunatelly he didn’t have gloves on and his finger tips tell the story. After a couple of beers and swapping email and blog addresses we departed, maybe we see each other on the road.

 

Date: 03/12 – 5/12
City: San Ignacio, Belize
Kilometres ridden: 0
Cumulative kilometre: 27417

In the morning we sent off a parcel to Australia in the post office next door to the hostel. There we ask for our parcel with the spare parts, and it had arrived! Yay!!
We picked it up in the afternoon and the son of our host Rosa volunteered to introduce us a good mechanic with a workshop tomorrow.

The next day, Frank, Rosa’s son showed us the way to Gabi, a top mechanic living in San Elena. San Elena is only separated from San Ignacio by a river.

When we arrived we showed him what we would like to get done and Gabi started on the job immediately. He just moved from a rented property to his house. He is currently building some rooms and a small restaurant, so people can either stay there or have a coffee and something to eat while he fixes the bikes. Currently it’s all still a bit temporarily until the building is finished.

The first bike took a bit longer then he thought, but the second bike was done in no time.

The next day we planned our trip until we leave Panama. So it looks like at Christmas we’ll be in Nicaragua and New Year’s Eve in Costa Rica. We also read some travel advice for the countries that we will travel through, so we will try to avoid Guatemala City if possible. After looking at the new plan, we don’t do as much mileage as expected, so the tyres should last until Panama.

Tomorrow we leave Belize and enter Guatemala to visit Tikal, the ‘New York’ of the Maya’s.

Date: 30/11
City: Orange Walk, Belize
Kilometres ridden: 91
Cumulative kilometre: 27227

Today is the day! We will leave Mexico after six interesting weeks and go to Belize. After packing the bikes and having breakfast, we took a couple of pictures of Rick, Cathy Β (the couple from Canada) and Beto our host.

I guess as soon as I have a hammock and can see water from the balcony (have a look at the view) I’d like to stay. I couldn’t convince Sigrid to stay another day or two, so we had to leave.

The plan is to follow Ricks and Cathy’s recommendation and ride to Orange Walk and take the jungle tour to visit the Lamanai ruins. Just before the border we went to a petrol station to spend our last Pesos. When we filled up and met three motorcycle riders from Guatemala. We talked to them about spare parts in Guatemala City. One of them, Arturo, was so kind as to give me his phone number and email address, but all three mentioned that Guatemala wouldn’t be as safe as Mexico :/. We stopped at the first booth on the border. There was a guy outside telling us what we needed and where to go after. Another guy inside the booth wanted to take the green visitor card – the one we’d got when we entered Mexico – and the passport to put the exit stamp into. Well, I remembered that I put both cards in a safe place, but I couldn’t find them. Errrr….. Β Bummer!

So I got nervous and the haggling started. The nice guy helping at the booth told us how bad that was; we were travelling illegally in Mexico. We told him that the entry stamp in the passport and the temporarily motorcycle import licence could be only acquired with a valid visitor card, so we must had have one. After some back and forth he suggested that the guy in the booth would give us a stamp if we pay 50U$ for each of us. We declined, mentioning that we don’t have so much money with us. After a while he made us a special Christmas offer. We give him 20U$ and he will see what he can do for us. He came back with 25U$ for us and 20U$ for him.
Great! we agreed, handed the money over and got our exit stamps. Thing is, I really know that I put the cards in a safe place!
@#$%%!!!!
…anyway, we progressed to the bank to get our money back for the motorcycles and that worked without any problems.

That’s it, adios Mexico, welcome to Belize. First stop on the Belizean side was at an insurance booth. There we met the three Guatemala guys again. We purchased the insurance for much longer then we needed, just in case that we had to wait for our spare parts. Getting the insurance was surprisingly easy and not too expensive around 17US$/week. After that we needed to get the bikes fumigated (at the fumigation booth), and then go to Immigration and customs. The customs officer was really nice and told us where to get a free map, showed us some short cuts, told us where to get spare parts – including tyres – and what else to see.
After three hours we were in Belize. The usual thing happened, the GPS didn’t know where we were, this time it was expected and we navigated with guess work and some signs to arrive in Orange Walk an hour later. Close to the city centre we found a nice hotel at a reasonable price. After we settled we got some money from an ATM and booked the jungle river tour for tomorrow. The shop was in the site entry to a pub, and we nearly missed it.

We walked back over the market place and had a look at the different things on offer. The best variety was great – from rusty hair clippers, tools, oil filter to carburettorsΒ πŸ™‚.
Later on we found out that to get spare parts is a big problem in Belize – with my collector attitude I would right fit in here πŸ˜€

We had some tea at a Chinese restaurant and went home. By this time it was dark and the Christmas light were switched on.

When we got back to the hotel room I had another look for the Mexican tourist cards. This time I found them… in the one place where I didn’t look before. Great! Now I feel really stupid… Anyway, tomorrow 9AM we go on the jungle tour. πŸ™‚

Date: 01/12
City: Orange Walk, Belize
Kilometres ridden: 0
Cumulative kilometre: 27227

We arrived at the travel agent just before 9AM, jumped in a taxi and got dropped off at the river where the trip started. We waited a bit until the boat was filled up with petrol and lunch was on board.

During our wait time we talked to fellow travellers: Two guys from the US – working at a North Carolina Uni – and educating Belize teachers in Β teaching methods, a girl from Canada, two couples from India – and finally, our late arrivals, two women from Finland – tour guides avoiding the finnish winter. First stop was a small island where we saw a spider monkey; he even came up to the boat to get a piece of banana.

We drove with the boat for about two hours and saw colourful birds and some fresh water crocs. When we arrived at the ruins we had lunch and then walked through the rain forest.

The first ruin was the mask temple which had two carved limestone masks; one on the left and one on the right side.

From here we went to the highest building in Lamanai, and we even were allowed to climb it!
These stairs were smaller and higher then everything before, but a rope had been put up so it was safer and easier to get to the top.

The view at the top was worth the effort

It was nice to sit there and look around, and then there was the way down πŸ˜€

After we came down, we had a look at the ball court and the palace

Eventually we returned to the boat and had a great ride home through the jungle.

What a great day. Tomorrow we leave for San Ignacio and hopefully get our spare parts for the bikes.