Guatemala and home

We left Belize on Sunday and boarded a bus to Guatemala to see Tikal, one of the most famous Mayan ruins. We paid our entrance fee at the border, one which seems to change depending on the day or the person working the counter. Although the countryside looked much like Belize, Guatemala just seems to have so much more culture. We passed through a small town where the local women were washing their clothes by the lake and children rode by on small bareback horses.

We arrived at Tikal in the morning and learnt all about the extreme intelligence of the civilization- something the culture doesn't necessarily project this day in age. The calendar they used in their time was more accurate than the one we use today and many of their buildings were constructed so the sun and the moon would appear in special slots during the equinox. They were extremely gifted astronomers and mathematicians. They also built Tikal in a location with no natural water source, claiming it was more important to build where the three forces met- the force from hte earth, the sky and the underground lava flows. Now some of these practices seem trivial, for example, they weren't allowed to cut palms for their houses unless a priest allowed it, 3 days before or 3 days after the full moon. Interestingly enough, in the days preceeding and following a full moon, the sap from the plant travels up into the leaves of the plant and when cut the palms last up to 20 years compared to the usual 3-5yrs. Unfortunately the arrival of the Spanish destroyed their civilization through warring and disease and the only Mayans who were able to survive were the farmers and the hunters and thus the knowledge was lost. I asked one Mayan how often she had to replace her thatch roof and she replied every 3-5 years.

The buildings were magnificent towering above us against the clear blue sky. We climbed up as many as we could to look down upon the rest of the excavated village. Although we avoided climbing the ones where or tour guide showed us the blood stains from the previous week's fallen tourist. We saw cicadas, which are bright turquoise, locusts which have magenta wings and we spent some time chasing after a troupe of howler monkeys in the trees. We watched the sun set from the top of one ruin (after having climbed 3 others to find the best view). Ian and I then got up at 4:30 the next morning to watch the mist rise off the jungle and give way to the ruins around us.

We bussed into Flores, a town not too far away and peeked around the colourful cobblestone streets. The handicrafts are beautiful there and the stores all seem to be draped in layers of coloured cloth. We spent some time wandering Flores and the neighbouring Santa Elena before heading back to Belize City to fly out.




On the flight home from Dallas to Chicago I reached into my knapsack to grab a granola bar and realized I had brought my steak knife with me! And I had somehow gotten through security with it at the Dallas Airport! We also flew home from Chicago to Ottawa with the Blind Boys of Alabama, the headliners at this years' Jazz Festival.

It was a great trip but I'm sure glad to be back in a comfy bed with a warm shower!