Sunday 16th March
Woken by lorries going over the bridge at day break ( still dark) and boats buzzing up and down river. I go and collect my bike from next door and order a Guatemalan breakfast ( papaya, scrambled eggs, black stuff may be a type of rice and coffee). leave hostel by 0700 hrs and north though more mountains at 5000rpm as little traffic today, refuel at 0830 hrs for 205 local and more Coke. Good road and arrive at border of the national park at 1115 hrs. The Tikal national park is 222 sq kms and the entrance road to the centre is 17kms long. I am given an entrance ticket which is timed and I will have to hand it in at the other end as the speed limit is 45kph. So I speed and stop to take pictures. At the end there is some choices- three hotels min price US$65 per night or camping at US$5. Guess what I take- yes camping, why carry all that kit and not use it! and my 70mm air/down mattress is so comfy its often better than some cheap hotel beds. Tikal site entrance is 150 local ( US$20) for tourist but only 10 local for locals which even I in my filthy state can not pass for! Apart from the lack of Spanish lingo!
I quickly set up camp and lock all valuables into the panniers, and then set off at a quick march to the main Plaza between two huge pyramids which was very impressive and each pyramid was higher than the surrounding trees which were over 50 metres. The whole site was huge so I spend 5 and a half hours walking, and climbing any thing that stood still. I reckon I saw all there was to see ( or what had been uncovered) and of course took loads more pictures of stones! I also saw monkeys, birds and little beer like animals with long tails that came very close and were good tree climbers. I did however not see any jaguars or snakes which was a relive.
Climbing the pyramids was allowed except for a couple and gave me fantastic views over the thick jungle towards other pyramids that just popping out of the tree line. Amassing when you consider these were built between 200BC and 900 AD. Sadly the older ones were used by the Mayan to build the bigger newer ones and usually on top of the older structures.
I finally have had enough even though it is difficult to appreciate the scale of the place in such a short time, I have been stung twice by some huge bee thing (4 x the size of a UK bee) once in the chest and once on the elbow. I walk back to the 1st local inn and try to order a beer and some food but can not get any service despite going up to the bar, after what seemed like 20/30 mins I leave and go back to my tent and set my my mattress and sleeping bag before it gets dark. I then go to the 2nd inn and try to order food, but its not available until 1900 hrs so I have a couple of beers and chat to a guy from USA who's on holiday with his daughter. Later the daughter ( 20's) joins him and has just seen a spider the size of her hand on the hotel stairs. Thank goodness I have a sewn in ground sheet! My ankles are being bitten to death my mosquito's.
I put my most expensive sticker yet ( Guatemala at US$ 3.34) on the pannier to join my other collection ( these are my only souvenirs as cost little and weight nothing and make good discussion points with locals)
Most tourist on site are either local, French, German or from USA.
As time goes on I rather enjoy travelling on my own as long as each day I set myself a challenge. I now have about 15 days + a few spare to get though Mexico and I should be able to clear the border tomorrow after deciding on a final route.
Lat night I had to sleep with my IPOD as the guy in the next tent about 50 metres away snores too loud. On leaving Tikal there is a nice large lake with small town which would be worth staying at if I had more time ( I could have stayed in hind sight but knowledge is power and I didn't know that then)
I have two choices tomorrow to get to the Mexico border.
both start with 2100 kms of good tarmac followed by:
1. Gravel roads for 120 kms this side of the border and then better roads once I cross into Mexico if the maps are correct.
2. Good roads this side with short gravel roads followed by unknown roads for miles.
I opt for option 1 and finally get to the start of the 120 kms of gravel or what I think is the correct road as there are little in the way of road signs. It should take me about 2 hours to get to the border now, there is no other traffic, no signs and only farms along the way. I start to wonder why no one wants to live near the border when usually there is a quick buck to be made.
After about an hour I come across a gas ( petrol) station in the middle of know where and then an hour latter a migration office after nearly driving over a long snake crossing the gravel road. It was very long ( 1000mm) thin and fast.
I get my passport stamped for exit from Guatemala and then ask for the whereabouts of the Aduna. They look at me as if I am quite mad. There is no Aduna here as the road stops ahead at the river which is impassable, deep and fast flowing. The map just says border crossing and makes no mention of a lack of bridges. The roads though do appear on the map but are just not joined up across the river! More options, I get chatting to a group in a minibus and they can't believe I am here, they came across the river in a long canoe which holds 20 people and takes 40 minutes from the Mexico slip way down river. These canoes have 40 or 50 hp tiller steer outboard engines and I am told are certainly not big enough for bike of my size. The group from USA reckon I will have to go back for 5 or 6 hours to the northern road and even then they can not tell me whether there is a bridge there and I remember the roads may be non existent. I decide to go on the extra 2kms and check out the river for my self. It certainly is large, fast flowing, deep and there are two long narrow boats moored along side. I talk to the owners and they say for US$ 50 they will take me, my luggage and bike across to the Mexico entry point which is 40 mins down stream.
It seems the best option when you consider the option of another 6 hrs driving back from where I came. But how are we going to get that heavy bike up into the canoe? They agree to supply 4 strong guys and we will wheel and lift it into the canoe floor using the floor boards as ramps.
I agree and drive down to the waters edge and off load all luggage and panniers. I then back the bike towards the 1st ramp set up on the bow of the long boat/canoe. There is a second plank into the floor of the boat. I get off the bike and together the 5 of us man handle the bike up and down the 2 ramps and safely into the middle/front of the boat. We then load the other luggage and all get aboard and turn around in the fast flowing river, we ferry glide down stream pasted huge rocks and small whirl pools and the skipper spends most of his time on his mobile, while one crew member goes for a swim to cool off. After 40 mins passing other boats going in the opposite direction we arrive at a large beach and slip way where there are about 20 other similar boats.
Three phone calls later the ramps are put back and I have to drive the bike this time off the bow, up to the bow is OK as I can reach the sides with my feet, but then I lose all contact with the ground and have to drive down a narrow plank unable to see if my back wheel is going to stay on the ramp.. Any way we make it to the paddle beach and reload the bike and I pay my US$50. there were only 2 boats at the Guatemala end but there are at least 20 at the Mexico end. It turns out that the main trade is taking tourist from buses to the Mayan site of Yaxchilan further down stream by 40 mins. Although on the opposite bank it is part of Mexico and they are very proud of it. I get my change in Mexican Pesos and discover the exchange rate to 10:1
I drive up the slope and find the Mexican migration office, I get my passport stamped and discover there is also no Aduna here and I am told I need to go to the next large city and get the bike paper work sorted out there.
Woken by lorries going over the bridge at day break ( still dark) and boats buzzing up and down river. I go and collect my bike from next door and order a Guatemalan breakfast ( papaya, scrambled eggs, black stuff may be a type of rice and coffee). leave hostel by 0700 hrs and north though more mountains at 5000rpm as little traffic today, refuel at 0830 hrs for 205 local and more Coke. Good road and arrive at border of the national park at 1115 hrs. The Tikal national park is 222 sq kms and the entrance road to the centre is 17kms long. I am given an entrance ticket which is timed and I will have to hand it in at the other end as the speed limit is 45kph. So I speed and stop to take pictures. At the end there is some choices- three hotels min price US$65 per night or camping at US$5. Guess what I take- yes camping, why carry all that kit and not use it! and my 70mm air/down mattress is so comfy its often better than some cheap hotel beds. Tikal site entrance is 150 local ( US$20) for tourist but only 10 local for locals which even I in my filthy state can not pass for! Apart from the lack of Spanish lingo!
I quickly set up camp and lock all valuables into the panniers, and then set off at a quick march to the main Plaza between two huge pyramids which was very impressive and each pyramid was higher than the surrounding trees which were over 50 metres. The whole site was huge so I spend 5 and a half hours walking, and climbing any thing that stood still. I reckon I saw all there was to see ( or what had been uncovered) and of course took loads more pictures of stones! I also saw monkeys, birds and little beer like animals with long tails that came very close and were good tree climbers. I did however not see any jaguars or snakes which was a relive.
Climbing the pyramids was allowed except for a couple and gave me fantastic views over the thick jungle towards other pyramids that just popping out of the tree line. Amassing when you consider these were built between 200BC and 900 AD. Sadly the older ones were used by the Mayan to build the bigger newer ones and usually on top of the older structures.
I finally have had enough even though it is difficult to appreciate the scale of the place in such a short time, I have been stung twice by some huge bee thing (4 x the size of a UK bee) once in the chest and once on the elbow. I walk back to the 1st local inn and try to order a beer and some food but can not get any service despite going up to the bar, after what seemed like 20/30 mins I leave and go back to my tent and set my my mattress and sleeping bag before it gets dark. I then go to the 2nd inn and try to order food, but its not available until 1900 hrs so I have a couple of beers and chat to a guy from USA who's on holiday with his daughter. Later the daughter ( 20's) joins him and has just seen a spider the size of her hand on the hotel stairs. Thank goodness I have a sewn in ground sheet! My ankles are being bitten to death my mosquito's.
I put my most expensive sticker yet ( Guatemala at US$ 3.34) on the pannier to join my other collection ( these are my only souvenirs as cost little and weight nothing and make good discussion points with locals)
Most tourist on site are either local, French, German or from USA.
As time goes on I rather enjoy travelling on my own as long as each day I set myself a challenge. I now have about 15 days + a few spare to get though Mexico and I should be able to clear the border tomorrow after deciding on a final route.
Lat night I had to sleep with my IPOD as the guy in the next tent about 50 metres away snores too loud. On leaving Tikal there is a nice large lake with small town which would be worth staying at if I had more time ( I could have stayed in hind sight but knowledge is power and I didn't know that then)
I have two choices tomorrow to get to the Mexico border.
both start with 2100 kms of good tarmac followed by:
1. Gravel roads for 120 kms this side of the border and then better roads once I cross into Mexico if the maps are correct.
2. Good roads this side with short gravel roads followed by unknown roads for miles.
I opt for option 1 and finally get to the start of the 120 kms of gravel or what I think is the correct road as there are little in the way of road signs. It should take me about 2 hours to get to the border now, there is no other traffic, no signs and only farms along the way. I start to wonder why no one wants to live near the border when usually there is a quick buck to be made.
After about an hour I come across a gas ( petrol) station in the middle of know where and then an hour latter a migration office after nearly driving over a long snake crossing the gravel road. It was very long ( 1000mm) thin and fast.
I get my passport stamped for exit from Guatemala and then ask for the whereabouts of the Aduna. They look at me as if I am quite mad. There is no Aduna here as the road stops ahead at the river which is impassable, deep and fast flowing. The map just says border crossing and makes no mention of a lack of bridges. The roads though do appear on the map but are just not joined up across the river! More options, I get chatting to a group in a minibus and they can't believe I am here, they came across the river in a long canoe which holds 20 people and takes 40 minutes from the Mexico slip way down river. These canoes have 40 or 50 hp tiller steer outboard engines and I am told are certainly not big enough for bike of my size. The group from USA reckon I will have to go back for 5 or 6 hours to the northern road and even then they can not tell me whether there is a bridge there and I remember the roads may be non existent. I decide to go on the extra 2kms and check out the river for my self. It certainly is large, fast flowing, deep and there are two long narrow boats moored along side. I talk to the owners and they say for US$ 50 they will take me, my luggage and bike across to the Mexico entry point which is 40 mins down stream.
It seems the best option when you consider the option of another 6 hrs driving back from where I came. But how are we going to get that heavy bike up into the canoe? They agree to supply 4 strong guys and we will wheel and lift it into the canoe floor using the floor boards as ramps.
I agree and drive down to the waters edge and off load all luggage and panniers. I then back the bike towards the 1st ramp set up on the bow of the long boat/canoe. There is a second plank into the floor of the boat. I get off the bike and together the 5 of us man handle the bike up and down the 2 ramps and safely into the middle/front of the boat. We then load the other luggage and all get aboard and turn around in the fast flowing river, we ferry glide down stream pasted huge rocks and small whirl pools and the skipper spends most of his time on his mobile, while one crew member goes for a swim to cool off. After 40 mins passing other boats going in the opposite direction we arrive at a large beach and slip way where there are about 20 other similar boats.
Three phone calls later the ramps are put back and I have to drive the bike this time off the bow, up to the bow is OK as I can reach the sides with my feet, but then I lose all contact with the ground and have to drive down a narrow plank unable to see if my back wheel is going to stay on the ramp.. Any way we make it to the paddle beach and reload the bike and I pay my US$50. there were only 2 boats at the Guatemala end but there are at least 20 at the Mexico end. It turns out that the main trade is taking tourist from buses to the Mayan site of Yaxchilan further down stream by 40 mins. Although on the opposite bank it is part of Mexico and they are very proud of it. I get my change in Mexican Pesos and discover the exchange rate to 10:1
I drive up the slope and find the Mexican migration office, I get my passport stamped and discover there is also no Aduna here and I am told I need to go to the next large city and get the bike paper work sorted out there.
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