26/02/2014
Spent the morning washing, relaxing and drinking the free coffees. At midday, cycled into Placencia town in the stifling heat. The ferry to Independence was at 14:30 so spent some time exploring the small beach town. Initially the boat refused to take our bikes, but when he realised the boat was not full, we were on. 25/02/2014
It had rained heavily overmight and in the morning and we were minutes from being flooded out when we emerged into the daylight covered in mosquito bites :-( The Mayan ruins at the site were disappointing and a brief jungle walk only produced muddy feet. The dirt track exit was heavy going after the rain, but as soon as we were om the main southern highway all was easy. At the turn off for Hopkins mqjor EU funded roadworks were underway. Thr first section being smooth dirt followed by 5km on small rocks. Hard going. Hopkins was interesting. A Garifuna town with ramshackke building directly on the beach. A short way south of town the new build areas started. American style mini mansions, everywhere plots for sale. Passed Sitee River these turned into river plots and finally petered out as we headed on another rocky dirt track.back out to the Southern Highway. Back on tarmac all the waybdown the peninsular of Placencia though more artificial new towns created to satisfy north American ex-pats. An expensive Costa del Sol! Exhausted, I convinced Tadek to stay at a $45 a room hotel on thr beach. not luxurious in the slightest, but a lovely location with a room overlooking the beach. 24/02/2014
Great breakfast in the pleasant town of San Ignacio and some very helpful tourist advice from a friendly local. The shops were stocked with western items in abundance and the general infrastructure seemed much more advanced than their Spanish speaking counterparts the other side of the straight line, artificial border. Cycling was tough with a strong headwind. We made it 40km to the outside of the capital, Belmopan, but weakened at the thought of the central mountains. Hitched a lift with 2 decidedly dodgy looking men in a bashed up American van and a tonne of tobaco leaves. They turned out to be jems, stopping off to show us local sights and at the best ice cream seller on our trip. Got off when flat roads appeared outside a huge juice factory. Another 30km to our destination. Battling agaonst the light and a 6km stretch of dirt track, we arrived at the deserted campsite to be wecomed by thousands of very hungry mosquitos! Threw the tent up as quickly as possible and tried to kill the 20 or so mozzirs that had followed us inside. Not nice! 23/02/2014
Up early to spen 3 hours rambling around the entire jungle clad site. Amazing views rewarded up for a steep climb to the top section of temple IV. A few phone cslls homr via skype in the onlh place at Tikal with phone reception. Everything at the ruind had inflated prices, including the 32km bus to El Remate at $8 per person (with the bikrs). Realising that our days on holiday were numbered, we opted to only cycle a short distance in Guatemala before catching another micro bus to the border town of Melchor. The officials tried unsuccessfully to scam $3 each for an exit tax but all else was smooth and easy. It was gone 5:30pm and still intensely hot and sticky. Our guide book suggested the 12km distant San Ignacio as a reasonable halt but dusk was already upon us and the hills were ever present! Pitched the tent in total darkness at the empty Inglewood campsite on the outskirts of town. 22/02/2014
Woke up in our quiet free lakeside camping location looking forward to a short day's cycling to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. 8km to the town of El Remate firstly on paved, back to dirt, the back again on asphalt. After an expensive coffee, we decided to kill time by visiting another archaeological site 2km south at Ixlu. It took somr time to locate and turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. We needed to delay cycling in order not to arrive at Tikal before 3pm so that we could buy a ticket for the next day which would also allow us to see the temples that evening too. The heat built up and up: we set of! 10km in I developed another puncture. "it's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to" but Tadek made me change it myself!!! Passed the gates for the national park snd ruins at 15:30 and had another 17km to reach the camping sites. Pitched the tent, quick change then a quick march to the main temples ad it was fast approaching darkness. Head torches to get back then a couple of overpriced beers and some crisps for my swanky bday dinner. |
Teresa and TadekInexperienced cycle tourists of Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Thailand, Laos & Cambodia Categories
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