El Remate & Tikal

Tikal Temple 1

After leaving Semuc Champey I headed towards Tikal. Some ancient Mayan ruins set in the jungle in the northern part of Guatemala. It was an interesting journey! First we were crammed into a tiny shuttle and a few of the other passengers appeared to be suffering from terrible hangovers. I felt for them, because some of them looked pretty green and there was not a lot of room!

Three hours into the bumpy & windy journey we got caught in a protest between a poor village and an electrical company. We were ground to a halt and ended up sitting on the side of the road for a couple of hours. In some instances this would've been a hindrance, but in this case it was really good fun! We sought shade behind a truck and quickly became friends with fellow travellers from another bus.

Given the delay in our journey, we arrived into Flores late and I'd missed the last bus to El Remate where I'd been recommended to stay (thanks Jolene!). Thankfully a fellow traveller Sophie wanted to head to El Remate too so we were able to share a taxi. Upon arriving in El Remate everyone was in the midst of a power cut so I invited Sophie to share my room and we bonded by candlelight communicating in Spanglish (her mother tongue is French).

We shared breakfast the next morning then parted ways.

That night I was invited to a Mayan ceremony where I met some shamans who had been travelling for 3 years giving ceremonies and blessings. We blessed ourselves and Mother Earth and then the following morning I was up at 2.30am to do the dawn mission to Tikal.

Walking through the jungle in the dark is magical!! I love the sound of the jungle in the night. The howler monkeys were going wild and sounded like dinosaurs. Other than the sound if the monkeys there was a sense of peace in the jungle as we explored the ruins.

After visiting Tikal I was unsure as to what my next move would be. However after a morning run around Lake Petèn Itzà I fell in love and knew that I was to stay a little longer.

I moved further around the lake to the sleepier part of El Remate, where I stayed in a very cool dorm at Mon Ami. It was a loft/tree house with big queen size beds and I had it all to myself (it made a great yoga shala too!). There were no windows, just thatched roofing and mosquito screens for windows (I'm still covered in mossie bites though), I was surrounded by lush jungle and was often woken to the sounds of howler monkeys going wild!! I spent my days running, practicing yoga, meditating, swimming, hiking, bird watching, star gazing, watching amazing sunsets and making new friends on the pier. For a few days I was in heaven!! And I felt so free. It really is one of the most magical spots I've discovered so far.

My dorm at Mon Ami

One of the many beautiful sunsets from the pier

All good things must come to an end though and I'm now back in Antigua suffering from a cold! I did however climb up the Pacaya volcano yesterday where we saw lava and toasted marshmallows.

Volcan Pacaya

Lava at Pacaya

Toasted marshmallow :)

Tomorrow I'm heading to Lake Atitlan for a month of yoga and meditation.

Until next time amigos...

Love Lili xx