Hispantastic
No luck finding my long-lost friend Kevin at the bars last night. I did manage to consume approximately twice my weight in Belizean beer (Belikin stout being my preferred local grog), talked to some backpackers from Kentucky, played some wicked foosball (good enough to make you proud, Justin), had a beer bought for me by a biker from Trinidad, drank a flaming shot, chased by more liquor, and when I didn’t grimace enough for the bartender, followed by another mouthful of unnamed hard liquor, and didn’t make it home till around 3-4.
In the morning, we grabbed an expensive breakfast, filled up on gas, and managed to find the only bookstore in belize, where we bought 8 books between the two of us. As our likely last opportunity for anything that may be called a “selection” of English-language books, we were excited. 20 minutes out of San Ignacio, and we had arrived at the Guatemalan border.
Arriving at the border, we realized we were very lacking in funds. Told before the Belizean currency was hard to get rid of, we’d completely cashed out before hitting the border. The money-changers there insisted there was no Guatemalan ATM anywhere near the border, and explained all the fees we’d have to pay. Furthermore, Belize charges over $15 USD as an exit fee (poor ex-pats have to stay I guess?), so we had to chew through a decent bit of our (read: my dad’s) emergency-funds.
The Guatemalan border was a joke, with no customs at all. An english-speaking Guatemalan guided us through the entire process working for tips (I gave him a little more than $3 USD, and he seemed quite happy), and he earned his fee. To bring in vehicles, we needed photocopies of several documents, and to get those, we had to walk over the border, over a ridiculous bridge, and to a random photocopy store where the owner joked in perfect english “Welcome to Guatemala, a third world country with lots of wasteful paper.” I guess he’s never filled out a 1040 in the US!
With minimal trouble, we entered Guatemala, and with the help of incredibly friendly locals, we found an ATM and got enough Guatemalan Quetzals (the most fun currency to pronounce to date!) to get us to the next bank. Before leaving our first Guatemalan town, I realized four things: people speak Spanish again, the streets were covered in literally inches of mud, the people are incredibly friendly, and the countryside is unbelieveably beautiful.
We pressed on to Tikal, the site of our final, colossal Mayan ruin. We had been told there were hotels inside the park, and so we proceeded directly to the center, despite having no plans to actually visit the ruins that day. The so-called cheapest hotel in Tikal quoted us their price – $60 USD! – and I just about laughed in their faces. 30 kilometers outside the park, we’d passed a town with upwards of 10 small hotels, so we simply returned to them, and found a place with a room with 2 beds, hot water, and private parking for under $17 USD. If we felt miserly, which we didn’t this particular night, we could have passed for $10 USD with a shared bath without hot water.
We had a fantastic dinner at a small restaurant, and smoked a couple cuban cigars. It’s continued to rain pretty steadily everywhere we’ve been for the last few days, and I can only hope our luck in weather changes before our trip to Tikal tomorrow. In the meantime, with all our worries about Guatemala, so far, so great… here’s hoping these trends continue!