From Merida it was an overnight bus trip to the former capital of Belize, Belize City then a change to a smaller chicken style bus for the next 3 1/2 hours to San Ignacio, our stop for this night.  We didn't get to look around San Ignacio as we were a little tuckered out from the past 16 hours but spent the time working out what we were going to do over the next 2 weeks.  The following days were easy; get to Tikal and enjoy arguably the premier spot to see Mayan ruins.  From our Hotel to the border was relatively easy, we just jumped into a taxi and gave the guy 10 bucks.  At the border is where things got shitty.  We had calculated how much Guatemalan Peso's we would need using XE.com and then we got the required amount of Belizean dollars out but at the border the exchange rate was crap.  We had calc'd a 4:1 ratio and we were only offered 3:1.  We were a little bit perplexed and a tad pissed off but really had no choice but to take it.  As we were crossing the border one of the guards asked us if we needed a lift on the other side, of course we did, so he went and arranged one for us.  Good in some ways because I don't speak Spanish but also we need to be wary sometimes about trusting everyone and not accepting the first offer to help.  It turned out OK in the end as we didn't get robbed or kidnapped which I always consider a positive result.

Tikal is in the middle of a Nature Reserve that was declared so only in 1980.  Up until that time it had been an area where the locals would go and gather sap from the trees to make, of all thing, gum.  Tikal is most famous for the 5 temples that protrude through the tops of the surrounding jungle.  It's also famous for being a place that has yet to be fully excavated and it's a great pleasure to see these pyramid shaped mounds covered in trees hiding in the jungle.  Although like all these sites they are definitely better after they have been cleared, studied and then opened up to the tourists.  Temple 4 is the biggest at Tikal and has steps leading up to the upper platform but just in front of that is a poorly built scaffolding and tarp system to protect the work going on below.  And that was the problem with this site, there was a hell of a lot of these horrible looking set-ups everywhere that took away some charm of this place.  But that is the only critical thing that I would say about Tikal because without this activity we wouldn't be able to see the like of Temple 5's steps or the main central plaza with Temples 1 and 2 facing off against each other or the Great Pyramid.  The best thing about Tikal would be the fact that you can just wander around by yourself, even after the big bright light has faded to the west, and that is a very eerie feeling, to be wandering around in the jungle in the dark.  Our morning started at 3H30 because we had booked the morning sunrise tour.  Basically a guide took us back into the site and gave us a running commentary about the Mayans and particularly Tikal and then with 1/2 hour to go before sunrise we made our way back up to the top of Temple 4 ... to watch the fog !!!  It's not a little known fact, if you read all the blogs on Tikal it is very apparent, that there is very rarely a sunrise visible in this part of the planet due to the dam low cloud.  But it doesn't stop us, or the other 60 people from trying to see what would have been an awesome site.  It doesn't matter in the end as walking around and listen to all the birds and monkeys wake up while sitting on ancient steps looking at centuries old temples surrounded by an eerie mist while eating our breakfast was pretty special.

We wandered back to the Hotel around 11H00 and just relaxed for the next 3 hours waiting for the transfer back to the Hotel in San Ignacio, where once again we sat down and did nothing.  We never did get to see San Ignacio.  The following day was another travel one.  From San Ignacio it was another chicken bus back to Belize City and then straight on to the water taxi out to San Pedro, a town on Ambergris Caye in the North-East of Belize.  Along with Caye Cauker, San Pedro is overrun with backpackers and rich tourists, all clambering to get their tans and partake in the diving and snorkeling that this place is known for.  It is from here that we intended to head out to the magnificent Blue Hole, but, not for that price.  Just to snorkel it was going to cost me A$420, I can tell you for that price I'd expect a lot more than just the boat out and some lunch but that is all you got.  Diving was about A$475 so Audrey turned it down also even though it is classed as a top 10 dive site in the world.  Instead we chose to swim a little closer to shore.  Audrey still did her dives, 5 in total, however because she learnt in New Caledonia nothing she has done since can stack up so she came back a little disappointed.  Me on the other hand, I'm just happy to be floating around checking things out and not freezing to death or getting teared apart by Jaws as is the case down south.  San Pedro is a pretty chilled out place and its easy to see why so many people flock here, and not just here but the entire Caribbean coast along Belize and Mexico.  The water is warm, its clear, the people are great, the beers cold, the food is varied and the sun shines.  When I say that the water is clear I need to clarify this.  Its very clear 100 m off shore but a closer in its full of seaweed that people continuously clean up everyday in a attempt to have the perfect looking sandy beach.  I was told that most times of the year it is not as bad as it is now.  But I'm sure that is said at every time of the year.

But all good things come to an end and its time for us to head back into Mexico and visit another place that is on my bucket list, and therefore also Audrey's because apparently what's mine is hers ....