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Our stay in Flores was short and sweet with possibly the cheapest beers we have come across on the trip so far.. 3 for 15 quetzals which is about £1.20!! We were introduced to a game called 'Three Man', which is an infuriating and addictive drinking game requiring only a pair of dice. We later tried to introduce this game to another group of people and utterly failed. Apparently it is only a certain few people who can understand the ever changing rules! The girls retired at a reasonable hour, not wanting to feel terrible at the ruins but the boys soldiered on. Chants of 'THREEEEEE MAN!' were heard from the hotel down the road. The poor bar people!
We had booked a minivan for 4.30am to take us to the ruins site which was about an hour away. Unrelated to the beer the previous evening (seriously!) our numbers had dwindled as three of the group had been taken ill. When the transport eventually turned up… half an hour late… we bundled in and drove through the dark to the group of tourist vans who were eagerly waiting outside the ruins gate to catch a glimpse of the ruins at its most peaceful. After a massively overpriced breakfast of coffee and cereal, we met our guide, Caesar, who took us into the park. He showed us a model of the site as we entered and described our route through the jungle, which was going to take about 4 ½ hours and take us to the most excavated ruins. There are over 200 individual buildings that make up Tikal, only a small amount of which have been uncovered. The rest were reclaimed by the jungle which sprang up around the ancient city since the Maya left it. The rate that the jungle grows around the buildings is incredible. Caesar showed us a covered building and explained that in the early 20th Century it had been excavated by Pennsylvania University. Years later, the jungle has reclaimed it. There are still millions being spent by the University and the Guatamalan Government on the ongoing project to uncover the buildings and mysteries of Tikal.
The site itself is very impressive. Unlike some of its neighbours, you are still allowed to climb most of the ruins. One in particular, Temple IV, peeps out over the top of the jungle canopy and gives you a view of Temples I, II and III, giving you an idea of how big the city is and what it may have looked like in its glory days.
Caesar took us to the Lost World Pyramid and drew us a picture in the mud of the precision of the Mayan building plans. From the central pyramid, three different structures are perfectly alligned with the solstices throughout the year which can still be seen today. The same 'E-group' solar observatory structures are found all over Central America, the most noted being the Mirador which is close to the border and requires a 4 day hike to get to (we weren't putting our names forward for that trip!) and Chitchen Itza in Mexico. They're bloody smart, those Mayans!
As impressive as this is, the day was topped off when at the end of our tour, our guide pointed to the trees and directed us to a pair of monkeys having sex. Yep, this was our very wise, educated guide pointing out two monkeys "doin' it"!
We survived the monsoon rains on the way back to the van and slept the whole way back. Another round of threeee man! and off into the night in search of the island's only karaoke. A very cultured day was had by all!
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