Made it to Belize City on the boat which was a more pleasant ride than from Chetumal! Took 45 minutes and I grabbed some food and booked the bus to Flores when I got there. It cost $30 but a direct and safe ride makes it worthwhile. It is the only bus line which departs from the ferry terminal - between the ferry and the central bus terminal is a very dangerous area! Waited for about an hour because (of course) the bus was delayed. The Swiss guy from caye caulker was on the bus and there weren't many people so it was good. I slept most of the way and was woken up at the border to "hello beautiful! We can change your money!" by basically poking me through the window! Border crossing was pretty easy- cost $20 to leave Belize for their marine preservation fee etc. Walked into Guatemala and paid about $3.50. The bus then took us to Santa Elena where I woke up suddenly again! Had to change buses and then went around to a couple of hotels but ended up choosing Los amigos - no. 1 in lonely planet for Flores - I also booked my night bus to Antigua (which is pretty much the only safe night bus in the region) but was for $50 which is a lot bus has to be done! Later that day I booked my bus to Tikal ruins. I decided not to do a tour- and the Swiss guys didn't either. Just relaxed and went to bed reasonably early ready for the 4:30 bus!!

A lovely morning rise- got the bus to Tikal ruins which was 1 1/4 hours then paid a few dollars so we could all get a tea/coffee and a sandwich/cereal. The sandwich was the most disgusting sandwich I've ever tasted!!! Stale bread, some gross mayo/butter, etc. Went with Tobias, Mattius and Kyra for most of the time- was pretty good there- climbed three ruins including temple IV which is a great view over them all and the surrounding jungle. But temple V was sooooo steep- at 60m high we had to climb stairs almost as vertically steep as ladders! Saw some cool little animals (raccoon like, their name starts with a c) and some birds. The polish couple saw a toucan which i want to see but didn't get to!
Headed back to Flores at 12:30pm and I checked out of the hostel (they are so vague they don't even know what's going on which is good because i thought I might have to pay an extra night, but think it was ok bcos I took all the stuff off my bed so it looked like I was gone. Used the showers etc too after) Went with the same four of us (and the Dutch girl kyras friend John) to the lake not too far from the hostel. Was actually pretty nice! Could have been a bit cooler to be more refreshing, but I was actually pretty impressed that the water quality seemed ok and was quite clear. Went to a place that kyra and John had found the previous day for lunch- was amazing, I had a taco, burrito, tostada and cola for Q15 which is like $2.50.. Bargain!! Went back to the hostel for a bit before packing my stuff up and heading to the night bus. Kyra, John and mattius walked with me which was nice of them. The bus didn't come until 40 minutes after it was supposed to but luckily kyra called them from the hotel and they said they would be late. They waited with me which was so nice of them (plus it was pouring so they couldn't go back anyway!). I got on the bus and headed to Antigua via Guatemala city!

Got to (dodgy) Guatemala city where I was supposed to get my bus to Antigua- the guy I bought my ticket off said they would have my name on a piece of paper- but no one ever took my name down! Someone took my ticket and no one explained to me what the hell was going on!! Until half an hour later someone said we were waiting for the other night bus which was late until we could leave on a mini bus to Antigua. Finally got on and headed to Antigua, picking up a couple of people from another bus stop. I was very glad I didn't venture away from the bus terminal! The notoriously dangerous red chicken buses looked just as bad as Id heard they were!
Arrived at about 8am in Antigua. The hostel had normal dorms for about $12/night or mattresses on the floor in the attic for $8/night. The attic beds weren't bad at all except that the beams throughout the room meant you had to walk like a hunch back to duck under them until you got to your bed! I met some American guy who's bed was next to me so went for a walk with him, to the markets, the infamous arch, parque central and just around the city/town! The cobblestone streets, lack of signage and colourful but not as bright buildings as other places made it hard to navigate for a while. We were contemplating climbing Volcano Pacaya and had a look at prices for tours etc (every tour has a policeman accompany them!). Decided eventually not to do it because there's no lava around atm (which is what makes the pics look impressive!) and it was a 7 hour trip from 2-9pm and I had to get up early for the bus!!! Glad we decided not to anyway because it rained most of the afternoon! Didn't do a great deal else except booked the shuttle, grabbed some food, chatted to some more hostel guests and went to bed early!!