Entering Guatemala, Yaxha and Topoxte

I got up early this morning as I would have to pack my day pack with two days worth of clothes. We would be leaving our main packs behind in Belize as we dipped into Guatemala for two days. It was only a short drive to the border and we said goodbye to our driver Kurt, proceeding to cross the border on foot.

We waited in line to exit Belize and then while in no man's land we boarded our new van with a new driver. Our new driver collected all our passports, went over to see a friend, then returned and handed back our passports and we proceeded. It was clear that entry to Guatemala could be easily bought. It could be anyone's passport and the number of passports did not have to match the number of people in the van. Anyway it was nice to use all those extra pages in my passport that I had to pay extra for. As we exited it was clear that this person did not understand how the Guatemalan border crossing fees worked.

Now that I was in a new country I was on a new mission, and that was to find the local beer. When we stopped for lunch I completed that mission in locating Gallo. I find that I enjoy most foreign beers. But then I thought that when others visit the U.S. and want to try the local beer, they probably end up with a Bud Light. So maybe I was only traveling the world sampling each countries version of Bud Light. But it didn't matter, in this heat it tasted great.

After lunch I walked around a bit before climbing back in to our van which featured a great air conditioner even at high speeds.





Guatemala was not looking much different then Belize, other then they spoke Spanish and did not accept U.S. currency.

We proceeded to Yaxha and as we entered I felt no connection, it felt like there was nothing here. I quadrupled the tobacco intake to my nostrils and was dropping Cacao nibs as fast as I could. But there was still nothing here and I did not understand why. I consulted Malcolm and he took me out of the city. We were required to pick up a local Guatemalan guide, leaving Leo behind, and he seemed rather upset that we left without a word. Malcolm took me down to the river outside of the city and we began to approach the city from a different entrance. Holy shit, the city burst open to me. It quickly became apparent that this was the way in to the city, and our previous entrance was one of mere convenience to accommodate the parking lot. Once I properly entered the city it became alive and open, it was night and day. And I was learning how important your approach to things are, and how different the outcome can be just by approaching it differently.







We then approached this incredible E-Group and our guide said it was a representation of the constellation of Orion. The spirits were testing me here because all you had to do was look at it and you knew that was wrong. Yeah, it's a good story that probably brings in and impresses the tourists but it is not even close to matching the pattern of Orion.



We then came across a ball court and it explained the rules to me.



This section which they cut away gave us a good insight to how they build on top of the old, time after time after time.

We often start so far away that we have no idea of the direction we are heading, but a beacon, a light, a feeling, pulls us in one direction, and we get closer, the blur is focused, and for the first time we have a glimmer of who we are.



We then had lunch before we caught a boat to Topoxte island. This is where the Mayans exiled their midgets. They believed them to be magical people but also feared them, so they sent them to an island. We caught a boat to see where they lived.

And it was good that a boat was available as this lake was infested with crocodiles and swimming carried great risk.

Every time I turned around I saw another place one of the little people might have lived or camped out.

Event their stelaes were small and cute.

And what a cute little temple.

With cute little steps.

Their numbers must have been small as there was just this one island with only a handful of structures. We said goodbye as we headed to Tikal Jungle Lodge. This place was all about location and I was looking forward to getting up early and heading in to the site to explore it on my own, meeting the group later for breakfast. Unfortunately location is all this lodge had going for it as the food was just awful and the staff was largely unfriendly. But the rooms were nice and I was able to get a good rest.

VIDEO: Mayan Cosmology - Day 11