Following a thrilling day at Semuc we had a different type of adventure on the way up to Tikal.  What was supposed to be a 9 hour day turned a 17 hour ride only to be dropped in rainy Flores at midnight , some 15 miles from our hotel reservation.  With no transportation we ended up walking around asking for rooms until we found one that we had to wait for 15 minutes for while they removed the carpentry equipment as the room was literally in a state of repair.  The bus ride started slow in Lanquin as we waited for enough tourists to fill the bus before hitting the road.  The first 1/2 of the day was uneventful and scenic.  The second half started with us pulling over a short while after lunch where another two shuttles stopped to confer.  Turns out the locals were blocking the road ahead of us in protest of the government not paying teachers and maintaining hospitals and their staff.  Our driver stated we could take another route adding another 6 hour to our drive and costing each of us an additional 8 dollars or we could wait and hope  the protest ended sometime in the evening.  Many of our fellow riders were not happy with the additional costs and time and made things difficult for the bus drivers.  Eventually we were hurried onto the bus as the protestors had been drinking and found out there were numerous tourists down the road.  Turns out the protestors thought confronting us would bring publicity to their plight.  So we piled onto the bus and headed off on dirt roads in the rapidly approaching thunderstorms.  We stopped on the outskirts of Flores where we depleted one of the few ATM’s in the area in order to pay the additional fuel charge.  Overall it was a long and interesting way to experience something Guatemalans are probably all too familiar with.

Some 6 hours later we awoke to a slowly drying Flores and grabbed a bite before getting on another bus taking us to nearby Tikal.  This ride was much more enjoyable due to length, space, and Vinny, our excellent guide.  Tikal was and is amazing.  We hiked some 5 miles across the grounds while Vinny explained different aspects of the ruins and culture.  Vinny also talked about his time as a crew member on the reality show, Survivor.  Even amongst 1000 year old ruins I believe the highlight of Tikal for Kate was hearing about Survivor.  While touring the grounds it was neat to see all of the traditionally dressed Mayans enjoying the site and partaking in ceremonies.  Some other highlights included several spider monkeys, a coati, impressive Ceiba trees, and the iconic scene from Star Wars where you can see temples I and II from atop temple IV.  While the grounds are truly impressive it is even more astounding to think to date they have only uncovered some 20% of the ruins.