And We're Back...

Sorry all. It's been some time since the last post; mostly because our computer crashed a lost all our files. Luckily, James was smart enough to back up the pictures!

So.... here we go where we left off. Our Awesome Christmas Trip!

DAY TWO: TIKAL

Tikal was one of the largest Mayan cities.

It's HUGE! The residential area of Tikal covers around 23 sq miles. It's estimated that 500,000 people lived in and around the city of Tikal. There are loads of temples and archeological sites and they say there are at least three hundred more unearthed.

Now that you have the feel for the size of this Guatemalan National Park, time for some pictures!

Our day started out with a drive through the still forested areas of Tikal. There are all kinds of protected animals inside the park. Here is James with a Jaguar Crossing sign. That's right, Jaguars.

Once we got into the park there were so many things to see. We had so mich fun walking around and taking pictures. We saw really tall temples, religious carvings, the Ceiba (Guatemala's national tree and a sacred tree to the Mayans), palaces, and we climbed them all using rickety wooden stairs!

During our trip James was amazed how many jaguars you could hearing roaring through the forest. He was even more amazed, however, when I told him that it wasn't jaguars but monkeys making that noise. Insert James' introduction to and obsession with the howler monkeys. We found two groups of monkeys yelling at each other and recorded their howls. Pretty cool huh?

There were also entrances sign to the park warning visiters about these little devils. Apparently, as if they weren't load enough, howler monkeys like to make sure you know they are there. They do this by pooping on people's heads. Many a traveler has left the park covered in monkey fecal matter. I was crossing my fingers and hoping it would happen to James, but alas, we emerged clean.

All of the ruins were MASSIVE, especially the temples. However, the palaces were very grand as well. You can see James standing up in the left hand corner of this picture on the top of one palace. This was just a small part of the palace which opened up into a ball playing court surrounded by other towers. It's really impossible to describe how big Tikal really is.

We got lots of pictures in front of the Great Jaguar in the Grand Plaza, one of the most famous temples in Tikal.

But after all of this, James' favorite place was a the top of the tallest temple in Tikal. The view was amazing. Through the trees you can see the temples of the Grand Plaza.

It was a wonderful day and a great way to begin our Christmas trip!

Merry Christmas to Us

This year for Christmas, James and I gave each other a trip around Guatemala. It was a BIG trip, so the posts will be coming in parts. 

After getting up at 4 a.m. and driving for 11 hours, our first stop was the beautiful island of Las Flores. 

James fell in love with the town right away. The island is small enough that nearly every building has a water front. The whole island is surrounded by a stone walk way and beautiful piers. This was the view from our $10 hotel the first night we stayed in Las Flores. 

The hotels also had a look out on top of the building. The weather was wonderful and I loved laying in the hammocks and listening to the birds. 

That night we went on a boat ride around the island and were able to climb an un earthed Mayan watch tower that one of the kings had built. 

Salcaja

This weekend James and I went to see the Church of San Jacinto, the oldest church in Central America! It's very close to Quetzaltenango in a town called Salcaja. The church was built in 1524 and still looks pretty good for its age.

The town is also known for cloth weaving. I heard that 5 out of 10 houses in Salcaja have a cloth weaver. This is a great place to buy traditional Mayan clothing. Much of the clothing is elaborately hand embroidered. Since it's almost completely cloth, it's really a beautiful market. The great thing about this market is that it's not catered to tourists. All of the weavings for sale are meant to be worn. I took a quick picture of one vendor's merchandise to show all the different colors, patterns, and styles of the Mayan cloth.

Mexico

A few weeks ago James and I realized that our Guatemala visas had expired. We were illegal aliens. Luckily, all we really needed to do was apply for an extension, which just means they give us another stamp and authorize us to stay in the country for another 90 days.

There are two way to do this...

1) We can go to Guatemala City, hand over our pass ports for a week, pay a fine, and go back to the city to retrieve the pass ports.

OR

2) We could leave the country for 72 hours. 

Taking a trip sounded like a lot more fun. We only live about 2 hours (if your driving in a car) from the Mexican border and the beach is only 30 to 45 mins past the border, so we decided to go the a beach for the weekend. 

Unfortunately, taking the chicken buses may have saved us $75 but extended that 2 1/2 hour trip to 6. We made it to the border but still had a long way to go.

HOWEVER - after 5 buses, 3 taxis, and a lot of walking we made it to the beach! We found a nice hotel for $20 a night and the next morning spent our time soaking up the sun on this pretty little number ...

The beach was VERY long and we had it all to ourselves, except for a fisherman. The water was a great temperature but was a little difficult to swim in because it was so strong. 

We decided that our time would be best spent building a sand castle. I must say, it turned out quite well.

After the beach we took off to see the city of Tapachula. In the afternoon we visited a small ruins site called Izapa. 

That night we ate a nice dinner, walked around the central park, and watched an outdoor movie about the life of Central American immigrants as they make their way through Mexico. The morning brought us to a church service in Tapachula and then the long journey back to Xela. Over all it was a pretty good trip. We are currently legal!

Kite Festival 1 - Giant Kites!!!

Last Monday, Megan and I traveled to a small town called Sumpango Sacatepequez to visit a festival of kites. During the All Saints Day and the Day of the Dead, kite flying becomes super popular all over Guatemala. People told us that is in an ancient Mayan tradition of communicating with one's ancestors.

The festival was spectacular. The festival takes place in a dirt soccer field on top of a hill. While climbing up the hill, we saw hundreds of small kites in the air.

We bought a couple of small kites and spent a while flying them. At the top of the hill we found the main attraction, Los Barriletes Gigantes, or giant kites. The small ones were about 10 feet wide, and the largest were around 60 feet!!!

Kite Festival 2 - Kite Details

There were probably about 50 giant kites on display. Each was very unique with an incredible amount of detail. The colors and patterns come from small pieces of tissue paper. The frames were typically made of bamboo. 

Each kite had a specific message. Some were environmental, others human rights, and others political. 

(Pride in indigenous culture)

(The riches of our beloved Guatemala)

(Pollution)

They were very beautiful from far away, but even more beautiful close up.

Kite Festival 3 - Giant Kites Flying

The grand attraction was the flying of the giant kites. Megan and I got really good seats on the edge of small cliff. 

As you can see, there were a lot of people, and they didn't leave much room for the 100+ pound kites to fall. There were some close calls

Most of the kites flew for 20 or 30 seconds, but were too heavy to stay in the air. However, one smaller kite (a mere 10 feet across) got up pretty high and stayed there for more than an hour.