The 10,000 challenge: Star Wars love and new buddies

I’m sitting on the balcony area of my hostel in a warm afternoon breeze and listening to tribe called quest. I’m overlooking backpackers in hammocks, lush Guatemalan mountains and breathtaking valleys. This is absolute heaven, this is Lanquin.

Crossing the border to Guatemala was like any other border crossing: epic.

Step 1: Get up at 5:30 for my last sunrise, pack and catch the 7:30 water taxi off the island to arrive at 8:30

Step 2: Pay 25USD for ‘luxury bus’ and wait for bus to arrive

Step 3: 10 am, watch ‘luxury bus’ arrive, note it is actually a shuttle, watch bus drive off with a ‘flat tire’

Step 4: Wait 1 hour with Danish girls for said bus to return with new tire-11am

Step 5: Take 3 hours to travel 150km to border in non-airconditioned shuttle with seats so small my shins bang against the bottom of the seat in front of me

Step 6: Get out of bus, walk across border, get ripped off by Belizeans who take the rest of my money for ‘departure tax’(30 USD), get asked for a further $7.50 departure tax and pass ‘go’ monopoly style

Step 7: walk past the Guatemalan immigration office

Step 8: walk back and pay more money for stamping my passport

Step 9: Collect more bruises in the shuttle for another 3 hours as we go through the jungle and little, colourful villages, admiring the colourful skirts and blouses of the women and many little houses, flowers, shops and chickens.

Step 10: clamber out of the shuttle and into a smaller shuttle for the final transfer

Step 11: Get taken to 3 ATMs and rejected 2 times before having money to pay for accommodation

Step 12: cross a bridge over the lake to an island in the middle of said lake -Florres, Time 6pm

Despite my frustration at border crossings, Florres is totally worth it. A little, cobbled stone, colourful village on an island in the middle of lake Peten Itza, how romantic. The town was beautiful with little wooden peirs you could jump off into to the lake, flower filled verandahs, beautiful guatemalan churches and street food!

Chilling out for the arvo

The perfect verandah!

Our hostel (Los Amigos) was also awesome-colourful hammocks, a beautiful restaurant(that you could only eat in if you had a couple of hours to spare-these guys were slow), sunken gardens, a night club and internet!

Jade looking cool, as usual

Of course, this is where I met up with Nick and Jade, my new travel buddies.

My new travel buddies!

Our days were spent lazying on the dock, jumping into the water and sunbaking or walking the cobbled streets eating chocobananas(frozen banana on a stick coated in chocolate-so good). Our afternoons involved drinking frappacino’s while lying on our hammocks promising ourselves we’d exercise that day.

Frappés, the flavour of Guatemala

Nights found us on the dock or in the park, eating amazing street food(3 tacos with everything-$1.20, 3 tostadas and 2 profiteroles $1.20) while watching the local basketball games.

Of course, it was my time to get sick. From Belize I carried with me a parasite we’ve all heard of-giardia. Think stomach cramps, loss of appetite and other unspeakable things. I was pretty sure but not 100%, I needed Dr. Nick and Dr. Jade to back me up. Luckily 3 month expired antibiotics saved the day and 3 days later, with no alcohol for 48 hours, I was 100% cured. Lucky as this one doesn’t go away by itself!

The highlight of everyone's trip to Florres is this: In one of the most northern points of Guatemala, hidden deep in the jungle, you will find 5 pyramids literally towering above the tree tops. This is the mysterious Tikkal, one of the largest Mayan ruins in Central America/ the world. The towers are a reflection of Orien's belt(as per usual with these celestial obsessed people) and are central to one of the biggest Mayan cities. It is a constant battle against nature with the dense, lush jungle threatening to swallow the site forever. It is this wild, alien jungle which made this site so perfect for Star Wars episode 6 to be filmed here, the part with the Ewoks of course. Anyone who has met me knows I have a deep and true love of star wars and my first crush, Luke Skywalker.

Taking on a lost world

Getting up at 4am we clambered into a shuttle where I slept my way to Tikkal for 2 hours. You’d think we’d make sunrise but no, we get up that early because by lunch time it is so hot you need to leave. I was in absolute heaven, soaking up the Starwars jungle vibes, hiking the towers, holding tarantulas(turns out they do bite-should have checked before getting personal with one) and spotting toucans.

My New Friend

Climbing to the top of the tallest of the towers, all I could see was jungle stretching forever with the few pyramid peaks majestically towering above it all.