Long Overdue

Right, this is something I totally forgot to put in ages ago, but I feel it is one of the coolest things we have done so far, so I can´t miss it out. I´ll put the rest in a different posting.
On December 21st, 2011, one year exactly before the Mayan prophecy of an era of change, we went to Tikal, one of the most prominent Mayan sites. We had already visited Tikal the day before and were shown round by a brilliant guide. He had dropped in to the conversation that he was taking others the day after for an áfter hours showing.´Obviously, we were intrigued. We ended up agreeing a price and being told that he had a special surprise for us, and he would bring something along to make it a bit more fun. I know this all sounds fairly ominous, but ironically I have learned to trust out here. Well, perhaps trust my instincts, and no alarm bells rang at all.
We arrived the next day bearing some nibbles and a bottle of rum. There were 7 of us, all prepared to climb the temple to watch the sunset. First of all, no one is allowed to be in the park after sunset, second of all, no one is allowed to climb the temple. This is due to some stupid American falling down and killing herself. Same goes for Chitchen Itza - stupid American ruining it (no pun intended) for everyone. But if you pay enough, you can do just about anything. The surprise was going down a tunnel which (apparently) only 5 people a year enter. It was beautiful - the reds were still vibrant and the faces of the images were still clear. We had to crouch down with our torches to get through the tunnel among tarantulas, scorpion spiders and rats. Good fun!
We then began the ascent of the temple. Precarious to say the least as the stairs are falling away in most places, but I had a feeling that after a couple of rums at the top the decent would be more challenging, albeit less worrying with the warmth of rum in my stomach. We got to the top and the guide pulled out a large bud of cannabis to share with the group. So, when in Rome, and admittedly the scenery around me glittered with life, which was spectacular as it needed no enhancement to be enchanting. We say two toucans fly across the sunset, and watched the sun set over the vast jungle - not a power line in sight.
We made our way down in the dark and some of us on our bums and made our way toward a Mayan ceremony. At this point I became uncomfortable because the locals were obviously not happy about us being there. We were told, when approached too close, that the music was finished in a fairly brash tone. We walked away and the music started up again. Unfortunately we were not the only tourists there and not all were as sensitive to the feelings of the Mayans. It was an impressive ceremony to watch, even from afar. I have never seen the sky look like that. I now understand why the Mayans were so obsessed with the sky and the stars. I could not pull my eyes away from the clarity, the mind-boggling infinity, the black and sparkling sheet above me. Every detail was visible, every star. To this day I don´t think I have seen or will ever see anything that moved me as much as that did. I had permanent goosebumps. To top it off, the shadow of a fire danced upon a looming temple set against the backdrop of that sublime sky. An image forever etched on my brain.
So, I know that everyone that was there that night with our guide will be thinking the same thing at the same time next year - how lucky we were to experience Tikal at such a momentous time. I only wish everyone could see the sky like that at one point in their lives.

Another Paradise

Well I trust everyone had a good Christmas. We spent our Christmas on the Belizean island of Caye Caulker. This island has no cars - everyone gets around on golf buggies and bicycles. There are no paved roads, just sandy walkways. Unfortunately there is a distinct lack of a proper beach, but everyone gathers at the Lazy Lizard by 'the split.' The split came about following hurricane Hattie which split the island in two. This is now the place to go and swim and drink cocktails (Rosie and I even treated ourselves to a massage yesterday on the beach!) It took a bit of getting used to speaking English again as Belize speaks English, took a while to stop saying gracias!
We had a lovely Christmas on the beach with a lot of rum, snacks and even a cheese board! We met up with a few people we had met during our travels, so it was kind of like getting together to meet up with family. It was the best possible Christmas I could have had away from home. We are still on this little island, and I'm afraid we don't have much to show for it apart from hangovers and injuries. We moved hostels yesterday as our beautiful and clean, albeit militant, hostel didn't have enough space for us. So we moved to the more party hostel on the island. We went out for dinner and came back to a couple leaving due to a bed bug infestation and puddles of blood all over the hostel from a guy who was so drunk he couldn't remember what had happened. Fair enough, you can't control the drunkards, but the owner sat there smoking weed all night and the blood still wasn't cleaned until 9 am this morning. So we have moved. We had an attic room which had an amazing view, but Rosie and I literally had to climb through a hole to get to it. We are now paying 10 BZD less for a cleaner accommodation. Go us!
One thing we do have to show for it actually is 2 snorkeling tours. The first one took us on an adventure through snake infested mangroves to see Manatees, which we actually saw. The second one was more noteworthy with a company called Raggamuffin. Surely the name says it all. We went to 3 separate snorkel spots, one called shark and stingray alley. Not quite as good as Stingray City though... but the snorkeling was the best we have had. The fed us heartily between snorkels and once the snorkeling was all done we struggled to finish off the vat of rum punch they had brought for the trip. We walked off that boat sozzled at sunset. What happened for the rest of the night is a bit of a mystery to all. (I left early, but still managed to be rather inebriated). Well, the next time I write hopefully it won't just be of lounging in the sun, as much fun as it is, I want to be traveling again. Stay irie!