Thursday, February 20, 2003
Slept in today - hooray! - and had an early lunch
at Escalofrio Café. A huge, wonderful burrito is 25
quetzales and a 32-ounce Tecate is 15. If you happen
to be in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by!
A colorful street in Flores
Flores is the capital of El Petén, and is located
on an island in Lago Petén-Itzá. It is linked by a
bridge to the larger neighboring mainland town of
Santa Elena. Flores is all pastel and cobblestone -
very attractive - but it's blisteringly hot! Thank
God we're here in February. It must be murder in
August.
Lanchas for hire
We stocked up on water and cerveza and walked down
the street to hire a lancha. José wanted 140Q for a
one-hour trip around the island, but Tom talked him
down to 100 ($13). José and his partner took us out a
ways in the lake, then told us about mirador (lookout
point). Did we want to go there? But of course.
The mirador
The mirador, which was a platform in a tall tree,
was located on a little peninsula jutting out into
the lake and was inside the sitio arqueologico
Tayazal.
An island in Lago Petén-Itzá
It was about 180 stairsteps up to the mirador in
the scorching sun - and on our day off! - but it was
spectacular! We had a great view of the lake and of
Flores.
City of Flores, capital of El Petén,
Guatemala
Back in the lancha, we finished our trip around
the island. What a great way to spend the day!
We made arrangements with San Juan Travel Agency
for transportation to and from Tikal tomorrow and
back to Palenque the next day. Then we retreated into
the air conditioning to await the (relative) cool of
nightfall. Actually, the heat wasn't so oppressive in
the shade, and we spent some considerable time
people-watching from the terrace of our hotel. Tom
bought a bottle of Old Friend, a Guatemalan whiskey,
and I told him "Vaya con Dios!" (Go with God!) It was
terrible.
Flores is crawling with hippies. They come to feel
the "energy" of the pyramids at Tikal. Happily, you
mainly just see them at night, like vampires.
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