Guatemala and Honduras: Visiting the Maya city of Tikal and island feeling

After our spontaneous detour in Mexico, we didn't want to miss out on a highlight in northern Guatemala: the Maya city of Tikal. Tikal is not only enormous, with an area of about 65 square kilometers surrounded by rainforests, but also one of the most important cities of the classical Maya period (3rd to 9th century). Many buildings here have not yet been excavated and explored. In addition to the impressive structures, there is also a diverse flora and fauna to admire. The detour was worth it!

After two nights, the journey continued to Honduras, for which we initially had to endure a strenuous bus ride. The day started with us being sent to the bus station at 4:30 am. However, the bus didn't actually leave until 6:00 am... The bus for the first leg of the journey was a so-called Chicken bus, used by the locals. After the driver actually managed to get the almost falling apart vehicle on the road, we had to endure 4 hours of sweating (we're talking about 'German Rail ICE summer conditions'). We were looking forward to changing to the promised air-conditioned bus! When the time came, we realized that the new bus that was supposed to take us across the border was air-conditioned, but we had to stand for 6 hours... It wasn't until the third change that we had a bit more comfort, and after about 14 hours, we arrived at our accommodation. The next day, we took the ferry to our final destination, the island of Utila, which is known for its good and affordable diving courses. We spent the next five days on the island, with Thilo diving and me doing yoga and chilling by the sea. While the island may not have Caribbean dream beaches, it has a super relaxed atmosphere. After the short week, we were looking forward to traveling to Nicaragua to get to know the country and its people.

Since we always post our reports with a bit of a delay (it's really stressful here ;-) ), as a little orientation for you: We left Honduras on May 27th, a month after our departure from Germany.