You are in Guatamala!

You are in Guatamala now...
After an exhausting night being terrified of what bugs were going to visit in the night and having an unhealthy amount of insect repellent on, sheets locked in up to my neck despite the heat, I dragged myself put of bed and we got on the road again. This time to somewhere more populated with people. In this case it was San Jose. The way we got there was absolutely great and we will be the last tour group to go via that route. We headed to the border crossing which is by the Usumacinta River. Exit fee paid (500 Pesos) we then headed down to the water to board a long, narrow boat that was going to take us up river to Guatamala. It was an entirely unique experience to cross via water. When we stepped on land we were in Guatamala after just a short 30 minutes on the river. We carried our bags up a short, but steep hill, got on the waiting bus then 10 minutes later arrived at the next border. We were officially in Guatamala and had 2 hours of rough, bumpy, unpaved roads ahead before finally getting onto tarmac. The scenery was almost identical but the people were slightly different as were the buildings. Still green, lush and slightly wet. Soldiers were stopping cars and trucks about half an hour into our journey and it was a bit surreal seeing semi-automatic weapons just casually displayed across their front. I don't know what they were looking for but I kept my camera down. I was not going to make the special foces Guatamaleans angry by taking photos of them.
We arrived in San Jose in the late afternoon. It was my turn for a room to myself and it was such a luxury. It was right near the lake and fairly quiet during the day. At night it was a slightly louder place. When the sun set the wild and neglected dogs that are everywhere in these countries started barking, trucks and cars drove by honking their horns, at the crack of dawn the roosters started their crowing.
The next morning, a slightly sleep deprived me was up early and we jumped on a bus to go and see the ruins of Tikal. They are inside the Tikal National Park, a 520 square km park which consists of the ruins and jungle. I saw a wild pig/boar (just a small one) running through the forest and it came out onto the path then saw us and scurried off. Quite an exciting start to the day. I kept my eyes peeled but sadly I saw no armadillo or juguar though both live in the jungle.
The ruins were impressive. I climbed one that was 70 metres up and once up there, I could see out over the jungle for some distance. The only things marring the landscape were a few other temples that stood above the tree tops, and I can't really say that it marred the landscape. It made you feel a bit like Indiana Jones exploring the jungle if you ignored the tourists around you.
From there we headed to a small island called Flores. It is small enough that I walked around it in 20 minutes. It was the 6th Jan so there was a big celebration fot the three wise men, a bit likw the end of christmas for them. They had set up food stalls and a band were getting ready. At 4.30 we boarded a boat for a sunset booze cruise. First drink was a free hibiscus juice with vodka... from there it was only 15 quetzal ($3) for a mojito or tequila shot... so 2 mojitos and a tequila later I was pleasantly on the boarder between drunk and sober. The sun set on the lake was spectacular. The karaoke that came later was not haha
We got back to Flores around 9. Some went to the bar for more drinks but a few of us went to grab some sstreet food aka a HUGE slice of banana cake and then headed up the hill to check out the band. Everyone was due to meet up again at 10 where we hopped in a water taxi and went back over the lake to San Jose.
Last partof the night consisted of me standing in dog poo and not realising it and treking it into my room. I had to was my shoe and then my hands and the. The tiles, then make y hands again. It STUNK and as I went to sleep it was all I could smell. Lovely.