Having a better time of it now thankfully. A local Lebanese / creole guy jimmy in town here is my man. He runs a restaurant and tour company and likes to brag about how he won the national grill master competition against some rich douchebags with $10000 grills. I took a day trip to Guatemala to visit Tikal which was incredible. Our tour guide noelle is a Mayan so we got the real deal. Their history is so similar to the first nations back home; how their culture has been repressed and how it is making a quiet come back.
There we saw some rich new age types participating in a Mayan fire ceremony. They were all white Europeans dressed in white with flowers in their hair etc and wearing spiral necklaces. I’m worried I’m going to be the only normal one at the caracol sleepover. Oh well it’s going to be an experience. I have to make sure I have lots of tequila.
Yesterday was another great day. Went on a spectacular cave tour which was very extensive and quite a rugged experience! We took the difficult routes I think as we were all young and fit. I couldn’t imagine an older person struggling up the dangerous rock formations. There are old skeletons in the cave which have been calcified and are over 1000 years old. After the tour the group met for dinner and a lot of beer. What a great bunch of ppl.
Today was a down day for me. I was absolutely exhausted for some reason so just stayed in my room and napped. Feel better now. Tomorrow: Mayan calendar day. Am getting picked up at noon ish and will drive for two hours on a sketchy road to the temple and set up our tents. Then a tour, dinner, and then at 4:30 am will be the fire ceremony. Not expecting to get much sleep. I booked a hotel room the the following night so I can just crash and get up early to head back to the island of Caye caulker where I’ll stay until boxing day when I fly out.