Guatemala and the Bay Islands

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Jumping on an overnight bus on the Mexican border to Guatemala we somehow managed to wake up in Belize. Despite the fact we never actually set foot in the country we still were forced to pay $30 just to leave!

When we finally made it Guatemala we stopped in the lakeside town of Flores which would act as our base to explore one of the most important Mayan sites - Tikal . After arranging our tour we set of from Flores at 3 in the morning then had to trek for about two hours in pitch dark before negotiating the steps of the largest temple in Tikal . When we finally reached the top, which was used in Star Wars, we sat in silence for the sun to come up.

In a group of about 40 tourists everyone was absolutely speechless

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As the sun began to rise the remaining ancient Mayan temples slowly revealed themselves from behind the darkness and mist, stretching up through the rain forest below in what was an incredible sight that was accompanied by the sounds of howler monkeys and birds waking. In a group of about 40 tourists everyone was absolutely speechless.

The rest of the park was equally as impressive and much of it has been faithfully restored at great cost over the past few years. After leaving Tikal behind we jumped straight onto yet another overnight bus and headed to the colonial town of Antigua, a tourist hot spot due to the massive amount of Spanish schools and volcanoes.

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Having seen a few volcanoes already on this trip I wasn't too keen on another trek to watch a smouldering volcano from a huge distance, but this, being Guatemala, promised to be a much more interesting experience.

When we reached the base of the volcano, where most tours stop for obvious safety reasons, we were led along sharp volcanic rock right up to a full blown lava river, so close that people were poking the lava with sticks! Having only ever seen lava on TV before it was a pretty fantastic sight to see the molten rock make its way down from the peak, and even more spectacular when the sun set.

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After Antigua we headed to San Pedro which sits on the edge of a lake, and although it didn't have the white sandy beaches we were hoping for we did have a few relaxing days with the highlight being when we met up with two Irish girls, Aoife and Jane, and had a great night out ending with us all sitting on the dock at 6 in the morning singing Irish songs!

Leaving Guatemala we bussed it into Honduras and straight out to the Bay Island of Utilla , the cheaper option to Roatan where many people go on honeymoon. Although Utilla was a relaxing place with a decent enough beach and some great bars, it definitely is more for people who want to Scuba dive, and there is somewhat of a dive clique around the place.

More pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/hughes.niall/