Flores/Lake Itza: 13th - 15th July 2025
13th July – Sunday
I have moved locations. I’m now a 5-minute boat ride from Flores Island – I thought I’d see what all the fuss is about before I head further into Guatemala. I actually didn’t think I was going to make it here. I woke at 3:30 this morning with the shits and threw up. I’m not sure if it was the chicken I ate or the 2 margaritas I consumed, the salt on the glass rim was like nothing I had tasted before, so strong. It took a while to get back to sleep and I woke at 8, still not quite right but I packed while drinking my coffee with hope in my heart.
Last night I overheard three girls talking about how the bus service is different on a Sunday. So, I checked with the receptionist and they were right, she informed me there was only one bus today at midday. Not wanting to miss it I checked out at 10:30. The overall bill just a little lower than I had calculated so I was happy about that and the receptionist called me the one and only El Remate tuktuk which took me to the bus stop in town. I was there by 10:50 and was thinking about going for breakfast, my stomach feeling ok by then, but the tuktuk driver stopped me and told me there was a bus arriving at 11 o’clock!
I sat in the front of the bus next to the driver and what an absolutely lovely, generous man. He bought some oat and honey cakes from a street vender while we were waiting at some road works which he shared it with me, and then, as we were driving through a small village, he gave some money to the church people that were in the street. His final good deed whilst in my company was, when he dropped me off, to get me a tuktuk and tell the driver to take me to the colectivo boats; I should have got his number!
The colectivo boats all leave from Flores Island, so in the tuktuk we crossed the linkway and drove across the island which took all of 5 minutes and meant I got a little glimpse of it as we went through. It looks beautiful but very touristy. In fact, Flores in general was a little shock to the system after being El Remate and not coming in contact with anything western for over a week; on the mainland there is a Taco Bells, McDonald, a pizza parlour and Burger King!
The boat ride to my hostel, which is in a miniature town called San Miguel directly opposite Flores Island, was all of 3-minutes and cost 10Q, it runs from 5am until 11pm every day and even takes motorbikes and cars. Tomorrow I will spend the day on the island and come back when I’ve seen and had enough. My hostel was a 2-minute walk from where the boat dropped me. It took me a while to work out how to get there without getting my feet wet as the lake was flooding the road. Eventually I realised that the wooden walkway went round the shop on the corner and was used as a pavement over the flood waters.
I got to my hostel and couldn’t get in; there is a code lock on the door and no-one was around. I set up camp outside and sent the owners a message. 1 hour and a beer later I still hadn’t heard from them. I finally found their phone number on Agoda and got the code. My room is a hot house with no air-conditioning but it does have two fans. I just hope the night is not as sweltering as the day.
I’ve been for a walk around the village; it took all of 15 minutes. I found the local school and a couple of shops and two small restaurants, otherwise there is nothing else to it. I think by three nights / two days will be more than enough here. One last point, the owners said it was peaceful and chilled with a good view of Flores Island. All I can hear are cockerels and the property in front has built up so high all I see is a brick wall – yes, 3 nights will be plenty.
Later: I’m so falling in love with Guatemala – even this area, although so near to Flores Island, which I’ve yet to explore but expect it is a tourist trap. This little town is to die for, especially as the sun goes down. After spending the afternoon on my website (it’s going to take some work to catch up) I went for a walk to find dinner. I set my hope on a restaurant called Veamer, and after heading down a wrong road, I found it; literally one minute walk from my room. I couldn’t resist temptation and had king prawns. The plate came with 8 beautifully grilled prawns, salad, a jacket potato with cheese in the middle and toasted bread – OMG – so delicious. With a beer and a very small tip it came to £19 – pure delight. And it was magical watching the evening turn to night, the lights across the river sparkling, the colectivo boats coming in and out and the local children playing in the street.
But back to reality and my budget. Since arriving in Guatemala I have been spending, on average, £35 a day, this needs to stop. I must reduce my spending to £25 – £30 a day. Not being at an fairly expensive hotel (Mon Ami) should help, especially as I can now make my own coffee, and if I buy fruit for breakfast, drink a couple of beers less a day and more importantly, stop buying cigarettes, that’s the real challenge, it’s a done deal.
14th July – Monday
I managed to sleep reasonably well in my hot room. I placed both fans directly over me and it was relatively cool until I woke at 4am. The fans were off and the electricity out. I got another hour in but was rudely woken up by the cockerel next door and it’s been pissing me off ever since. It’s now 1:30pm and the electric is still off! I went over to the island for brunch; I had a burger in the hope it will do me for day. It was very quiet and eerie on the island, not many places were open, either it was too early or due to no electricity. After eating I went down to the linkway, not deliberately, I accidently found myself there, but considering it takes 20 minutes to walk the circumference of the island it wasn’t a difficult find. There were a lot of police officers hanging around and no vehicles were coming onto or going off the island, only boats. Very strange, I wonder if the linkway has something to do with the electric failure. I hope we get power again soon; my phone battery is almost dead, I need to keep it alive for the torch so I can use the toilet, I even had to use it in the shower as even with the door open it was pitch black in there.
I had a proper nose around this hostel this morning – I am the only person here. It is definitely a project in the making. There are two other rooms, a dorm room with three beds and another double like mine – that’s it – small, but once finished it will be quite pleasant bar the view, lack of air-conditioning and the fucking cockerel.
Later: I have had a lovely, chilled afternoon. I was just leaving to find a bar when the owner of the hostel, Ironi, turned up. Such a lovely lady, she showed me how to lock the front door as I had been leaving it unlocked and I paid her cash for my stay. After our little chat, she explained that the power outage was a planned one so engineering work could take place, I walked along the Lake, across lots of plank walkways, until I could walk no more. I then doubled backed on myself and, after perusing the menu of an expensive bar, the cocktails were 40q each, I found a less unassuming bar where the cocktails were 25q each. I sat with my toes in the Lake and had two cocktails and read my book. I didn’t think they were very strong, but when I got up to leave, I realised I was very mistaken! On my route home a local guy started chatting to me, mainly in English, but he did compliment me on my Spanish. I said my farewell to him when I started to lose track of what he saying in Spanish; I think it was something about taking me up into the mountains! I was very fortunate to witness the San Miguel rush hour, workers from the island were arriving by boat, jumping on their motos and heading home. I’m pleased to say that there were not enough of them to create a traffic jam, but they created quite a bit of noise. Anyway, I’m now chilling in front of the brick wall, drinking a rather nice Vudu Barbados cocktail that I bought in the shop a couple of doors down and will add another page to my website 😊
15th July – Tuesday
That’s it, my mind was made up on the boat just now as I was coming back from the island. I’m going to Lake Atitlan next and I am going to enrol on a two week all immersive Spanish course with a homestay. Why? On the boat the lady next to me gave me 10q to pass to the driver, which is what us tourist pay, the driver did not give me her change to give to her, instead he gave it to a local guy opposite me, and he passed it to her surreptitiously. I so wanted to say that I understand that tourist pay more and it is not a problem, but I couldn’t. I formulated, what I think is the sentence, in my head after I got off the boat, but so wish I could have said it at the appropriate time. I’m lacking the confidence and ability to reply spontaneously; this needs to change!
I went for a lovely walk this afternoon, up into the hills above San Miguel where the guy last night mentioned. I researched first and found out that there is a cenote, (a natural sinkhole, usually formed by the collapse of limestone bedrock, revealing a pool of groundwater), and an archaeology site up there, so off I went; it wasn’t far. The archaeology site wasn’t that impressive as it’s a work in progress, so there were a lot of archaeologists there and most of what they have so far revealed was covered in plastic. But it was worth the visit and also very interesting. Most of the area had a walkway but to see the actual dig areas you had to come off the walkway. I took a few pictures but like I said, there was not much to see. However, give it a few years and I think it will be quite an impressive sight as it was vast. As I was leaving, I could see mounds of earth and trees that obviously had something under them. The formation of these mounds was very different from the surrounding forest areas and some even had step like levels in them. It will be interesting to come back in a few years and see what they uncover. I didn’t make it to the cenote, but I did get a good view of it from one of the walkway’s viewing platforms. It didn’t look very inviting!
On my way back the walkway finished and I found myself walking down a well-trodden path through the forest. I was a little concerned that I may be going in the wrong direction until I saw a random sign pointing to San Miguel. Not that it was far and to be honest I hadn’t really left it, I was just in the more remote area where the roads are rocky paths and the houses not as ornate as in town. It was very beautiful and an eye opener as to how most of the locals here live.
I went to the island this evening, mainly for an ATM as my next hostel charges 6% for credit/debit cards.
As their email said, cash is king in Guatemala. The boat ride over was hot and sunny, but by the time I came out of the shop with the ATM machine, it was pissing down with rain. I sheltered and luckily it didn’t last long. I then went and had a beer and pizza at a place overlooking the Lake in the hope of seeing a beautiful sunset. The sky was quite amazing, but the sunset very disappointing, I should have gone last night, the sky was so clear and there was no rain. But such is life, and it’s not like I haven’t seen one before. While I was there this old guy took a fall. He had been eating at the restaurant and went across the road to the Lake’s edge to take photos. The Lake, at times, especially after rain, protrudes onto the concrete road, which then becomes very slimy. I didn’t actually see him fall, just the wet aftermath. He didn’t break anything, which I would have done (!) but I felt so sorry for him, especially as I had almost slipped over in the exact same spot!
I’m up early tomorrow, so I didn’t stay long on the island, and to be honest I’m not really feeling the late-night party vibe at the moment. I’m quite happy for an early night and I still have 4 episodes of Mobland to watch, I may just squeeze them all in tonight 😊or at least two. I have a long bus ride tomorrow, so if I can I should save a couple for then, let’s see.