Day 16: The Guatemala Border (San Ignacio to Flores)

This morning was relaxing. I ran some errands around town before leaving Belize. One of those errands, was to pick up my spoon and fork... this was an interesting thing that did not go as I had hoped. I was expecting a smooth finish, thin, and oiled salad fork and spoon set. Instead, I received a rough cut, heavy and chunky, not oiled fork and spoon. The guy could tell this is not what I was expecting. I offered that he could wait and finish them later to sell to someone, but I decided to still buy them. Maybe back home I can sand them down and oil them myself. I should have realized that there would not be enough time to make them, and should have known to buy from someone who already had some made. I guess that's what I get for trusting someone. Lesson learned.

After the fork and spoon situation, we rushed off to catch the bus to Benque, then a cab to the border. The bus was $3BZD and the cab was $5BZD. Once dropped at the border, I went straight through immigration and paid the $30BZD exit fee plus the $7.50BZD forest conservation fee. Once I was out of Belize, the next task was to get to the Guatemalan border. Here there are no signs showing where to go, just a lot of people talking to us in Spanish. If a little boy had not pointed for us to go into this open air building to the left of us, we would have walked right past it. There, the woman on the phone barely looked at me, stamped my passport, and I was free to go. No entry fee, no questions, nothing. It was my first time walking through a border, and it was much easier than I anticipated. I've gone by car, plane, and boat, and now, by bus and walking too. Then, we had to find the bus station. The little boy continued to follow us, and we thought he was trying to sell us a cab. But instead, he directed us to the bus station where we piled into this van. (This seems to be the main mode of transportation as I have yet to see an actual bus in Guatemala.) I was amazed at the number of people that they fit into this van. I think there were at least 17. Three pairs of travelers, two families, and some more locals. One thing I did notice right away, is how unprepared I am to speak Spanish. I have been practicing for a few weeks, but have been slacking while I've been gone. My Spanish is so broken, I definitely need to work on it. I wish I had time to do a language course while I am here, but another time.

Once we reached flores and found our hostel Los Amigos, we could relax and settle in. We found Bryony and Emma right away. The vibes of the hostel seem great. Theres an open area in the middle with trees and couches around small tables. There is also a restaurant and bar inside. We all hung out at the hostel and I ordered some delicious nachos because I was starving by then. We also all booked a trip to Tikal for the next day! The rest of the day was spent just around the hostel as we had an early 4am awakening for the tour.