We woke up at 4:30 A.M. to take an early Aviateca flight from Guatemala City to Flores in the Peten. The flight first took us over a mountainous region. All that transformed itself with the white limestone characteristic of the Yucatan. I could see the land dotted with earth mounts which could be, I imagine, Maya buildings buried by the forest.

All of the sudden the Lake of Peten Itsa, the beautiful Island of Flores in the south part of the Lake and the airport.

The Flores airport reminded me of the one in Santorini. The Tour Company had to wait for people from another flight, so in the waiting period we headed off to Flores Island. That is where the horse of Hernan Cortez is buried. He left his horse at the care of the local Indians who have not seen horses before. They fed him meat which made him sick and died. By the time the Spaniards move to the area, Tikal had long been covered with jungle growth.

Flores remains a charming and quiet old place, with only a bit of dust kicked up now and then by vehicles traveling the road around the rim. For the best view from Flores, the tour guide took us to the Town Square at the crest of the island. We were able to look across the lake to a set of ruins used by the Mayans.

We went back to the airport to look for the reminder of the group. They were two groups of Canadians tourist, one group from Quebec and the other from Ontario. I started a conversation about the status of Quebec that sparked a heated discussion half way to Tikal.

We made it to Tikal after a 90 minutes drive. Our tour guide was a former worker who bleeded chicle trees in the area jungle. He was 70 years old but looked 40. He is the local "shaman" (Healer). We

bonded so much during the tour that he gave me a Maya blessing before we parted.

This was the dry season, so the trees were out of leaves. They were trees with purple and yellow flowers. We did not get to see the howling monkeys or for that matter any other wild life because they were hiding close to water sources.

Tikal is the greatest of all classical Mayan cities. Tikal is a wondrous place but because we were there for such a short time, it only wetted my appetite for more. I need to come back. Tikal consists of thousands of construction sites ranging from temples to pyramids to palaces to ball courts to tombs and burial chambers to stelae. Many structures remain in the form of mounts and other lie buried under other buildings. Only 15% of the buildings have been uncovered.
 

We spent the night at Camino Real - Tikal. It is a very pleasant place in which to spend a vacation. The hotel reminds you of Tikal and has a beautiful view of Lake Peten Itza. The forested surrounding hills, the tropical bird life and a sense of remoteness all give the place a unique atmosphere. This is the most remote place I have ever been. We went kayaking in the lake, we had a wonderful dinner and then we starred at the stars. We could see all the way from the North Star to the Southern Cross and every little star in between.