Tikal

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We rode out the causeway to Flores island. It is a lovely little space in the middle of Lago Petén Itza. Lots of nice old buildings and, thankfully for us, a restaurant serving huge breakfast burritos. Fuelled up we were incredibly excited to be riding towards Tikal. 

It was hot riding (we are starting to get used to the feeling of being really hot even if it isn't really pleasant. Once again we were on the lookout for any water we could spot to cool off in. I perfected the 'sprinkler dance' at a service station. Two of the key moves are illustrated below.


Even though we were feeling the effects of two big days previously we loved the ride out to the national park (first place in the world to get two UNESCO statuses: one for archeology, the other for plant life). 



The last 17km of the ride, once we had entered the park was a delight. Riding through dense jungle that was not as hot but very humid. The road was really quiet and it felt like we were in the middle of an ocean of plant life.


Amazing wild turkeys wandering around the campsite. Also saw and heard Keel Billed Toucans in the trees above us. 

(screenshot taken from Merlin app)


We woke early so we could get into the park at 06.00 as soon as it opened. We were glad we did as we had many of the temples to ourselves. Like at Palenque, it was cloudy so our photos are not brilliant but it did mean that the temperatures were a bit cooler. 


It is an ancient city and is huge. We spent four hours exploring and we didn't see it all. Being able to climb up 70m high temples to look out over the jungle to see other temples poking out was quite mind blowing. There was a vast variety of plant life and we looked down on parrots and toucans flying below us.


The memories of this will stay with us forever.


Rode back out to El Remate which is at the end of the lake as we didn't want a big ride after an early start and such an exciting morning among the temples. The lake was perfect for swimming in.

The early finish gave me time to fit a new back tyre as the sidewalls had failed on the old one. We have carried spare tyres since Mazatlán - I hope they cope with the demands a tandem puts on them. 

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

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