El Remate
El Remate is a quiet, rural town located on the eastern tip of Lake Petén Itzá in Petén, Guatemala. El Remate means "the end" in Spanish, and likely refers to the pointed eastern end of the lake, which is 32km long and 5km wide. We stayed in a simple but beautifully decorated wooden house with two gentle hippies. The restaurant one of the ladies (and her boyfriend) set up had only opened five days before we arrived and was probably the best vegan/vegetarian restaurant we've ever been to. Most meals were around £3.50.
https://www.facebook.com/cardamomopeten/
We spent three nights relaxing by the lake and visiting the Maya ruins near by. On Sunday, we set our alarm for 4:45am, armed with a breakfast and packed lunch we walked down to wait for the 'Chicken bus'- cold brew coffee in hand.
Tikal
Our first destination was Tikal, a great enemy of Caracol. It is the largest uncovered Mayan site in Guatemala. We arrived at 6:15am, the site is expansive and at that time of the morning, relatively quiet. We made our way to the Gran Plaza where we climbed the stairway to the top of Templo I and watched the green parrots, toucan and golden oriole flying above the canopy as we enjoyed our yogurt with banana and cake, washed down with cinnamon hibiscus tea.
Tikal was discovered in 1848 and opened to the public in 1955. In Mayan 'Tikal' means 'In The Lagoon' but is commonly known as 'The Place Of The Spirit Voices'. It certainly feels very spiritual and calming at the site and sitting atop Templo IV, looking across at the lush rainforest and tops of temples, is a nice place to reflect. We left around 11am, just as the larger groups of tourists began to descend and headed back to El Remate on the locals bus.
Yaxha
After a quick lunch (of more delicious vegan food provided by our host- Tania) by the lake we caught another bus to a, lesser known, local ruin called Yaxha. A much smaller site than that of Tikal, yet Yaxha has the most wonderful sunset vista from the top of the main temple over the peaceful lakes nearby. We also encountered some wildlife here too, Rory held a tarantula coaxed out by our by our guide and on the bus home a large python in the road held us up for a few minutes while we waited for it to cross.
