Flores and Tikal

Flores is a nice small island in northern Guatemala. Most people (maybe all) come to visit Tikal and so were we. We came in the afternoon of the 23rd of December and booked a shuttle to Tikal for the next day.
We found a really cheap street food at the parque central and ate lots of it which later turned out not be a great idea :D
And on the 24th of December -- Tikal! We woke up at 3:45 to catch a shuttle that was picking us up at 4:30. We arrived at Tikal soon after the sunrise and headed straight to the Gran Plaza where the two magnificent temples were. There was a Maya ceremony taking place in the middle of it and we were the only ones there maybe except for a couple of American tourists who were photographing the ceremony like crazy. I think we chose the right day to visit, as we could walk between the ruins without being bothered by big groups of tourists. We had just enough time to see all of the ruins and to be honest, it all started to look the same to me after a couple of hours.
So after about seven hours of walkink around we came to the parking lot to catch a bus at 2pm. Everyone in our van was leaving at 12:30 but I talked with the driver and I was assured that we can leave at 2 because we wanted to have more time. But it wouldnt be Guatemala if everything went on smoothly.
We came to the parking lot in time but no van and no driver showed up. So we started asking random people if they were going to Flores but no one seemed to be able to take us, and if yes, they asked for too much money and we werent able to bargain because everyone knew we were stuck.
There was a little souvenir store with t-shirts that attracted my attention because I buy tshirts as souvenirs (I started the trip with two and by the time I am writing this, I have seven.) And there was this guy who suddenly asked us if we were supposed to leave at two. We nodded and were told that our driver told him to tell us that he was not coming (hope youre still with me). Luckily the guy was going to take us by another van.
So in the end we were ok - but the whole situation was just ridiculous. It was a pure luck that we ran into the guy. You wouldnt guess how he recognized us. It was because both of us were wearing glasses. Guatemalans very rarely wear glasses. In fact, I dont think I have seen anyone in central america to wear glasses except for the doctor in the vision centre in Belize city (i will talk about Belize later).
I found a tshirt that I liked. It was 60Q and I said I pay 30Q. I then bought it for 45Q (about 6 usd) which was the last offer before I was about to leave. Not bad, but i think he could still go lower.
We had quite a lot of time so we went back to the site. Getting there turned out to take more time than we had expected so we just ate a pack of cookies and left.
Tikal was great and I'd definitely recommend it as it is one of the biggest maya cities and was of a great significance. Its just pitty that people are often not allowed to climb the temples. I have to admit I disobeyed acouple of times...
And in the evening was the time to give and get presents! ...except we didnt buy any :D I considered a present that I had my laundry washed. Clean tshirts and underwear at last!
At midnight there was a huuge firework severywhere. People were going out in the streets, hugging each other and celebrating. That was nice. The whole chritmas thing is a bit unusual because of the weather. :)
The next day we reserved for Flores and some sights around. We started by going to Caves in Santa Elena. It was not as good as caves in Semuc Champey but it was ridiculously cheap. It was pretty hot and we walked both ways. In the afternoon we caught a ferry to the other side of the lake and hiked to a lookout point from where there was a nice view of Flores. We also went to a playa (beach) though I didnt swim because my feet have several injuries that I dont want to get infected. I bought some coconut cookie from a street vendor and it tasted really good. In the evening we had a buffet-style dinner which I expected to be really good but if I hadnt asked a guy for more I would have had just one plate because the food was gone pretty fast.

At the end I just wanna make a note that in our hostel I met a guy who took valium and acted quite funny. He also stays in the same hostel at Caye Caulker.