Taca, Taca, Taca!

So, we're back in the airport after a quick stay in Guatemala City for a flight to the northern part of the country, Flores. We opted to stay in a sleepy village called El Remate about a half hour from the airport between there and Tikal, the Mayan ruins we planned to see. We are in the jungle, it's crazy hot and humid, and we're staying in a grass hut! With mosquito netting of course which really wasn't for the mosquitos, but more for the bigger ass bugs we encountered. The place is owned by a Frenchman named Santiago, who we later learned speaks English, but not with us.

There is absolutely no night life in this little town or really much to do for that matter, so we picked up our first random traveler, a 31 year old Kiwi (New Zealander)who was a bit lost but traveling on a much bigger budget than us. He was staying at a 5 star place, as opposed to our 1 star, that had a pool. So we bought him some beer at our place because it was much cheaper that and then used him for his pool at his hotel. His flirting techniques were aweful and totally unentertaining, so we left him at his hotel for the walk back to ours. We also got to do our first hitch hiking, as we got caught in one hell of a monsoon as we were walking back to our hotel. Some friendly and faceless locals pulled over and let us hop in the back on their truck. The storm knocked out power at our hotel for about 2 hours, but the fridge still kept the beer cold! So we drank and talked in the dark and met another random traveler from Massachussetts. A medical resident, he was far more entertaining than the Kiwi and didn't hit on us.

The storm cooled things off a bit and made for a nice night's sleep. We were in bed early for another early morning rise to catch a bus to Tikal, further into the jungle.