Ruins of Tikal
I’m on my first G Adventure tour of the year: Mayan Ruins & Culture. Since I checked in last week in San Salvador, me and my group have:
- Spent two nights in the quaint village of Suchitoto, El Salvador
- Visited the archeological site of Joya de Ceren in El Salvador. The Pompeii of the Americas.
- Visited the ruins of Copan in Honduras.
- Visited the Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua in Guatemala.
- Spent the morning in the amazing Tikal National Park in Guatemala.
- Spent an evening on the peaceful Rio Dulce river in Guatemala.
In between the stops we’ve been spending a fair amount of time in transit. As the crow flies, the distances between locations in Central America isn’t that far. On the ground, however, a trip that you think would take 1 hours may take 2-3. This is due to the terrain as well as the condition of the roads (2-lane with frequent speed bumps).
The group is a good group of people. As has been the case with other G Adventure tours I’ve taken, the tour is full of well traveled people. It is easy to travel with a group when everyone is experienced and the group is small. I think if I had to ever travel with a tour bus, I’d shoot myself.
We have two nights here at Lake Atitlán before we head to Antigua Guatemala where we will be ending our trip.
After that I’ll be flying to Berlin. My reason for going to Berlin is the ITB conference, the biggest travel and tourism trade show in the world. I’m considering making a trip to Poland before the show just because. If you have recommendations for the Krakow area, I’m open to suggestions.
What I’ve Been Reading
I know I’ve posted about it before, but I am still working my way thought the Game of Thrones series of books. I purchased the 4-book set for the Kindle because 1) I became interested in them from the HBO series, and 2) I wanted something very long to read so I could kill time while flying/driving places.
It might just be the biggest time killer series of books ever written. I’ve read all the Dune books (including all those co-written by Frank Herbert’s son) and all the Foundation books (including those written after Isaac Asimov’s death) and I think George R.R. Martin takes the cake in terms of sheer verboseness.
I think I’m close to finishing book 3 and I have book 4 on my Kindle already. I just found out there is a 5th book. I’ll probably finish this is 2015.
Links
- Travel bloggers Peter Root and Mary Thompson killed in Thailand WorldHum
- Summer Olympics to drop wrestling in 2020 NPR
- Second Mona Lisa appears to be genuine Examiner
- How travel can improve your sex life CNN
- UNESCO convenes experts to save Mali’s cultural artifacts UNESCO.org
- Will city of two popes boost Rome’s economy? CNN
How much time can you usually devote to reading? Can you normally read on the bus? As for me it’s pretty hard to do this in Asia. How is it like in South America?
Hi, It’s truly an honor to run across informational content like this. You are clearly knowledgeable on this topic and you have unique views to share.
Great update! I’ve always have wanted to visit Guatemala and after reading this post I wish I could book a flight right now and go! Thanks for the post, great picture to go with it
Hi Gary. It’s my first time here and I think your travel photos are amazing. I have been looking around your blog for ten minutes and am bookmarking it for a better look later on when I have more time to look through the photos.
Great update Gary, looks like a fun tour you are on!
Mayans are really among the most intelligent ethnic groups in the world. Their ancient ruins look really amazing. More photos from your visit to the Mayan ruins & cultures please.