Lago Peten Itza
On Monday, October 19th I left the too rainy Belize for my taste. At
the border of the Belize I paid BZ$35 departure tax. At the entry in
Guatemala I paid Q17 the depollution of my truck having passed in
the tunnel without cleaning! The entry is free for people but I paid
Q160 for the importacion temporario of my truck. The crossing of the
two borders lasted at little an hour. I was in Guatemala at 13:30 on
the way to find a bivouac at the edge of Lago Peten Itza at 33 km
southwards from Tikal National Park.
Lago Peten Itza, Evening visitor
On Tuesday, October 20th I left at daybreak to go to Tikal before
the arrival of the horde of tourists. At the entrance of Park I paid
Q160 as foreigner whereas the locals pay only Q25! I began my visit
around 7:30 to finish after the two museums around 12:00. The site
is very vast in full tropical forest which makes the difference with
the other Maya sites in Mexico as well as Copan in Honduras. Its
occupation is attested since 700 BC until the mysterious
disappearance of the Maya empire in 900 AD. The trail is arrow but
the discovery of the monuments in the jungle is not always obvious.
Moreover number of them are still covered by trees. The entry of the
two museums is Q30 for foreigners. They are worth neither the price
nor the detour. The video makes panoramic of Gran Plaza with temples
I and II.
Tikal National Park, click the picture
En route CA #13
The Wednesday the 21st I left very early to visit Flores on an
island of Lago Peten Itza. Nothing remarkable. Houses are very
coloured with blue dominant. I benefitted from it to take cash at a
ATM then I found a supermarket. It seemed to me that the Visa card
was generally accepted. I moved towards Lago de Izabal on the road
CA 13 towards Guatemala-City. I lunched in Poptun at Finca Ixobel,
it was a Hamburger of the McDo type! At a few kilometers before
Modesto Mendes I was stopped around 14:00 by a long line of trucks
and cars. I got information. The road was blocked by the villagers
who claimed work for the government. Around 15:00 a police car came
from the stopping. I intercepted it while presenting to me as French
and by asking for explanations. A group of truck drivers was used to
me as intermediary. The police officer says that the stopping would
be raised around 16:00; I did not believe anything of it. In fact at
17:00 nothing. Around 18:00 another police car occurred, new
interception, new discussion, new intermediary by truck drivers. The
police officer says that one did not have anything to try. The
villagers were very threatening. The night fell I prepared to spend
one night of day before at the wheel of the truck. Surprised around
20:00 the vehicle file slowly get going by stop & go. In the black
the rising and downward file in an infernal noise gave a Dantean
vision. At the time of the passage in the village soldiers of the
army helped circulation. I saw on the roadway of fumaroles attesting
that it had been burnt. At my passage the police officers greeted
me; I returned it to them. I had marked them. I followed the flood
in front of me not knowing where I could bivouac in this night of
ink. Finally I saw on the left a petrol station. With precaution I
was on the point of crossing the roadway to engage on the left when
the truck which followed me accelerated and passed me. I have a
great fright. All the vehicles in the two directions stopped to let
me operate. Phew! On the carpark two truck drivers witness of the
scene courteously helped me to install my vehicle. The night was
nightmarish.
Flores, click la photo
Lago de Izabal, Playa Dorada
On Thursday, October 22d was dedicated to the visit of the Quirigua
site registered on the world heritage. Its specificity is the many
steles telling the story of the prince. They are approximately 3
meters high and weigh in the 60 tons! The museum reads out
hieroglyph of the steles. While passing on the road CA 13 I had
noticed a road sign announcing Playa Dorada. I decided to go there
to establish my bivouac on a paying ground at the edge of Lago de
Izabal.
Quirigua, Archeological Zone, click la photo
Coban
On Friday, October 23rd was a long connecting stage to bivouac in
Coban into the Parque National Las Victorias. I traversed the few 270 km in
5:30 i.e. approximately 49 km/h. Indeed the CA-13 is the road from
Guatemala-City to the border with Belize which is very attended by
the trucks. The day was partially sunny. Coban is at the GPS altitude
of 1367 meters. The temperature was fresh.
Parque National Las Victorias
|
The road tacklog
from Coban to Antigua
from 2015/10/24 au 2015/10/25
Lago de Atitlan
On Saturday, October 24th was still a long driving day. From Coban
to Chichicastenango I traversed 180 km in 6 hours. Admittedly after
San Christobal de Verapaz it was a dirt road with many pot-holes.
Then the asphalted part also was very degraded until Santa Cruz del
Quiché. I arrived at the edge of Lago de Atitlan at the hotel Bahia
del Lago after 8 hours on road to make 218 km! I had plan to visit
the market at Chichicastenango very coloured on Saturdays. Alas the
quadrangular streets of the village were encumbered by
vehicles it was almost impossible to station my truck. I continued
my way in the mountains lunching tardily by overhanging the village.
I bivouacked on the lawn of the hotel Bahia del Lago at the edge of
the lake vis-a-vis the Zunil volcano in the fog. Altitude is of 1564
meters.
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| Chichicastenango, |
Bahia del Lago
Antigua
On Sunday October 25th I arrived around 10:30 in Antigua at the
Proatur bivouac site where I have the surprise to see a motor home
by Azalaï with Liliane & Alain. Of course we exchanged information
and they invited me to lunch accompanied by Uruguayan woman who
travelled in solo. Moreover I became acquainted with an American
couple with a motor home on Sprinter by Mercedes-Benz. We planned to
divide a container to ship our vehicles from Colon, Panama, to
Cartagena, Colombia, to follow. The afternoon I visited the city
with the step of race to publish my website in the evening at the
Cafe Behème held by a French couple.
Antigua, former Capital, click la photo
Pedro de Alvarado, GT, Border crossing
On Monday October 26th
I left Guatemala, look at
the border crossing
on El Salvador page.
