Guatemala: From BC to B.E. (Before Easter) (continued)

Flooded Flores: Gateway to Ancient Maya Sites

I’ve wanted to visit Tikal for as long as I can remember. I’ve visited ancient ruins at Machu Picchu, the Pyramids, Petra, Borobudur, Angkor Wat, and many others.

But unlike those sites at various times in their history, Tikal has never been heavily visited. Certainly, the 1960-1996 Civil War affected traveler visits as well as a poor safety reputation. While exact figures aren’t available, on average Tikal gets around 200,000 visitors a year. For a 16 square kilometer park, that’s not a lot of visitors. Contrast that to the over a million visitors that Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu get every year, and visiting one of the great ancient sites in the world is an opportunity to experience its mystery and magic without the tourist hordes. And yes, it’s now safe to visit.

But first, you have to get there. At the time I travelled there, only Tag Airlines flew to Flores from Guatemala City multiple times daily. Now Avianca does too. The competition has led to more time options and lower prices.

My hour-long Tag flight to Flores was comfortable — but also three hours delayed, even though the weather was perfect. I spoke with two American women in the boarding area and they said this was their second attempt at visiting Flores. Their first attempt, more than a year and a half earlier, had to be aborted after a more than 24-hour delay due to weather. The rainy season in Peten, where Tikal and Flores is located, is from May to October. And I’m told the rains are fierce.

To spend my time waiting for the flight from Guatemala City, I visited the nearby National Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

A day in Flores is a day well spent

Flores oozes with charm and flood waters, too. On an island connected to the mainland via a causeway, Flores is surrounded by the serene and ever-rising Lago de Peten Itza. As I tried to walk around the island on the waterfront promenade, I found myself making detours to avoid getting my feet wet. I didn’t mind — but if I lived there, I would.

The town is filled with pastel-hued houses. Imagine a rainbow crashing out of the sky and spreading colors where it fell and you get an idea of the delight the town imbues on its visitors.

I didn’t go anywhere in particular and everywhere I could as the town is small. At sunset, I took a boat from Raices Restaurant’s pier to visit their sister restaurant across the lake. I was after ambiance and the restaurant delivered that in spades. The view of Flores and the lake as the fading sun, wreathed in clouds, covered the landscape in a diminishing yellow light, was just this side of angelic. The food was solid, the enchanting ambiance is what a visit here is about though.

After I returned to Flores, I wandered around the city in the evening, the weather warm and pleasant, a light breeze drifting in from the lake.

As the town got ready for Easter, purple fabric was draped, folded, embellished from archways and window sills. At the highest point of the town, the twin cupolas of the Cathedral Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, dominated the skyline.

At the Parque Central, two teenage women’s sports teams played chamusca, a casual street version of soccer that’s played in Guatemala, floodlights animating their play.

Nearby, beneath a simple shelter, was an ancient Maya carving. I knew that early the next morning, I would visit one of the most magnificent Maya ruins in the world.

It was a short stroll to my simple and charming hotel, Hotel Isla de Flores, and sleep.