Tikal

Unfortunately, and without knowing the cause, I woke in the night to find myself in the midst of a good round of food poisoning, or probably just as likely, traveler diarrhea. Having been up most of the night, I called our guide to see how long we could postpone our trip to Tikal before sending my partner to go alone. Thankfully, our guide was extremely accommodating and was able to postpone our departure until 1 pm. Allowing me time to drink more fluids and rest. Our wonderful guide in eastern Guatemala insisted I must visit Tikal and to make this happen, pre-arranged transportation within the park so I wouldn't have to walk far distances. He also took me to a pharmacy for whatever drugs I could procure to ease the experience.

Running at about 20% capacity I found myself dragging my feet from one ancient temple to the next.  I cannot believe I was in Tikal and I barely knew it! Our guide's 6-year-old daughter joined us this day and I was so grateful, she took my hand and having done this for 6 years already, gently guided me from place to place. We visited the main temple complex and surrounding temples. We spent the better part of 4 hours exploring before a truck came to pick us up. Though I was relatively unaware of what was happening around me, I was grateful my guide made this day happen. I know where I stood and at the end of the day felt completely removed from the modern world around me.  

This evening....I don't even remember. I slept hard though, I’m sure of that!