We spent 5 hours in an ancient creaking bus stuffed to bulging with people to get to our hotel in Flores, but it was worth every second. Flores is an island on Lake Petén Itzá, linked by a causeway to the town of Santa Elena and known as the gateway to the Mayan culture and Tikal. Tikal is awesome. Building started there in 600BC and continued until approx 900AD when, for reasons as yet unexplained, the Mayan people moved on. Towering above the rainforest, the Temples are evidence of a civilisation based on astrological and mythical culture. Too complicated to detail here but, suffice to say, our maths was challenged as our guide (Donald Gonzales - exceptional in our view) explained the Mayan calendar, temples and plazas. It was a wonderful visit.