Tikal: Guatemala, Lost Mayan Civilization // Hasta Alaska // S03E05

Hi, I'm Ben. Meet Alaska, the Caribbean explorer and his capito, our Chilean buff. For the next few years, this is our house. The world is our garden and you are our family. We don't know the time of day or where we'll wake up tomorrow. All we know is we're on the ride of our lives, most of the time. So join us and see what unfolds on this epic adventure. Last time on Astro Alaska, we left the convey, hitchhiked through the murder cattle of the world and headed into Honduras to check out Caribbean island life. This time we're making our final stop in the incredible Guatemala. Perhaps you're wondering why it's just been the three of us for a while. Well, it's not like we haven't been trying to share the convey. Just sitting there on my leg, Alaska. The truth is Guatemala is such a cheap country that even with signs up in the window, it's been tough to find people that want to travel with us. The area around Tikal is famous for wood carvings, so we went to check out the local artisania. You have to admit, they have a pretty good view from their workshop. I was just doing some slacklining out on the lake over the water and tried to take the slackline down and fell on it and the metal spike went almost into my heart. It's ripped down my chest here so now I've got a little roadside repair on myself for a change. Pretty lucky. I thought it stung a little bit when I fell on it. West pies are written on your t-shirt. I've only got like two new t-shirts. The rest of them are like covered in oil. Let's go exploring. It's about six o'clock in the morning. We're headed to Tikal to see some ancient Mayan ruins. Our arrival couldn't have been timed any better. Reaching the site just as the jungle was waking up and before the powerful sun had a chance to beat away the mist, made for an unforgettable experience. The place is crazy. The animals around us. Crazy tropical birds and these weird hidden temples and monkeys climbing over everything. Nice. This incredible capital was once the most powerful kingdom of the Mayan world. It's estimated that up to 90,000 people lived on the site. The residential area alone covers around 60 square kilometers, much of which has not yet been cleared, mapped or excavated. We particularly liked how some parts of the temples were left as they were found so you can see just how completely the jungle had reclaimed the land. After an unforgettable picnic, as the day drew to a close, we retreated to a display from the loudest land mammal in the world, the howler monkey. When you come to Guatemala, all we can say is don't miss out on visiting this majestic place. Today we're off to Belize. Yesterday was our last full day in Guatemala. We spent the whole day, 12 hours walking around the ancient Mayan ruins of Tikal which were incredible. Howler monkeys everywhere. Just, it was so amazing. Really eerie in the morning with all the fog and looking at 40 meter temples. It was a perfect way to finish our trip in Guatemala. It's been my favorite country in the whole of Central America. Everywhere is stunning. Everywhere is so lush. People are great. The women in their traditional clothes have just been such a culture shock. It's so fantastic. I love this country. I'm sad to leave but I'm also so excited to get to the Caribbean and see Belize and see what that country has to offer. We've just got to go get some gasoline now, fill up with water. We're freshly showered. Alaska's had a flea bath so we're ready to roll. Bring on Belize. The next episode on Astra Alaska is coming to you from Belize and is jam-packed with adventure. We welcome our first guest for a while and the Kombi finally arrives at the Caribbean. Right at the Caribbean. Wow babe, so beautiful. We explore the stunning national parks. Alaska catches her first fish and we're invited to a private island. As always we'll be surviving off what the road brings us. Fishing for food, squatting, having group baths and dealing with whatever comes up. They said they were gonna have to pay a $500 fine and they're gonna take me away now. Until next time, happy travels.