Day Four - Xunantunich

Our new guide met us early at Jaguar Paw. That actually worked out well as we weren't too sure how to kill 3 hours until we checked out of there. As mentioned there was a nice pool and hot tub arrangement but it just wasn't warm enough to take advantage of. So instead, we ate an early lunch with our guide- our second day of stewed chicken, red beans and rice - and down the road we went. He seemed anxious to get on the road - wanting to get to Xunantunich sooner than later so we could see all there was to see. Good thing as it was a long ride to the western border of the country.
I let my mom ride in the front - it allowed her to chat with the guide and I could just take in the sites. We drove passed the turn to Belmopan - the capital of Belize. We took a detour road through San Ignacio and probably saw more of that city than anticipated. We drove on some more and eventually stopped at what looked like a mini road side flea market. Tourist trap is probably a better term for it. We needed to exit the van at that point so our guide could drive it onto the hand crank bridge. We noticed this man with a rather large riffle loitering about and he joined us on our journey across the river and up the mountain to the "park". We came to learn that he was with the special police in charge of things like drug and people trafficking. Ahhh - nice safe feeling swept over my mom and I - NOT! Thankfully he did not accompany us through the "park".
It was quite the hike from the car park to the actual park. We were given the background of the surroundings and then walked around the ruins. Not as breathtaking as Chichen Itza (it is one of my first loves) but pretty impressive none the less. We even meandered our way towards the top of El Castillo. My mom wasn't feeling all that adventuresome to go all the way to the top. I was but lost my nerve pretty early on on the last set of stairs to the top - they were short maybe just 10 inches deep and narrow at about 3 feet wide with no railing, wall etc. So I didn't get to the top either. The pics I took from my highest point don't do justice to how amazing it really was to see for that distance. You could see for miles!
It was a great excursion.
The sad news I learned on this day is that they no longer allow people to climb to the top of El Castillo at Chichen Itza. I have always wanted to go back and go back up those 80 some steps and look out for miles over the jungle. The first time around I didn't have my camera. Oh well.
We left the park and headed back towards out hotel for the next 2 nights.