11/25, day 8, Saturday. Sunny. Languin to Flores (~9 hrs). 8am shuttle (Q110). Of course it's late. We were packed to the gill. Viheke had to get off our bus and get on a different one. She bought her ticket in advance, not from any of these hotels. 26 passengers (6 guys), including all 8 French from the tour yesterday. 8:40, all loaded. It's an hour of bumpy ride on unpaved hwy5. Once on hwy6, faster, paved with potholes and fallen rocks. Saw conifer trees with long needles.
We made a bano break at a gas station outside of Coban, and a longer break around 2pm at La Estacion Ceibita. Viheke caught up with us. She had to transfer to a different bus at Coban. Her bus has only 6 Guatemalans and her. I seems to be the only gringo who ordered regular cooked food. Most of my fellow passengers bought Cheetos alike and soft drink. More sensible ones bought sandwich, like Viheke. It was getting hot. Mercifully, our driver turned on AC. No more curvy mountain roads, more cattle, same amount of litter everywhere. 30 minutes north, we stopped at a control station, which asked us to surrender fruits. Banana is fine. A French couple got off at Sayaxche, where we waited for ferry. While the ride over Rio De La Pasion is ~2 minutes long, loading and unloading took forever.
Overnight in Villa Del Lago (Q340), Flores. AC. Nice balcony overlooking the lake. But they don't have a water refill station. My room comes with 2 small sealed cups of drinking water. Bought 2 tours from the shuttle company for Q125/each (only Q100 from Los Amigos hostel). Dinner at Legumbres Maya between 2 walls, close to hotel. Q10 Gallo beer and Q25 entree.
11/26, day 9, Sunday. Partly sunny. Nice sunrise. Lazy morning. The island of Flores is very small. Took maybe 20 minutes to walk around, as well as to the central park in the middle (top) of the island, which is small, and not pretty. A Sunday service was going on in the church there. Lots of people. The priest was walking in the isle while preaching. 
All hotels are lower close to the water, so are tourist. Water level is high, and part of the promenade is inundated. Walked by another small church lower on the main street, a lady was giving a sermon to a few souls. Lake Peten Itza is pleasant. No dramatic scenery. They rent canoes. Too warm for me. Around 80F, but feels hotter.
Went to Maracuya for lunch based on tripadvisor's rating. Nice terrace on 2nd floor. Veggie centric. They offer a long list of veggie smoothie, comes with a translation of ingredients. I ordered stomach comfort, with pineapple, ginger, cucumber and aloe. Q25. Daily special today is zucchini, potato and garbazo beans + salad. Q45.
12:30 sunset tour to Yaxha. 3 of us were waiting in the hotel lobby for pickup. 2 of them got on a different van. Mine had just me and a lady from Antigua. The first thing I saw after crossing the causeway to the mainland is Burger King. We then filled gas just out of town near the airport, without turning off the engine. Picked up 2 French from El Remante. The wife was coughing like me. The husband was 76 years old. The lake shore here looks prettier than in Flores. There're boardwalks over marshy grass to huts with thatched roof.
Yaxha is 11km off highway, between Tikal and Belize border. Pretty rough road. My phone started to count steps again. At the turnoff, we stopped at a store to buy food/drink. Guatemalans love Coca-Cola. 
The entrance is modern and spacious. Paid admission (Q80), got a wristband. 4 from the other van joined the tour. Our guide is entertaining. Told us Maya numbers, colors, ball game (there're a couple of game court) and sacrifice practices. There's one very long and wide path. I held 2 tarantulas! Saw 2 woodpeckers (very red crest), a few monkeys (very noisy), many more mosquitoes (not as bad as I dreaded). We were mostly in the woods, except on top of the pyramids, so not as hot as I worried. We climbed 4 temples. 
At the last one, everyone waited for sunset over the lake. We tried to keep quiet. It's quite pretty, but isn't magical. Same cicada songs, no extra bird calls. Maybe we ought to stay longer, but were chased downstairs. I brought a flashlight, so wasn't worried about going down and walking the short distance out. I enjoyed this tour. Not many people here.
Back to Flores at 7:20pm. Moved to a cheaper hotel (Q125). Ceiling fan. This place has a proper water dispenser with both hot and cold water. Ate at Las Mesitas at the west waterfront. Very busy and lively. The same hand that handles food also takes money. Oops, surprisingly, I did not get diarrhea. The last photo is my second order of 3 tacos (Q5). Exchanged $24 at hotel to tie me over the last day in Guatemala tomorrow.
11/27, day 10, Monday. 4:30am tour to Tikal, can take the shuttle back at 11, 12:30 or 3pm. I got picked up at 4:40, already 7 aboard. 64F with a little breeze. Picked up 2 more in Santa Elena. Now full. When we arrived at the ticket office, there was a long line, maybe 50 people ahead of us. A bit chilly waiting in the twilight. 5:55, they started to sell tickets (Q150, local Q25). Not sure why they need my name when selling me a ticket (they actually asked for my passport). We then drove another 15-20 minutes into the park. There at the cafe and restroom, we saw a Coatimundi (raccoon family), 2 toucans, some brown jays (common), and a green parrot. On the walk in, saw this giant Ceiba tree.
We passed a checkpoint, showed ticket and got a wristband. Our group was 20+, so slow going. Met a girl from Oregon, she's the only other person in this group who uses a reusable water bottle. I didn't like this tour, most instructions are logistic rather than educational. We made 2 long stops. First at group Q. There're 9 alters with stelea here. But no carving at all. Now I began to appreciate all the engraving in Copan. We climbed to the top of east pyramid here.
The highlight is the grand plaza, with temple 1 and 2 on east and west, acropolis to north and south. Bery impressive. We were allowed to climb all of them except #1. I checked out the acropolis first.
Then our group moved to Temple 4, the highest temple in Maya world (not the highest structure which is El Mirador). There're wooden staircases to walk up. The top has great view of the forest, can see top of 3 structures. But I like the view from Yaxha better, because of Yaxha Lake.
After our group tour was finished, I went to the site called Lost City. Quite big. Less people, so I like it better. Some workers, so noisy. Also visited Temple 5, and back to the Grand Plaza to climb Temple 2, which I didn't have time earlier.
Waited by the road across from Cafe Tikal for the 12:30 return shuttle. Back in Flores at 2pm.Overall, I'm a bit disappointed by Tikal. It doesn't seem as large as I imagined, the jungle doesn't look as wild as I hoped. Too many tourists, too much hype. Noise of chainsaw and lawnmower. Good thing is that it's not too hot here, because of all the trees who provide shade. Mosquito was also minimal.
Las Mesitas were just starting. Only one booth now. As I was eating my 3 tacos and a pineapple drink, the next one was setting up. I lounged in the porch of my cheap hotel, watching the locals playing in the lake. I went to the Mesitas again for sunset. By then, this place was bustling. They sell more or less the same variety among different booths, and everyday. I decided to walk over to the supermarket on the mainland to use up all my Quetzal. Bought some tortilla, banana for breakfast tomorrow and a can of beer for the walk back. There are no grocery store on the island.
Overall, Flores is nice and a convenient base. Feels safe, not overwhelmingly touristy. No international fast food.
11/28, day 11, Tuesday, heading to Belize. By now, I had only one bag + my Hydroflask bottle. Up at 5am, thought there were buses going to the Belize frontier every hour starting at 5 from Nueva bus station in Santa Elena (Q30). When I arrived at 5:50, there were 2 big buses loading, but not my direction. They told me it's at 5 or 8am. Then they directed me to the parking lot where many minivans are parked. I climbed on to one to Mechor (the border town). Around 6:15, failed to get more passengers, it drove to the central market (closer to Flores). Got 6 passengers. We started off at 6:33. Then a few more passengers and a bag of potatoes on the road. At the last major road junction, we picked up 4 more, and 3 of them had to stand bending, as the interior is too low to stand straight.
Arrived at the small bus parking lot close to the bridge. Walked over Mopan River, continued ~200m to border. Finished my bananas. Fruits and beers are not allowed to bring to Belize. Price will double once I cross this border.
