You can't go to Guatemala without going to Tikal. It's against the law, and rightly so. Tikal is a huge, sprawling set of Mayan pyramids, about 80% of which are still buried in the jungle. Though we had already seen 2 lots of Mayan ruins, we were still wowed.

We saw Tikal by late afternoon light, and by early morning. These times are the best because there are fewer tourists and more animals roaming round. Less chance of sunstroke, too. Between the two, we slept in a hammock dorm, which sounds wonderfully romantic until you realise you can´t sleep, and nor can anyone else around you. Only the mosquitos are having lots of fun. Anyway, it didn´t last long, as we had to get up at 4.30am for the dawn trek.

It was quite spooky, sleep-walking through the dense jungle behind the guide, in the pitch darkness, with the roaring of the howler monkeys in the not-far-enough distance. And then stumbling up 44m of very rickety wooden steps to the top of a pyramid. But it was worth it to see the sun rise behind the ruins, accompanied by a soundtrack of the jungle waking up, and supplemented by the mist, which rolled across the treetops like a movie special effect.

We especially loved the helpful signs, which say ´climb with caution´ at the foot of 100ft crumbling stone steps, and ´do not descend´ at the edges of sheer drops. No really, we weren´t intending to. Apparently they are needed though, as someone had fallen off a pyramid the previous week. We wish they hadn´t told us that...