---

The wonder of Guatemala, the most talked about Mayan ruins in existence, the largest, the most impressive this is Tikal. In its day the city of Tikal was the most important in the entire region. Most of the buildings were built in the 700's, but archaeologists have found evidence of habitation as far back as 130 BC, roads or something.

Tikal stretches though out several square miles of jungle. We arrived just after 3pm , booked a room at the Jaguar Inn, which the Lonely Planet describes as overpriced... an odd statement considering that it is the cheapest option for those staying in the park (other than camping).

After dumping the packs we head to see the cool stuff and watch the sunset. We wandered around the main park through the impressive grand plaza, spent a while playing with the Pezotes (some kind of cross between an anteater and a whippet). Eventually we arrived at the main sunset watching temple, not sure of its name but it faces west and has a nice flat top on which people gather to watch the sun go down. One of the best sunsets I have ever experienced, jungle, ancient Mayan temples, and a great range of colours reaching out over the horizon. Took photos.

The following morning we woke up at 5am, all set for a 5.30am entry into the park to watch sunrise. On reaching the gate we were confronted by a gun wielding entry patrolman. No entry into the ruins until 6am, sunrise is at 10 to. We tried to plead with the guard to let us in, he said that he couldn't possibly allow us to enter until the guy who checks the tickets arrived. The tickets we had said that we were allowed to enter on the 15 Oct, nope he wasn't allowed to check tickets, just stop people getting in until the guy who checks the tickets arrives. Eventually he arrived and we ran into the park after him. After getting up at 5am we didn't want to be watching the sunrise from the Tikal car park. We needed to be on Temple 4 - the tallest structure in the complex. The ticket checking guard took a quick look at the tickets and let us in 10 to 6am, we made it to Temple 4 in record time, and witnessed one of the most disappointing sunrises I have ever seen. Too many clouds, though the howler monkey's made the event special.

Spent the rest of the day wandering the ruins reading the Lonely Planet to find out a little of the history of the place. Finally got to recreate the front cover of the Lonely Planet Central America on a Shoestring book. After finally finding the exact spot where the cover photo was taken we also realised that they had actually used a mirror image of the scene. Luckily I'm able to use my laptop to do the same. Took a photo of my foot and the temple for my series of photos entitled "My Foot in Famous Places". Headed out of the park at 3pm, 24hrs and Tikal was still cool, if anything more time exploring and relaxing in the park would have been fantastic.

---