Blogs from Tikal, Petén Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 9

Advertisement


On our first weekend in Peten we visited the famous Maya ruins of Tikal. As we haven´t uploaded any pics yet and are always behind with the blog, here we go. Tikal were our first ruins and hence we were really impressed (in hindsight there are better ones to visit, but hey there was no way of knowing)! We took a minibus on Saturday afternoon to get there after 3:00 pm as this meant that the ticket of Saturday will be valid on Sunday too. As staying in Tikal is pricey we only could afford a hammock space, but this was good enough for us. On the next day, we had to give some money to be allowed to enter the park at 5:00 am to see the sun rise from Temple 4. For being ... read more
View of the stairs of the large pyramid
View from Temple 4 before Sunrise
Temple 5


FRENCH Le réveil sonne. Il est 2.45 du mat'. Une fois de plus, je me fais violence: je m'arrache du lit et me traine jusqu'au minibus (J'ai toujours eu un peu de mal le matin...) alors que Jason, lui, est tout souriant et radieux. Après une heure de transport dans un état de semi-coma, on arrive à Tikal. Puis, c'est 40 minutes de marche dans l'obscurité à travers les bois jusqu'au pied du temple IV. On gravit les marches. On attend... On attend le lever du soleil... Pas si spectaculaire que ça malheureusement car c'est le brouillard total. Visite sympa mais j'aurais pu rester au lit 6 heures de plus pour voir la même chose... ANGLAIS The alarm rang at 02:45. That's early. Before God we think, because we heard him snoring (actually, Nathalie didn't as ... read more
...and the crowd waits
..to see this pillar in the mist
La pyramide de Mundo Perdido


Wow, I've been having a really good time and haven't been updating this as much as I should have been.... anywho.... I stayed in Flores, Guatemala (the jumping off point for the Tikal ruins) for about 3 nights I guess. Had no problems crossing the border, thank goodness, and was surprised at how hot it was in Flores. I was expecting it to be quite cool and only brought a pair or two of shorts. I signed up for a sunrise tour of the Tikal ruins and had to hop on a 3am bus to catch it... once we arrived at the park we hiked for about 30 minutes in total darkness to temple IV, on which we sat and waited for the sunrise. It was amazing hearing the jungle come alive.... it was quite foggy ... read more

Central America Caribbean » Guatemala » Petén Region » Tikal September 13th 2006

Hay guys it has been while since I have written and I have had many adventures over the last month or so….. From Mayan ruins in the steaming hot rainforest to coral reefs of Belize and the fiery volcanoes of the chilly western highlands, of course without forgetting volunteering in a small town in northern Guatemala. The majority of my time has been spent in San Andres a small town in the Peten region of Guatemala doing voluntary work. The town is situated on the edge of the lake Peten-Itza with a population of around 4000 and is typical of the region. The first thing that you notice is that there are children everywhere as I was soon to learn was because the average size of a family is 12. Also there are animals everywhere; It ... read more
Scary Spider
Sunset
Busy public transport!


Hi all, Internet is scarce in N. Guatemala and Belize so these won't be as often as they were when I was stationary and in school. My last night in Antigua consisted of my family there giving me a purse (I've seen several people go and they haven't done anything special for anyone but me that I've seen) and 2 letters from Andres and Maria. It brought tears to my eyes. It was so touching!!! I went to the Guatemala City Airport to meet Adam and wait a few hours for our flight to Flores. It was so great to finally see him after so long!!!!!!! We flew for about 30 min (vs an 8+ hour bus ride and by now most of you know how much I love Guatemalan drivers :) and arrived in an ... read more
Adam's Proposal
On a boat in Belize
Mata Chica


A little difficulty getting to and staying at the Guatemala's most famous Mayan ruins made finally seeing them that much more rewarding. As I said in my previous entry, after the splendour of Semuc Chempey, the town of El Remate on the Lago Peten Itza was a bit of a let down. I'm not sure if it was just because it was the low season for tourism and the place looked like a ghost town, or whether we just had high expectations due to all the hype we had heard from other travellers. The Hostal El Mirador admittedly had a wonderful view. We were close to a cerro (nature reserve) and there were some decent restaurants. Somehow the place lacked enthusiasm or soul. Either way we decided to stay in Tikal for the second night. We ... read more


Tikal, immortalised forever in pop culture as the rebel base in Star Wars, a few seconds of celluloid imprinting it indelibly on the visual cortex of geekdom. I was no exception, and instantly recognized the view this morning when we had clambered up 200 odd steps to the top of one of the temples. Looking out, I could almost see the Millenium Falcon swooping in to deliver the plans and the princess. We arrived in Tikal late yesterday afternoon, expecting to secure cheap accomodation that our guide book assured us was available. No fools, though, the Guatemalans, they had torn down the bungalows in the campground that were our first objective. Lacking a tent and the desire to sleep in the open with the howler monkeys, tarantulas, and sundry other large insects, we were forced to ... read more


Etter en lang dag i Palenque startet vi turen mot Guatemala tidlig neste dag. Forste del gikk greit, med en ny (men ukomfortabel) minibuss. Deretter var det en halvtime med elvebaat for vi naadde Guatemala. Der ble vi loset over i en serdeles daarlig minibuss som ble fylt til randen. Etter mye om og men pluss en del svindelforsok kom vi oss endelig til El Remate, rett ved Tikal, og fikk oss en hyggelig bungallow der. Tilbrakte hele neste dag i Tikal, som ogsaa er en gammel Mayaby. Tikal er mye storre enn Palenque, saa det ble veldig mye gaaing. I Tikal var ogsaa jungelen mye tettere med masse villdyr og rare lyder. Utrolig morsom opplevelse.... read more
Pyramide
Snorre&Alex paa en pyramidetopp
Utsiktsbilde


Well, we just finished seeing Tikal and it was really fantastic. We started by getting hooked up with a fantastic guide who spoke beautiful English and was very unhurried from the outset (a significant difference from the rushed guide at Copan). He gained aour confidence right away by saying that he would not only give us a tour of Tikal but also of the natural wonders, including the wildlife, that can be found in the park. And he delivered! We started by going to the northern complex, but stopped along the way to track down some howler monkeys, which we had heard in several places in Guatemala, but never seen. Here though, we followed the "howling" (more like a grunting noise) and did catch a glimpse of one, which was very nice. The tour guide's impression ... read more


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 ... read more
Sunset Over Tikal
The Star Wars Shot
Tikal




Tot: 0.134s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 6; qc: 96; dbt: 0.082s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb