Tikal

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Crossing our third border into Guatemala was fairly painless except if you count the various fees those with badges are so good at extorting from you. Our first stop was Tikal. Not far from the border, Tikal is a massive Mayan city taking all day to see. We got in around dusk, so we set up our tent and went for a bit of a jungle walk. Nightfall came very fast and we found ourselves walking through an ancient Mayan city with no flashlight. It has been a bit cloudy but the full moon came out for a bt when the sky cleared which was beautiful. The next morning we woke up at 5am to get into the park when it opened so we could see the sunrise from atop the highest temple. It was a good hike to get there and up the steep stairs but we made it. Complete with howler monkeys all around and steam coming from jungle we could see almost the entire park. We hiked around for another couple hours and seemed to have the park all to ourselves which was amazing. The ruins mixed into the jungle are somewhat unreal when you look up at them. You are relatively free to explore everything including some temples you can go into. Hope all is well with all you reading up on our adventure and thanks for the messages.

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Comments

[Mom]

boy scouts
I knew that you should have paid more attention to those boy scouting tips....You would never had left the campsite without your flashlight. Afterall, you had the best leaders ever!! xoxoxo Have you found those really cold beers yet??? Miss you!!!

[Cuz Kelli]

Wow...3 entries and no mention of any beer... Sounds like you are having the best of times. Will now wants to be you.

[Dan Schieffelin]

Adam, did you know that the Millennium Falcon landed at Tikal in one of the holy trilogy? It's a sweet spot, I was there about ten yeas ago, those stairs on the Temple of the Jaguar were not there.

[Adriana and Peter]

Yes, we liked it!
As you said, we really liked Flores and Tikal. In Flores we spent just one night. In Tikal we had a great tour guide and it was so much fun!