Rebel Base Camp

---

Tikal is officially one of the new wonders of the world....it may not have made the official list...but I imagine that is only because so much of it is still underground... in fact, I wonder if there has to be a certain number of visitors per year to become a wonder of the world? Chichen Itza (an actual new wonder of the world) was my previous favorite because of all the icons - from the Temple of Kukulcan to the Ball Court. But now it is over-run with tourists, and safety issues make it impossible to climb anymore. Tikal shines as an enormous archeological project in the middle of the jungle.

Down on the ground, one feels like a jungle explorer, following the 'highways' of the mayans from as far back as 700BC. It is approx. 600 sq. km of jungle and temples. But not until you climb one of the higher temples do you get the breathtaking glimpse of pyramids peircing the jungle into the blue sky. Part of it is aptly named Mundo Perdido - the lost world - as Tikal shows the before and the after, since much of Tikal still rests under vines, and jungle greenery. What looks like a hill is very often a yet to be uncovered element of this ancient Mayan city.

Sitting on the top of Templo 4 or Templo 5 it is hard to imagine the great city beneath the trees that started to collapse around 900 AD. Speaking of sitting atop the pyramids...one should note that the scary, rickety wooden ladders are worth climbing. You might doubt the need, but each one was worth it.

If I were to visit Guatemala again, I might start in Flores and Tikal to go from the Ancient to the modern. The Antigua to Flores route brings you from the present back into the past, but I think I would like to see the route better from the past to the present day, since there is such contrast between the history and culture of the ancient mayans to the success of the Mayan culture in the highlands of Guatemala. How did Guatemalan Mayas succeed in keeping so much culture alive when in other places this did not happen?

---

Photos

Rebel Base Camp
If you don't recognize this view, you are required to re-watch the star wars series.