Mayan Ruins at Tikal

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September 23rd 2009

Published: October 16th 2009

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George and Eva

Eva feeding pigeons in the Central Plaza in Guatemala City

We must confess we hardly gave Guatemala city a chance. We arrived from San Pedro on Monday afternoon, September 21. About an hour later we were sheltering from the worst rain storm we had seen yet. The streets flooded in a matter of minutes. After an evening meal of decent pizza (again!) we left the dark and dangerous night and hid in our hotel until morning. We arose early, took a few pictures in the Parque Central, and then boarded a nice air-conditioned bus to Santa Elena.

At the Santa Elena bus terminal, we were greeted warmly by a horde of taxi drivers. Our taxi driver, after offering us a much better price to Flores than the one he started out with due to a bidding war, suggested we buy our shuttle tickets to Tikal for the next morning directly from the travel agency. He then proceeded to take us there and wait for us to buy our tickets. We appreciated it quite a bit and tipped him well.

We awoke earlier than the sun the next morning, Wednesday, September 23, at around 4 am to get ready for the 5 am shuttle to Tikal. By 5 am, we

Into Tikal

were waiting on the doorstep of our hostel for the early shuttle along with several other people. Likewise, many others at several hostels down the street were doing the same. Apparently 5 am seems to be a very popular time to leave as the shuttle to Tikal was completely full by the time we left Flores. At 6:30 am we arrived for our first ever visit to the famous Tikal ruins.

Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites of the Mayan civilization. It was built by the ancestors of some of the same people we were meeting everyday in Guatemala. The Tikal ruins cover an area greater than six square miles, and features dozens of pyramid-shaped temples, some of which are 45+ metres high. The jungle has reclaimed the site since it was actively used, and modern reconstruction has only partially cleared the buildings from the overbearing foliage. On the morning of our visit, there was a heavy mist and fog enveloping the jungle and the ruins, which made the area quite mysterious. As everyone else on our bus joined a slow moving tour, we skipped ahead a little and got to explore the area virtually alone. Well,

La Ceiba

The ceiba tree is Guatemala´s national tree and one can be found at the entrance to Tikal.

alone but for flocks of wild turkeys, other exotic birds, several spider monkeys, and an agouti (note: roughly beagle size, the agouti is the world's largest rodent). Mid-morning found us in the middle of the Grand Plaza, a football-stadium-sized area flanked by two great temple-pyramids on the east and west sides, and two palace-like complexes on the north and south. Climbing the temples on modern but precarious wooden ladders, we had a great view of the entire Grand Plaza (from Templo II) and saw other temples in the distance rising above the jungle canopy (from Templo IV and Templo V). The morning fog was still present when we were on top of Templo II and Templo IV, but by the time we got to Templo V, the fog had lifted giving us a clear view of the top of the Grand Plaza temples from afar.

We spent 7 hours touring the ruins before we were throughly exhausted and left on the 2 pm shuttle back to Flores. We came to Tikal with high expectations and it did not disappoint. Put it on your 20 places to go before you turn 40 list!

For those who are planning to