Sailing, sailing,: The great Mayan complex Tikal

Monday, February 08, 2016

The great Mayan complex Tikal

On my last post, Flores, I explained we took a bus from Rio Dulce. But just before arriving at the bus terminal the bus stopped and dropped off ourselves and another Western couple. A van was waiting to take us across to the island and our hotels. The English speaking coordinator convinced us to buy our transfers to Tikal and back - plus the return bus to the Rio - from him. This was a bad mistake as it turns out. A pretty decrepit car did pick us up and drop us off at our hotel at Tikal but no one picked us up 3 days later and we had to hire a taxi to get us back to Flores. And then we couldn't find a bus at the station going to the Rio at the time of our "voucher" or someone who would accept it in payment. So we lost about $60 - not the end of the world of course but we felt pretty stupid trusting someone like that.

This is a panorama Scott took from the top of Temple 2 looking towards Temple 1 over the central square of the complex

We had made reservations at the Jungle Lodge just outside the entrance gates to the complex. It bordered right on the jungle and spider monkeys entertained us in the trees outside our bungalow. Our room had just been redecorated and was really lovely and comfortable with a very modern bathroom. We enjoyed the very nice pool after arriving and made reservations for a 4 hour tour the following morning. We had dinner that night in the restaurant and although the food was fine, it was very expensive, especially the drinks. We had our remaining lunches and dinners at the local place next to the museum - Comidor Tikal. The afternoon happy hour prices at the pool until 5 pm are still a good deal at Jungle Lodge.

One of a troupe of spider monkeys that entertained us.

Sitting around the lovely pool at the Jungle Lodge

Tikal was the capital of one of the largest Mayan kingdoms and although temples here date back to 350 BC the height of development was the Classic Period 200 - 800 AD. The site was abandoned in the late 10th Century. After "discovery" by a local and the information republished in Berlin, archaeologists and treasure hunters began visiting the site. It has been completely mapped and covers an area of 6.2 square miles. It had no source of water available other than rainfall and had 10 reservoirs to hold reserves. The Tikal National Park, a greater area of 222 square miles surrounds it.
Tikal has been partially restored by the University of Pennsylvania and the government of Guatemala. The pyramids, palaces and monuments are built of limestone and some tower over 230 feet high. Broad causeways built of packed and plastered limestone linked the various sections of the city. The central city held as many as 90,000 but maybe over 400,000 lived around it.
We were able to climb 2 of the tallest pyramids on wooden staircases built to stop the harm from tourists climbing the stairs (and to keep them from harming themselves). On our second day there we got up at 3:45 am and went on the Sunrise Tour - hiking over an hour in the dark through the jungle to the "music" of the howler monkeys and birds to the tallest temple at the site, number 4. We climbed to the top and sat in the dark to watch the sun come up. Unfortunately the mist was so strong we didn't see a thing! But it was atmospheric for sure.
As I mentioned earlier, we had to make our own way back to the Rio Dulce. We took a "collectivo" leaving from the bus station at Flores - it was PACKED with people and things. To the point that Scott and I had our legs up in the air at times. The driver had to unload the pile in the front of the mini bus every time anyone got on or off - which was often. And his driving was hair raising at times. Needless to say - no seat belts. But we got back safely. Now we hope to head down the river tomorrow and over to Belize on Wednesday. Wish us luck!