Day 62 - Sunday 20th November 2005

4am came around much too soon! That was the time my bus picked me up and drove me (on the bumpiest road ever) to the Mayan ruins of Tikal. As the bus jerked around violently due to craters in the road, I was unable to get any decent shut eye on the hour-long journey. That was ok however, as I fell asleep when we arrived at 05:15 and were told the gates would not be opened until 06:00.

One of the main reasons for getting up and going at stupid-o-clock was to see the sunrise over the temples in the park. One of the main problems with seeing the sunrise over the temples in the park comes about when the park doesn’t open until after the sun has risen over said temples. In the end this was a moot point as it was too cloudy too see the sun at any rate, even if we had been allowed into the park earlier.

There is archaeological evidence to suggest the site of Tikal was inhabited as early as 900BC. It wasn’t until 250AD that Tikal reached the height of its prosperity, when between 50,000 and 100,000 people lived within the sphere of its influence. It remained at the height of its power for around 300 years when it began to be challenged by surrounding cities Caracol & Calakmul. Over the next few centuries there were sporadic outbreaks of war in the region. As a result, Tikal lost a lot of its influence whilst the two other cities prospered.

As time wore on Tikal rose like a phoenix from the flames to regain its status as the supreme city of the region. This status was cemented when Tikals ruler (Heavenly Standard Bear) launched an attack against Calakmul and captured its leader Jaguar Paw. Tikal remained at the top of the pecking order until it was mysteriously abandoned around 900AD. Aliens again?

Tikal was rediscovered in modern times in 1848, on an expedition led by Modesto Mendez. Due to its remoteness, the site remained virtually unexplored until the Gualtemalan army built an airstrip in 1951. Even today only a small amount of the site has been uncovered/rediscovered and subsequently restored to something like its former glory.

When we were eventually let into the site at 6am it was still a 15 minute drive to the car park, followed by a 15 minute hike to the site. Thus arriving at 06:30 it was well and truly light! The saving grace was the site was deserted at that time.

Tikal, like Palenque is in the middle of the jungle. At that early hour the animals were still quite active - the screams from the howler monkeys echoed through the trees. It has to be said, the jungle is a pretty eerie place at that time of day.

I didn’t realise how spread out the ruins were until I started walking around the jungle. From one side to another is about 1.5km, but the paths aren’t straight so it ends up being a lot further. Over the course of the morning I walked around constantly, trying to see as much as possible before the heat of the day came. By lunchtime I had seen pretty much all of Tikal, or as much as I wanted to see anyway.

At heart of the city lies the Grand Plaza. On the east and west sides of the Plaza lie Temple 1 & Temple 2 (Temples of the Jaguar & Masks respectively). Temple 1 was built to commemorate & entomb one of the leaders of Tikal. His remains were found in the tomb underneath a few years ago. The north side of the Plaza is filled with the North Acropolis. During Mayan times this structure was constantly being extended. Newer structures were built on top of older structures. What remains today are the remnants of about 100 buildings. On the south side of the Plaza lies the Central Acropolis. How and why these buildings were used remains a mystery, but some guesses include law courts, temples and offices. In the distance behind the Central Acropolis lies Temple 5, which was a solid structure with one small room at the top to enshrine an - as yet - unknown ruler.

The two other main points of interest were Temple 4 and Mundo Perdido (Lost World). Temple 4 is the highest structure in Tikal at 64m and gave a decent birds eye view of the other temples and the jungle beyond. Someone told me that the site of Tikal was used at the end of Star Wars Episode IV when Luke and his boys are preparing to attack the Death Star. I´m not sure if this is true - again my film knowledge lets me down.

Mundo Perdido has its own architecture according to our guide, but I couldn’t see it. Maybe someone else can. The main feature here was another pyramid, not quite as high as Temple 4, but equally good views (see the photo in the text).

The first bus back to Flores left at 12:30. I was on it, having walked around for 6 hours I’d seen as much as I wanted. My third ruins in a week. I’m pretty much all ruined out for the moment. When I arrived back in Flores I went straight to get some food. It was about 14:00 and I was ready for bed!

The previous day I had spoken to two girls who had just returned from an early trip to Tikal. At that time they looked like they were about to collapse through tiredness. As I was talking to them I was thinking to myself “It can’t possibly be that bad!”. 24 hours later, I felt like I was going to fall asleep when I was eating! I was in exactly the same boat as they had been the previous day!

I spent the afternoon lazing in a hammock before I was picked up in the early evening and taken to San Andres and my new house for the week. San Andres was on the other side of the lake to Flores, and it was where I was going back to school.