Mexico to Patagonia: South Bound Again: Tikal Mayan Temples

Spent a night in Dangringa (Val's Backpackers - $10/dorms) and left early the next morning to get to Tikal. Got to the Belize-Guatemala boarder (took 2 buses & a short taxi ride), paid B$37 exit fee and tried to find the Guatemalan immigration. It's so unobvious our loskop friend Michael acctually walked straight through...Got a taxi to Tikal for $20 each, eish but we were impatient and bombarded by taxi drivers, and couldn't see a bus in sight.

Yay! Our 4th country this trip!

And the Spanish immediately starts...I'm better than Rob, but that doesn't say much! Got to Tikal National Park and the vegetation is amazing, but it's a lot drier than I thought. Got there and pitched our tent at The Jaguar Inn (Q50). Walked around, found a small path and followed it. We bumped into a group of people from all over -New Zealand (Pip), Quebec (Steph), Holland (Fenna) etc. They were trying to find a giant tree for sundowners so we tagged along.

The Stairs of Death!

The only photo I managed to get from the top of the tree. Steph standing on the not-so-straight platform with the canopy in the background.

Found the big tree and OMG - was it high! We climbed up these termite ridden wooden stairs that creaked everytime you moved. I went up, saw the canopy under us, saw the temples jutting out in the distance, freaked out and went back down. I had such bad vertigo I thought I was going to pass out. No-one else had a problem and I felt like a bloody wimp, but whatever. It was a beautiful view, and we all started speaking about the possibilities of sneaking into Tikal at night to see the Mayan ruins at night.

The Ceiba Tree, ones we saw a lot during the trip!

After a whole bunch of scheming a guard approached us and told us he will take us into Tikal at night if we paid him the ticket price ($20). Sweet, so we packed our bags (sarmies, water, mozzie net, torch, camera and sheet) and followed the guide. Eight of us went, no-one was allowed to speak or turn on their torch, which just turned us all into giggling girlies like in High School, there's something about putting girls together and telling them to be quiet that fuels uncontrollable giggling.

Arrived at our 'Hotel' - just be quiet, don't litter and stay away from Templo IV were the instructions from the guide. We immediately saw a scorpion roaming the ruins, which freaked the girls out. It was pure awesomeness being there - the sky was dark and the stars were fantastic. The place had a creepy but calming atmosphere and we literally bumped into tons of temples. We had no idea where we were, but our amazing torch that Daddy gave to us highlighted the massive temples in the dark.

Walking up the stairs of the temples at night.

Climbed up the 'forbidden' steps up to Templo V. Gorgeous! A more perfect evening couldn't be asked for. The milky way was right in front of us over the canopy line and bright shooting stars entertained us for hours. One was so bright and close we saw the green flames from the rock as it entered our atmosphere. Amazing!

Our group climbing up the stairs of Templo V.

Templo V was perfect. It was a little chilly and the jungle was eerily quiet - not what I expected. Steph put on her jacket and as she turned around knocked over her open bag, which went tumbling down the stairs. Her bag flew down in slow motion, spitting out all her belongings as the bag the flew down the stairs. Shirts, underwear, food, iPod...all went flying out down the 58m high temple. Shocked in silence we watched until Pip broke the silence with a suppressed giggle which escalated in all of us cracking up. It was hilarious! The noise from the bag falling and our hysterical laugher woke up the howler monkeys, which replied in loud howls. Brilliant!

Steph's sad little tortillas sitting abandoned on the stairs.

Poor Steph had to walk the stairs searching for her tortillas, knickers, iPod etc. She got everything except one slop (flip flop) - now I know why we always see one lonely shoe in places, because strange events like this! Decided to walk around the temple complex and see the archeological park at night. It's so different at night, the noises, the anticipation of when we will see another Temple, and the general lack of visibility makes it a completely different experience as in the day. Saw a small snake, terantula and some insects. Climbed up the tiring stairs toward Templo IV, the highest in Tikal (64m). Wow!! We could see the reflection of the stars and moon lighting up the canopy line, and we could feel how high we were.

Beautiful Lizard we saw.

Didn't want to get busted and pay another $20 so we moved away from Templo IV and walked back to Templo V. A small roof protecting some important stone served as a great place to sleep (sleeping on the actual temple was too dangerous, demonstrated by Steph's bag incident). We set up our massive mossie net over all of us, laid down our sheet and tired to sleep. We could hear animals walking around us - sounded like something was carrying a whole branch and I could hear Pip getting nervous. 'Don't be scared of animals, it's people you must be worried about' - don't know if that was good advice, but animals aren't to be feared, especially in a big group. Everyone except me slept well, I was cold and so uncomfortable.

Setting up base camp. The stone that warrents a thatched roof is seen there.

Woke up at 4:00am to make sure we were out of sight for the early morning tours (that's how you get busted). Climbed up to the top of Templo V to watch the sunrise. It was pitch black and the wooden stairs are so steep it's was more like climbing than stairs. Robbie slept on top (he's NOT a morning person, unfortunatley) and listened to the birds and monkeys wake up. The light was creeping in and the morning smelt fresh.

Napping on the temple at 4:20 am. You can see how narrow it is and why we didn't sleep there in the first place!

We heard some people walking around, and seeing that it's impossible to hide when you are on a temple, decided to hide in one of the small tracks on the outskirts of the temples to avoid being seen. It was already light, and as we walked a troop of Spider Monkeys swooped through the trees above us. Spider monkeys!! Yay! I was SO excited to see them, they are alot more nimble and dainty than the sturdy howler, and much more fun to watch.

Ninja Monkey!!

Exhausted, Rob and I lay down our sheet and napped for 30min, just what the doctor ordered. The park opens at 6am so any people found there before are kicked out, so as soon as 6am came we walked around and saw beautiful temples. Saw Toucans! Wow, this is turning out to be a great day already…

Hat's off to bird photographers, they are so difficult to photograph!

Some very interesting temples, carvings and architecture. Parrots and monkeys were seen everywhere, as Tikal differs from other Mayan sites because it’s in fantastic condition and is nestled in the jungle (it’s all around the temples and you walk through the forest as opposed to wide open spaces).

Some of the carvings seen at Tikal.

Temple Complex G where we spotted our first toucans!

Saw the iconic temples of Tikal – King Moon Double Comb, built by his son for him. Had breakfast there (Bovril sandwiches with tomato and onion). We saw some excavated faces that looked amazing but had a hard time trying to take a great pic. There were so many birds flying around mum & dad would be going crazy! Enjoyed the views at the temples and had a great day.

Huge scultpur of a face embedded in the temple.

Jump! Fenna, Pip, Steph, Rob & Chrissie

Walked to Templo IV, the biggest, and saw the spectacular view from the top during the day. It was honestly breath-taking! Imagine being King and standing there, thinking you are the most important person in the world, not having a clue that in the other parts of the world, ships were being prepared for invasion of your land. Sinister maybe, but powerful.

I can see the four corners of the world! I am invincible!

"No, I am God"

Saw some Coati’s and a malachite toucanite on our way back! Saw a guide knock on a tree with a hole, and nothing came out. Went back later, knocked on the tree and out popped a sweet little toucanite! Felt so awesome. Walked out of the park while the hoards of tourists were coming in. It was already scorching hot and am SO glad to have been there crack of dawn because the heat quickly became unbearable.