Tikal Temple, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  No Responses »
Jan 232014
 

For viewing archaeological sites in something close to their natural state, it doesn’t get much better than Tikal. This temple has been excavated, but it’s sister, which was located behind me was still very much in the condition it was found in, buried and covered in trees. It looked just like a big hill.

We had the added bonus that we were on a sunset tour, meaning we started in the blazing afternoon heat that most tourists aren’t stupid enough to mess with. As a result, we had the whole place to ourselves. I thought it was worth it, though it officially marked the sweating through of every t-shirt I had brought to Guatemala on my second day there.

Back when Tikal was buzzing, the entire area was cleared of vegetation and paved with gleaming white stone. The temples and stele like those shown in the picture were painted in gaudy bright colours.

I found it interesting that the Mayans had flattened a large portion of the jungle for their city and farmland, considering that we have this idealized view that the ancient natives of the Americas lived in tune with nature.

Mayan temple and stele at Tikal, Guatemala HDR

 

New Smugmug and The Mayan Palace, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  No Responses »
Jan 142014
 

New Smugmug

So Smugmug, the site that hosts my images, has made their galleries much more customizable so I was able to make it match the main Traverse Earth site, just about. It’s an ongoing process as a few bits aren’t quite right, but take a look by clicking <Browse Photos> above. Let me know what you think of the new layout!

The Mayan Palace

This shot is of the remains of the palace at Tikal. It was a large building but the royal bedroom was nothing like we’d expect of a European palace. It was about 8 feet wide by 10 feet deep with a stone slab for sleeping on beneath a small window. There were small holes in the walls throughout the structure where, it is believed, candles or lanterns of some sort could be placed to light the interior.

Moving to the left from where I’m standing we walked around to enter a huge temple complex. Shortly after this, we heard the howler monkeys in the nearby trees. The whole experience made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

The ancient Mayan Palace ruins at Tikal near Flores, Guatemala

 

Tikal Boat Dock Morning, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  3 Responses »
Jul 202013
 

Tikal was hot, really really really hot. The room I stayed in didn’t have any air-conditioning, all I had was two little fans. So, I’d have a few beers and read a bit of George Orwell’s 1984 to get me to sleep. This worked to get me to sleep; nothing could keep me asleep. As the sun began to peak up over the jungle, the heat started to climb and I rose out of bed. One morning, with nothing else to do, I set out with my camera gear and got today’s photo of a small boat dock with canoes available for rent tied up to it.

Two canoes tied to a dock on a golden morning in tikal, guatemala

Tikal Temple, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  1 Response »
Jul 012013
 

So, I had my appendix out on Saturday night.  Doing pretty well and glad it didn’t happen while I was off traveling somewhere. An old school teacher of mine once told a story of having to carry someone down off a mountain with a burst appendix. That scenario has stayed in the back of my mind. I’m actually glad I can head off into the wilderness without risk of appendicitis now.

Here’s another shot of one of the temples in Tikal.

Mayan temple in Tikal Guatemala

Visiting Tikal, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  1 Response »
Jun 052013
 

As you may know, I flew down to Flores with the hope of finding a helicopter to fly me into El Mirador, a huge, largely unexcavated Mayan city in the jungle, where I could overnight before flying back. The helicopter was essential as otherwise the trip required two days of trekking in and out. I would have loved to do the trek, but I just didn’t have enough time.

Upon arriving, I discovered the the cost of the helicopter (which I’d decided I was happy spending a fortune on) would be $5000. That was not the fortune I had in mind. As it turns out, they no longer keep a helicopter in Flores, so you have to pay to fly it in. I do wonder if that might be because the helicopter in Flores crashed or something.

So, it was time to execute the backup plan. The backup plan was an equally impressive and much easier to reach, excavated complex called Tikal. This is the reason that most people visit the area. Everything I’d read about the place said you should go at sunrise to avoid the heat of the day. This would have required a 2am wake up.

Instead, after telling Nelson, the guy on the tour desk at Los Amigos, that I wanted to take pictures he recommended the sunset trip. His reason was that the sunrise is often obscured by the mist rising from the jungle, but the sunset was visible. So, I booked a trip at the hottest time of the day, but at least I could sleep in.

I awoke at 6am. My room was boiling. So, I went for a cold shower and set out for some post sunrise pics of Flores before tucking into breakfast at the hostel. Following that I settled into a hammock with George Orwell’s 1984 to kill the time before my tour. I came very close to dozing off, but managed to climb out in time for the trip.

Tikal was amazing. I’ve got a lot of photos of the area so will tell you more about it as I post them. One thing I can say is this, I’m glad I went in the afternoon. Yes, it was absolutely boiling and I sweat more than I think I ever have in my life. But, my tour group of about ten people seemed to be the only people that were as stupid as me and willing to go in the heat of the day. We had the entire place to ourselves. After watching the sunset atop a pyramid we descended to walk back through the temples in almost total darkness.

Temple pyramid at Tikal, Guatemala