TIKAL, Guatemala

I woke up the next day feeling better. Still not 100%, but better than before. I grabbed some meds from the pharmacy and we grab a quick breakfast from a place called Erza´s. Another really good restaurant in San Ignacio. I look at my watch and it´s already past 10am we´re suppose to share a taxi with Stephanie and Markus, our German friends, to the border of Belize and Guatemala. We hurry back to our hotel to find them waiting for us with a taxi. They´re going to Flores, a small town south of Tikal, and we´re going straight to Tikal to see the ruins there. The ride goes smoothly to the border. Getting through the border isn´t as easy. In Belize everyone speaks some English and Spanish, in Guatemala most people speak only Spanish. As soon as we exit the taxi the money changers are in our face trying to give us Guatemalan Quetzales for our Belizean money. It´s slightly overwhelming especially when since I feel like the guy is trying to rip me off. Actually it´s not a terrible exchange rate, but it´s not that great either. I exchange about $20 and exit out of Belize, but not without having to pay for a $18 departure tax. Now in Guatemala things don´t get any easier. It seems like no one speaks English here. Even the immigration people can´t speak a word of it. Luckily I have just enough brain cells left to remember some of the tiny amount of Spanish I learned from 4 years of high school. Once on the other side we are occosted by taxi drivers promising to take us any where for large sums of money. In the confusion we say good bye to our fellow German travelers. Suddenly another guy offers to take us all the way to Tikal for a good price. We accept and hop in his beat up old Toyota Camry. Off we go speeding into the Guatemalan countryside. The landscape is starting to get hillier and more beautiful. About an hour and a half later we arrive at the Jungle Lodge a hotel right outside the gates of the Tikal ruins. We are now thick in the jungle and exotic animals and plants surround us on all sides.

The grunds of the Jungle Lodge are beautifully manicured and the buildings are impressive.

We take a room, but are disappointed by its spartan offerings: Two crappy beds, a weak

ceiling fan, and a musty smell. We don´t care since we are only here to see the ruins and are leaving the very next day. It is great to be away from the cars and traffic of San Ignacio. The jungle is immense and exudes a welcoming tranquility to my soul. The whole place is completely empty except for ourselves and a few other travelers. They do have a pool as well and we have it all to ourselves. So Cramer and I chill by the pool in the shade of the jungle canopy for the rest of the afternoon. We sign up for the sunrise tour of Tikal that leaves at 4am, so we won´t be getting much sleep. We grab dinner and then try to pass out. Unfortunately the bad thing about the jungle is it´s hot and humid and so is the room. The weak ceiling fan just spins ineffectively exuding an annoying sound. Outside the bugs and other creatures of the night are blaring loud and clear. I feel like I´m immersed in an inch or two of water, due to the sweat and humidity. I toss and turn for about 5 hours, maybe catching an hour or so of sleep. Cramer isn´t as lucky telling me he didn´t fall asleep at all. At 4am there is a loud knock on the door. It´s Antonio our tour guide. Antonio reminds me of Tony Montonya from the movie Scarface. Except image him as a chain smoker at the age of 55. The guy is a good guide, but he´s weezing up a storm while we walk and has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. We head into Tikal at about 4:30am. It is completely dark and Antonio is the only one with a flashlight. We see some early ruins and a few carvings before taking a short cut through the jungle to Temple IV.

On the way we see a tarantula and and hear the howler monkeys coming awake. We get to the temple a little while latter and climb the stairs. Antonio stops half way up out of breath and I´m worried he´s not going to make it. We continue on up to the top. This is the highest temple in Tikal and maybe all of Central America. It´s towering over the canopy and we can see all around us for miles. In the distance there are 3 or 4 more temples sticking out of the canopy as well. There are about 20 other people up there waiting for the sunrise. It is extremely quiet and calm. Some people are taking pictures others are meditating. There is definitely an aura of peacefulness in the air. Unfortunately it is a cloudy day so we can´t see the sun come up, but the whole jungle comes to life as we watch and listen. After enjoying the scene for awhile we head down to see the rest of Tikal.

Antonio takes us on a great tour around the whole grounds. What´s great about Tikal compared to many other Mayan sites like Chitchen Itza, etc. is that it´s completely in the jungle and to get to the various temples and buildings you have to walk through the forest. This is great, because there is a lot of wildlife around. We see spider monkeys, tucans, parrots, grey foxes, tarantulas, insects, coati, and other animals as we walk. We continue walking around the huge grounds taking in all the sights

comtemplating what it would have looked like 1000´s of years ago. It is amazing what many of these cultures could achieve in the past. Tikal was at it´s height from about 200 to 900AD. Unfortunately Tikal relied almost solely on seasonal rains to fill giant man made reseviors for water. When prolonged drought hit the area around 900AD the city was abandoned. Many Mayan cities were abandoned around this same time.

We end the tour in the main plaza which contains the most famous of the temples: The Temple of the Great Jaguar. We snap a few more shots, thank Antonio for the tour, and head for the exit. Both of us are wiped out from the lack of sleep. We need to catch a bus down to Flores next and one leaves in about two hours. I want nothing more than to sit by the pool, but my hopes are dashed when they´re cleaning the thing when we get back. We pack our stuff and secure a ride for about $6 each down to Flores, which is about 45 minutes away. Tikal was great to see, but the lack of sleep and humidity has hit us hard. We say goodbye to Tikal, and cruise on off to Flores.