Mayan Ruins of Tikal

I´m starting to get accustomed to waking up early. I woke up at 2:30 am and joined the 3am sunrise tour to see Tikal. However, this is really a misnomer since it is always cloudy and we never saw the sunrise. But I enjoyed getting to the park early enough to hear the wildlife wake up today.

The Mayans settled into Tikal in 700 BC, but somehow the city died out around 900 AD. In 1881, archaelogists began the long haul to restore this city by removing the many vines, trees, and earth that had grown over the city. The grandness of the city impressed me, however, I still think Machu Picchu is cooler.

There are definitely more stairs here than any other ruins I remember; the Mayans sure do like their stairs. I climbed up a million stairs to get to the top of some of these temples. Although, in general, I'm surprised at the lack of liability with many of the touristy things I have done here that seem somewhat dangerous especially Volcano Pacaya and so I was glad to hear that the Park closed down some of the stairs to a couple of temples after a couple of tourists fell down them and died.

After visiting Tikal, I don't think I will make the trek to see El Mirador. A couple of Germans almost convinced me to join them tomorrow for a 5 day trek into the jungle to see a recently discovered Mayan city that is even older than Tikal. Archaelogists are there now uncovering the city from the vines and trees. Very few tourists have made the trek because of the arduous and grueling hike. I have seen enough ruins for this week and plus I'm not a fan of over sized ants and leeches and so I will move on to Belize. However, I am missing the El Retiro hotel's laid back days and party nights.