Tikal, Guatemala

I originally intended to visit Tikal on Sunday, giving it 1 day for the rain to pass and hopefully better weather. 

However the staff at RETPSA that sold the ticket said it would be better to do it on Saturday, as admission is free for locals on Sundays, and Tikal would be crowded.  They also mentioned, that the rain usually starts in the afternoon, and so I signed up for the 4.30am trip departure on Saturday. 

It poured heavily before I left the hostel in the wee hours of the mourning, and stopped momentarily as we walked towards the shuttle and started again on the 1.5hr drive towards Tikal. 

Fortunately, throughout the entire time we were on our Tikal tour, there wasn't any rain, and interestingly enough, the moment we hopped onto the shuttle to head back to our hostel, it started raining again. 

Someone must be looking out for me, as I also had fantastic weather on my snorkel trip in Caye Caulker, in between a couple days of downpour!

Apparently the ticket I got from the tour agency was just for the transport only, but many others who were on the same shuttle had their ticket inclusive of a guide, so I sneaked and blended in with the group for the guided tour. 

A guide is highly recommended, as there aren't that many well labelled descriptions of the temples or pyramids, and the grounds is really huge, encompassing 575 square kilometres of jungle.  If one had strolled on the wrong path, one could find themselves in the middle of the woods, where jaguars could also be found. 

There are also a number of wild life that could be seen, such as spider monkeys, howler monkeys, turkeys, different species of birds, and racoon like coatimundis.

The central part of the ancient city alone contains 3,000 buildings and covers about 16 square kilometres.  Not all the temples and pyramids are climbable, as some are under restoration, or are deemed unsafe to climb.  On some of the sites, they had built wooden stairs, for easier access. 

The most famous icons on the site are the 2 temples located in Plaza Mayor. 

The buildings in the area of Mundo Perdido (Lost World Complex) also left a strong impression on me, as the guide explained that the temples and pyramids in the area are strategically built to allow for the telling of time and seasons.

The tour took about 3 hours, where they left us at the Plaza Mayor to explore on our own.

A model replica can be found just outside the Litho Musuem, located near the Tikal ticket entrance, which provided a great overview of the size of Tikal.

Not only does it give a perspective of the locations of the various temples and pyramids, it also provides a better idea of how the monuments used to look like, with the intricate carvings reflected in the model replica.