Fri, 5 Mar - Tikal

Tikal Tikal was discovered in 1848 and opened to the public and declared a National Park in 1955. it was occupied from 1200BC to 925aD. it had 4,000 structures and 200 monuments with more than 100,000 occupants. as an aside, there were around 150,000 Mayas in Belize, which is more than the current population of Belize today. This gives you an idea of the size and layout of this settlement we walked through the forest for quite a while (since i was frequently distracted by photo opportunities as shown in my previous blog); before we saw Temple IV ... Temple IV or Temple of the Two Headed Snake is the highest temple at 195ft, 690,000 cubic feet of material was needed for it's construction. this was the first Temple we climbed ... they had nice wooden stairs up ... so you didn't climb up those steep stone steps. unfortunately, some of my pictures did not transfer to my computer, so i don't have a photo of Temple IV. hopefully Eddi has photos of whatever i don't, but they won't be included in this blog. the view from Temple IV was beautiful . you can see Temple I and Temple II far off in the distance on the right; and Temple V in the middle, Mundo Perdido is on the right. it gives you an idea of how large an area Tikal covered. you were allowed to climb on the stone steps of this temple at Mundo Perdido ... a good workout for the legs ! view from there .... we passed through more forest and came to Temple V which is 171ft. we came around the back side, this is a side view ... they had these nice wooden stairs to climb up this one .... but it was actually more like climbing a ladder because the steps were very close together and tall .... and you had to climbed down like you would climb down a ladder ... backwards. the view from up here was breath-taking. here you can see Temple I, the pointy one on the right ... and some people in the bottom left corner for perspective purposes. Eddi has a picture of me at the top, but i'm sure i'm not recognizable. from here we walked to the Grand Plaza Central ... it was here that i FINALLY felt like i was seeing the remnants of a civilization. so much of what i had seen, including Cahal Pech, was mostly just temples and very few other buildings that made much sense to me. here at the Grand Plaza Central, i could 'feel' how life must have been. i took a 360 degree video to give a better idea. still snapshots don't show it that well. the video is called "Tikal 360" and the web address for the You Tube video is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_aZ5k53ZQs The Grand Plaza Central includes Temple I, Temple II, Acropolis Norte, and Acropolis Central, with a large grassy area in the center. Temple I, or Jaguar Temple is 135ft high . It sits at one end of the Grand Plaza Central, oriented to the west where the sunset occurs. you cannot climb this one. photo below of Acropolis Norte, ....it would be to the left of Temple I above photo of Acropolis Central, which would be to the right of Temple I Temple II or Temple of the Masks, 114ft high sits across from Temple I in the Grand Plaza Central. it is oriented to the east where the sun rises. i guess if you get there around 5am, it's a beautiful sight. Temple II is also one i don't have a photo of, ... but you can see it in the video. the photo below was taken from Acropolis Norte, looking towards Acropolis Central. you can see Temple II on the right side of the photo, ...and that is Temple V straight ahead in the background, not a part of Plaza Central. Eddi and i climbed to the top of Temple II and took some photos .... this is Temple I across the Plaza and Acropolis Norte taken from top of Temple II top of Acropolis Norte this 'guy' was in Acropolis Norte. they have it protected from the sun and elements and it is still down an enclosure. this photo was taken from Acropolis Central and shows Temple I and the Acropolis Norte in the background a few of my doorway, arch shots :) as we were leaving the main area and making our way to Temple VI, i turned around and took this parting shot of the back side of Temple I, .... we had planned on taking the last bus back to Flores; but the guide Eddi talked to advised us NOT to wait so late, because we would be traveling on the road when it was getting dark, and to leave by the 3:30pm bus because it would be safer. i never felt threatened in my travels; but it is important to keep in remember that intelligent safety should always be on your mind. it had been a long day, and now pm; we still had Temple VI to see and the map showed it down a long trail. we decided to quickly 'run' down there to see it. ....run ... me, with 2 somewhat mangled toes on one foot, and a torn big toe nail on the other ..... but off we went. we walked and walked .....and walked, through incredible rainforest with huge trees and enormous leaves. this temple was out in "B.F.E." i thought for sure we were going to be dinner for the jaguars :) but, we finally made it.... Temple VI or the Temple of the Inscriptions is 165ft tall and the only one with 3 front entrances; the hieroglyphic inscription is dated 765AD. we both would like to know why it was so remote from the rest of the buildings and temples. Eddi has made some contacts that might possibly have the answer, she said he would let me know if/when she finds out. after taking a few quick photos; we 'ran' again, to the exit. we had 15 min to spare before the bus left :) i'd like to mention that we did NOT see all of Tikal ... there is much more, but we did hit the highlights. we arrived back in Flores before sunset. a quick shower, ...cold of course, and a change of clothes and we're off to find a Mojito to watch the sunset. our 'guide friend' was going to join us, but he never showed .. but he did direct us to Captain Tortugas where we had both our Mojitos and our sunset overlooking a small island. it was a fun long day ...