La Gringa y Su Esposo: Tikal

Tikal...said to be the ruin experience. As in, if you only have time for one, do Tikal. From what I´ve seen, I´d have to agree. It was pretty awesome. I showed up around noon yesterday and set off to the campground to rent a hammock. I strung it up (well, the campground guy strung it up) in the farthest back structure, in the corner. There were a few other people who had rented tents, but it was pretty quiet.

If you buy your entrance ticket after 3pm, you get admission for that afternoon (until the park closes at 6) and again for the whole next day. I walked around a bit, then decided to take a nap. Woke up later than I had wanted, so I rushed to eat a quick lunch (packed myself quite the picnic) and ran into the park. As I was walking in, the tourists were exiting en masse. The sun was setting, and the park is huge (16 sq km), so I was somewhat sprinting towards to back to climb the highest pyramid and watch the sunset. On the way I saw a sign for El Mundo Perdido, and decided to head there instead on a vague memory that someone told me it was a good place to watch the sunset. While back there, a group of ladies and their guide asked me to take their picture. The guide confirmed that Mundo Perdido was the best place to catch the sunset, and the 360 degree view from the top of the roped off puramid was the place to be (do not climb signs are just suggestions in Tikal?). I ended up walking around with them for a little since I was still early, and then headed up the pyramid at 5. It was beautiful. And I was the only person up there until after the sun had already set, then some guy came up and started meditating. But it was perfect, and I did some yoga (sun salutations...seemed appropriate) and just listened to the jungle for a while.

After sunset, it got dark quick. The park was already closed, and pretty empty. I ruined all that relaxing I had done during the sunset getting really freaked out, somewhat lost, and pretty certain that a jaguar was going to crush me at any minute. I eventually ran into a family headed out and tagged onto their group for the rest of the walk out. I headed over the the hotel that the ladies were staying at to get a recommendation for a guide for the next day. The group leader, Janet, let me take a (hot!!!!) shower in her room, and I even got to use a real towel. Fancy. Then I joined them for dinner, and they had gotten an extra voucher from the hotel, so I got free dinner and some company, too. Perfect! Clean and stuffed, I headed back over to hammock it out in the jungle. Sleeping out there wasn´t too bad, except it was a bit cold without a blanket and I was woken up by a troop of howler monkeys that made their way through the jungle behind me, and again by what I think was a jaguar. Luckily, I didn´t get eaten.

Nearly everyone that stays the night in the park joins up with one of the sunrise tours, bribes the entrance guards with Q50 (about $7), and goes in the park at 4am (it opens at 6). I was no exception. Unfortunately, it was very misty, and we couldn´t even see the sunrise. It was nice being in there so early, though. We did a little guided tour afterwards and I don´t think I saw another person the whole time. I wandered around the park until 1030, and after 6 more hours in the park I was Tikaled out. Went over to say goodbye and thank you to the ladies, and ended up going for a swim (in my clothes) in the pool. Not a bad way to spend a day in the ruins. Not bad at all.

Templo del Jaguar