The Mayan Ruins at Tikal

This morning the alarm went off at 6:10. Why so early? Well I was planning to get up and take a shower and then go down stairs at the hostel I am staying to catch the shuttle bus I purchased to Tikal. All seemed to go as planned. I got up early, took my shower, and went downstairs to wait. Being a veteran of this type of "shuttle", I figured I need to be ready early for my 7:00am ride, as they often come a little early or a little late. 6:40. I am ready and waiting. 7:00. Still not here. 7:15. Still patient, things happen. 7:30. Grumpy, but trying to hide it. 7:40. Grrrrr. I talk witht he people at the hostel. They call. I guess San Juan Travels, cancelled the 7:00am shuttle, not enough people. No worries, they are coming at 8:00. Just enough time for a cup of coffee.

The next 30 minutes or so are spent picking up the others who are on the shuttle and off we go. We get to Tikal (an amazing place, really, in the middle of the second largest rainforest in the Americas), and one of men that the "shuttle" picked up along the side of the road (yes there were several) is actually a guide. For a little extra he will give us a four hour tour of the ruins. I had decided no, I wasn't really ready to deal with four hours of touring in a small group all in Spanish, but these two Canadians were going to go and try it so I asked Rueben (the tour guide) if he would do it partly in English. So I jump on the tour. There are 6 of us and while I am not always a big fan of tours, Rueben did a very nice job.

The temples are tall, but what is so remarkable about them is that they are not completely excavated. So you see the part of the temple which has been studied and worked on by the Archeologists, and then you see what they may have looked like had they been left alone. It was truly amazing the way the rain forest just swallowed these massive structures to make them look like hills. The coolest thing is that they used some of these temples in Star Wars, Apocolypto, and Survivor Guatemala.

The ride back to Flores was equally as exciting. There were only 6 of us for our shuttle in these tiny minivans meant for 12 or so. I thought great a little bit of room. Not a chance. I should have known better. There were 15 or so of us in there. Some guys on the floor, others, on laps, and even a woman who got on only to realize 30 minutes later she was traveling in the wrong direction. Shame. We did drive through some villages where the chicken, turkeys, pigs, horses, and ponies were all running free, crossing the road at will (think South Africa). Oh yeah, I was chatting with these two doctors from Canada all day on my tour. We decided to have a beer on the top of the Temple of the Jaguar. Pretty cool. I watched the sunset over the lake in Flores. A nice way to end the day!