Tikal 2004

Some of the pax woke up early to go to Temple IV, the tallest at Tikal, for sunrise. The guide Cesar met the rest of us at 8 and led us into the ruins. Cesar is a young, mustachioed Guatemala who speaks perfect English due to spending most his life in the States. He is hyperactive, very personable and most definitely blown sky high on Guatemalan jungle bud. The fact that he was stoned though didn’t interfere with the tour and everyone learned much due to his vast knowledge of the ruins and Mayan history in general. He also lugged around a telescope which he propped up often so that we could get a closer look at some of the local birds, monkeys and plant life.

It is amazing to climb to the top of the steep, terraced pyramids and to look down at the complex cluster of structures that this ancient society created. The site is completely surrounded by jungle and from the tops of these brick mountains you can see for at least 100 kilometers. It really reminded me a lot of my favorite Mexican ruins, Palenque, but on a grander scale. Some of the temples were incredibly steep and tall, massive mountains in the jungle.

By around noon we packed up and headed to Finca Ixobel in Poptun. The Finca is a working farm a couple hours south of Tikal. The owner is an American woman that moved to Guatemala some 30 years ago and bought the land. Now it is a neat stop on the “Backpacker Highway” that offers lodging, food and activities. When we arrived we settled into our tree house cabins and then relaxed.

That night ate some pretty good Moroccan Chicken (thanks to Cath) and then went to the “back 40” to the bar. The bartender, Sean, happened to be from Madison, so we spent a lot of the night sharing stories about the city. Had some drinks and then had some more…