On Friday morning, we left San Ignacio and headed to the Guatemalan border with team Notier’s Frontiers. The crossing was fast and easy for team Riding Around the World as we had made photocopies of all our documents beforehand. I had actually copied the wrong page of Phil’s International driver’s license (oops!), but the border official accepted it (despite the absence of the name and picture page…) and we were done sooner than expected.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go so painlessly for our friends as they had to make photocopies and the border official they went to was more interested in scrolling through his Facebook feed than helping them. They had to go to the copy store around the corner of the building twice as the guy behind the counter didn’t specify what needed to be copied the first time around. To make matters worse, the printer broke down the second time around so the whole process took about 40 minutes longer than it should have.
Everything worked out eventually and the four of us were riding into the next country on our itinerary together. After lunch at a little eatery by the road, Tim and Marisa went to Tikal where they were camping for the next couple of days while Phil and I went to Santa Elena where we stayed at the Hotel Explore for 340 GTQ (~58 CAD) a night. We planned to meet up the following day to explore the ruins at Tikal together and that is exactly what we did. The entrance cost 160 GTQ (~27 CAD) per person that we had to pay about a 30-minute ride before the site. Also, cash only.
The site of the Mayan ruins at Tikal is the largest one that we have been to so far and made for a full day of exploring for us. The entire area of Tikal National Park covers 570 square kilometers. Its considerable size can be attributed to the fact that it was the capital of a conquest state that had become a powerful kingdom of the ancient Mayan civilization. Interestingly; however, evidence exists of Tikal having been conquered by Teotihuacán in the 4th century CE. Star Wars fans might recognize Tikal as it was the filming location for the planetary moon of Yavin IV in Episode IV: A New Hope.
Temple I is the main temple that is synonymous with Tikal and is the funerary pyramid of Jasaw Chan K’awil who was entombed in the structure in 734 AD. The pyramid was completed between 740-750 AD and stands 47 meters high. The great thing about a number of the large structures at the site is that you can climb using the wooden staircase behind them. You don’t have to use the steep stairs that the ancient Mayans used to ascend the temple.
It still amazes me at how people used such stairs as the Mayans were said to have been small in stature like the average Guatemalan. Phil and I are giants in comparison to the local population (both of us are tall, even by Dutch standards) and some of the stairs are almost as high as our knees 😐
Tikal
Temple I
Yavin IV from the Star Wars film Episode IV: A New Hope
Mandatory group selfie
Waiting for the guys
Just hangin’ out on top of a pyramid
Did the Mayans monkey around?
Tikal is also home of some of the most unusual wildlife I have come across. The most unusual one I encountered was when we stopped to pay for entrance to the site. It was a beautiful, brightly-coloured bird that looked like the child of a turkey and a peacock. The bird disappeared just as quickly as I saw it and, not wanting to look like a crazy person chasing after a bird with a camera, I didn’t look for it. Later at the ruins, Marisa told me that I had seen an ocellated turkey. Luckily, the turkey’s extended family was hanging out near the ruins so I got my picture. Now, if only I get to see a quetzal…
A turkey and a peacock had a baby and called it the ocellated turkey
Brown Jay
Pizote
After exploring the ruins, Tim and Marisa returned to their campsite while Phil and I went back to Santa Elena. The two of us decided to go to Flores in the evening for dinner as it was just across the bridge from our hotel and was supposed to be a prettier town. It was pretty; however, the cobblestone streets in the town are what nightmares are made of. What we should have done was park at the entrance where the street was paved and walk the rest of the way. We did manage to have a nice dinner and return to our hotel without having dropped the bike.
