Blogs we like

Tikal, in case you haven’t heard, is one of the most famous, well-preserved and extensive Mayan sites there are, in the middle of a jungle in northern Guatemala.  As I’ve pointed out before, there are an awful lot of Mayan sites, and they’re all constantly turning up new surprises as the excavations slowly but surely continue.  But Tikal is something special, so off we went to see it.  Here are some of the good and bad points about the place.

The Morning Tour – It’s quite common to do a six hour tour to Tikal at the absolute crack of dawn.  You leave Flores or Santa Elena in a minibus at about 4.30am, drive about an hour and a bit to Tikal, get some breakfast there and from 6.30am until midday you get guided about the site and told some of the history.  This obviously has its good and bad points.  The main bad one is that 4.30am isn’t really a time, is it?  In fact, if it weren’t for the existence of time zones, I don’t think it would be acknowledged at all.  It also means you’re not going to get a proper breakfast, and if you’re one of those people who just cannot function without something more than cereal with long-life milk in the morning then this might be a bit painful.  On the other hand, at 4.30am, and indeed all the way up to about 10am, it’s not that hot.  And the stifling humidity of the jungle is always something to be avoided.  Plus, whether you’re a morning person or not, it’s always nice to see the sun come up.  Admittedly, you’ll still be in the van, but it’s still a pretty sunrise over the trees.

The Money Thing – It’s a weird concept, but I warn you: you absolutely must bring either everything you need in terms of food and, most importantly, water, or else make sure you’ve got plenty of small change.  Even the shops don’t have any change, let alone the odd drinks stall, and even if you’re clearly on the point of collapse from heat exhaustion and dripping all over the floor, if you try to pay with a 100 Quetzales note (less than a tenner) you will be met with a blank refusal.  Pleas and outrage and desperation do not move these people.  Consider yourselves warned.

The Guides – Oh, bless them.  It’s not an easy job, if you think about it.  I’ll say now: Our guide, Little Cesar (not like Little John; he was pretty little), did a good job under the circumstances.  He was lively and engaging, clearly knew everything there was to know about the wildlife in the forest and could spot a hawk 800m away in a flash.  But consider the problem: there is very little we know about the Mayans.  We haven’t even deciphered all of their glyphs; not even close.  Almost all the temples have Ball Courts, but apart from concluding that the ball could only hit their shoulders, hips and thighs, we know nothing about the rules of the game.  So the guides can tell you what they do know… and then, for the remaining three hours when you’re not climbing up temples, they can tell you all the mystic speculation about the ancient Mayans.  Their astrology.  Their predictions about the world’s end.  That kind of thing.  It’s entertaining, but not necessarily the most educational.

The Price – A morning tour, which basically means bus and guide, costs about 220 Quetzales.  You can haggle them down, but only by about ten or so.  Then the entrance fee to Tikal itself is 150 Quetzales.  I think this might be the most expensive Mayan site there is.  On the other hand, as a Thorn Tree forum contributer put it: “That’s a bit steep!  What do they think they have, some unique archeological site or something?”  Good point.