Into the mouth of a dragon

I'm a few days behind with posts about my trip so this one could be a long one...

On Tuesday I headed out from Lake Atitlan to catch a bus to Guatemala city and then from there, an overnight bus to the ruins of Tikal. The overnight bus was not as comfy as I was hoping. It was a bit like a flight, in that they served food (a sandwich with mayonnaise and a slice of meat) and played a movie (Pearl Harbour with Spanish subtitles but the English sound kept cutting out). The seats were seriously the least posturpedic seats imaginable. I woke up a lot to readjust and was really tired when the bus arrived in Flores the next morning. Waiting at the bus were shuttle buses to take tourists to Tikal so I hopped on one of those and had a more restful 2 hour nap. I finally arrived in Tikal after the 10 hour journey.

Tikal is a large national park out in the jungle with all sorts of Mayan ruins. The day was absolutely amazing. I have the Rough guide to Guatemala as my guidebook and it has great historical information about the site and each of the ruins so it was like having my own tour guide while still being able to experience the site at my own pace. My own pace, coincendentally, was very fast because I need to meet a shuttle bus at 12:30pm in the parking lot so I could catch a bus out of Flores before the hurricane came close. Walking up to the site I saw a toucan (my very first of the trip) and what I think is a coati, an animal that kind of looks like an anteater. Walking up to the site, I climbed up the back of one of the ruins and found myself looking out over the entire central plaza. Four seperate buildings face inwards on the grand plaza, including 2 temples, the northern acropolis and the central acropolis. It's hard to describe without the photos but it was really incredible to be standing amongst mayan ruins and looking out at 2 great temples. Actually, now that I think of it, if you have ever seen the Mel Gibson movie, Apocalypto, you've seen the Tikal ruins because I believe he filmed it there.

I climed up the top of one of the temples and had some breakfast there. One of the many workers there renovating the site pointed me in the direction of some howler monkeys and I got to see a family hanging out in the trees, including a baby. They were quite close since the temple was high in the trees. Throughout the entire site you can hear the howler monkeys and wow do they give it a unique sound. They sound almost like machines so there is this strange buzzing noise in the forest.

I spent the next few hours exploring through the various different areas, including one called the Lost world. The Lost World buildings are the first structures that were built at Tikal and the least is known about them. They are very close together compared to the other and have a really tranquil feel to them. I also climbed to the top of Temple 4 (the largest in the park) and was treated to a view of the tree tops covered in mist with tops of the ruins sticking out above the trees.

By far the best ruin that I visited had the inspired name of Groupo G. As I was reading the sign in front of it, I heared 2 loud bangs behind me. I turned around to find an old man in a park guide shirt banging a walking stick on the ground to alert me to his presence. We talked a little about the hurricane coming and then he motioned me to take a look at the ruins. To enter these ruins, you enter through a tunnel (the only tunnel I saw in the whole park, the rest of the structures have doorways to small enclosures but nothing resembling a hallway to connect one room to the other). Then you enter into a central courtyard of grass and there are small rooms that open onto the courtyard in a rectangular structure. The feeling there was so tranquil as it was seperated from the other ruins in the park and there was just something about it. They were my favorite ruins of the park for that reason. After I exited the ruins, the same man was standing there and I told him that these ruins were my favorite. He squinted his eyes at me and asked me why, to which I answered that they had a very tranquil feel. He asked if I was a spiritual person and I said I was in a way but not in the religious sense. Then he told me that the ruins were once used as a monastery of sorts for Mayan rituals and meditation. He himself was a Mayan Shaman who performed Mayan rituals for locals and for visitors to the park who expressed an interest. The tunnel that I entered through represented the mouth of a dragon, and on the floor of the tunnel was a ridge that represented the spine of the dragon. 2 big paws of the dragon framed the entrance to the tunnel. It was so interesting to learn about. We talked a little more and then when saying good-bye, he gave me a hug and touched his hand to my face while giving me this look that felt like he sort of knew who I was, or at least approved of who I was. It sounds a bit odd retelling it now but it was really so amazing to be talking with this remarkable old man who performed Mayan rituals while in the presence of the very calm, and yes, spiritual ruins. It was definetely a highlight of the day for me.

I caught a shuttle bus to flores, and from Flores caught a shuttle to a little town called Chisec. But I've got a lot to say about Chisec so I'll write some more about it another day.