Today was the reason we came on this tour... We took a day trip to Guatemala! It's interesting to see the difference between Belize & Guate. (Again, I took these pictures out a foggy window, on a foggy morning, from a moving bus... I don't claim to be a photographer on this trip! haha)
Our guide said that 62% of Guatemalans use wood for cooking. We saw lots of people chopping wood.
A Guatemalan school:
The school's playground. They all have futbol fields if you could imagine. :D
This is a big building! I didn't get any pictures of the houses but each house has a small (usually cinderblock) living space with a detached kitchen/work area with a thatched roof.
Laundry day down on the riverbank.
Can you find the Turkey? They're a lot more colorful than the ones back home!
The Maya believe the Ceiba tree is very sacred. It has these gnarly roots, grows insanely tall, and then spreads out flat at the top.
There are these sea urchin looking plants that grow like parasites on the trees, sometimes weighing them down and breaking the branches.
We walked just under ten miles today (a lot of them vertically!) so Olaf caught a ride in the backpack again today. Here he is checking out the Ceiba tree for a size reference. Can you guess the age of the tree? This tree would not have been here when the Maya lived here. They cleared away ALL of the forest in this area, which some say is the reason their great civilization eventually collapsed. The deforestation would've contributed to intense drought conditions without the shade (and moisture retention) from the trees.
Tikal is like the Mecca or the Vatican city for the Maya. This area covered maaaany acres and has dozens (maybe hundreds) of structures in the area. Only 20% are believed to be uncovered at this time.
The Maya built very symmetrically and certain numbers were symbolic to them.
People from neighboring communities would come pay tributes on these altars (often making offerings of their valuable goods like foods and obsidian, etc.)
It's neat to see all the different stages of "restoration." Any time you see a hill you know there's a structure underneath. These obelisks have been uncovered but not moved from the place/state that they were found. You can see the beginnings of the uncovered pyramid to the left.
Olaf has a hard time looking at all the hills that are still left unexcavated because we KNOW there's something cool underneath! You walk by dozens and dozens of jungle-covered hills, but because of all the symmetry you can kind of imagine what the other one would look like if one of the two opposing structures is cleared.
This was cool to see. Because they built with limestone many of the carvings have eroded, but on this stela (kind of like an ancient historic marker) you can see some indents from the artwork.
Our guide took us through a shortcut between two of the temples on a narrow path through the jungle. It was dark from all of the dense foliage. Olaf found this vine that was just right for a slide.
The cuts on this chico zapote tree are from years and years of harvesting the sap that is used to make chewing gum!... This was of course before 1955 when this park was declared a protected natural/wildlife area.
We walked out of the jungle to see the monstrous Temple IV. There is no way to explain how gigantic this is in person. Olaf was feeling pretty anxious because he knew we were about to CLIMB TO THE TOP! Well, we don't get to go to the tippy tippy top, but here in a minute you will see pictures from the ledge just above the middle treetop in this picture.
Many of the pyramids and temples you just walk right up the stone steps, but lots of these larger ones here in Tikal have wooden steps that make for a MUCH easier climb. Temple IV is quite steep. You think our roof is steep, it's got to be like a 4/1 slope at least.
We made it to the top! Do any Star Wars fans think this view looks familiar? Back in Mayan times none of what you see here would have had trees. They needed a direct line of sight between all of the temples for astronomical and other purposes.
King Olaf atop his throne on Temple IV. (We even came up with a makeshift headdress). There was a European lady that inquired if Olaf was "on holiday" and it made me think of Peppa. I'm just glad he hasn't turned into a muddy puddle yet in all this heat!
Proof that I made it to the top too.
Those are the "front steps" behind Dennis but I'm serious.... They're freakishly steep. The elite of the elites were the only ones that would've been allowed on the tops of these structures and I'm guessing they were pretty good at climbing.
The view from 212 feet up!
Don't let the smile fool you. I was about to hyperventilate. There's no rail or anything keeping you from the edge.
Back down the stairs!
Olaf found a quick way down sliding on the handrails.
So... these structures spanned over almost 2000 years. Often times they would build over top of the old structures. I liked this (much smaller) pyramid because you can see a couple of the layers (especially in the middle at the bottom). They are said to have found as many as 12 layers on a structure.
We opted not to climb this one but Olaf took a picture of me break dancing at the bottom.
...And Dennis too...
Like yesterday, these structures would've been covered in stucco and painted red. That's a lot of paint.
It's easy to see how the jungle can take over so quickly. They come and pick the plant growth every three months BY HAND. Our guide said the biggest reason they don't uncover more structures is because of all of the work it is to maintain them.
I like the ones where at least one of the four sides has been uncovered. Since they are so symmetrical you can visualize what the other sides looked like.
Some of the structures were tombs where they've found remains of important people.
Jungle-covered ridge... You know it's a structure.
Partially covered structures...
Another of the few carvings they have left...
View from the top of ANOTHER pyramid.
The last plaza we came to was my absolute favorite. It is not the biggest but it is still BIG. And it is the most uncovered. This is what they called "downtown Tikal." This picture was taken from an identical temple across the plaza (that we also climbed up... Olaf did a lot of climbing today!)
It doesn't look like it, but this platform is about the equivalent height of the second ledge below the doorway.
This little critter is very similar to a raccoon. It was eating a chocolate bar wrapper. Olaf was again worried he'd want to snack on his nose.
"Downtown" was cool because there were a LOT of "rooms" still intact. These are the quarters for the very elite. The rooms are very small though with what looks like a ledge in the middle as a table and two ledges on either side as like a bed perhaps? There are also what I think to be air/light vents. Olaf found one just his size.
What I think is also really cool is that in Belize/Guatemala they let people (and snowmen) walk on almost any of the structures. We explored around "downtown" for a half hour without a guide. You KNOW that would never happen in the US!
I loved seeing more people at work doing excavating/restoration. This looks like a ball court to me.
Olaf wanted to meditate so I thought I'd join him.
To end the day we visited some Guatemalan vendors next to this pond at the park entrance. Olaf isn't a fan of cocodrilos so he didn't want to pose here for very long.
All in all it was an amazing day in Guate!
