Tikal Ruins

After a tough day on the road getting to Flores, we rose early and headed to one of Guatemala's most famous tourist sites- the Tikal ruins.

After a paranoid night spent anticipating calamity, I arose in great spirits even though it was only 6:00am and determined not to let my fear dominate my trip.

The thoughts of doom and gloom that occupied me only the day before vanished in my dreams.

Famished, we boarded the bus before i had the chance to sample Flores' Eggs Revolting (scrambled eggs in Spantalion).

The road to Tikal is scenic, green and interesting. Whilst my eyes were begging for sleep I could not help staring out the window. I wanted to remember everything, take still photographs in my mind to tell you. We passed villages painted aqua (like everything here), lakes that looked inviting and as we draw closer it was apparent that we were heading into the jungle.

As a child of the 80's one cant help drawing comparisons to The City of Gold and that is the best description I can give. They are the ruins of an ancient city, a town that once housed more than 100 000 people in their peak in approximately 700AD. They were ruled most famously by King Moon Double Comb (aka Lord chocolate) who brought prosperity and left his mark designing a number of temples in his own honour.

They are located deep in the jungle and as soon as we got of the bus we were beyond excited to see our first Mayan treasure.

With map in hand we walked slowly up the winding path till they we got our first glimpse of one of the 50 or so relics, a staggering pyramid shaped temple almost reaching the heavens at a height of 60 metres. Certainly, skyscrapers in the ancient world.

We strolled through the lush surrounds and delighted on the the enormity of our discovery-it was a feast for the senses. Monkeys played in the canopy overhead, Lima's wondered at our feet and Toucans serenaded us. I could not help thinking that Guatemala was fantastic.

The monstrous visions that my imagination presented me with the day before were beyond my comprehension.

After an exhausting 6 or 7 hours climbing, photographing and touching each and every structure we boarded a bus back to Flores Airport on track to the Guatemala City (the GC).

Adios.