Wednesday, June 27, 2007 (Flores, Guatemala)
How did I miss two days of journaling?
Monday I ended up very sick. I could barely eat, it hurt to move, my sleep that night had been fitful and delirious. C got me some antibiotics, which helped some, but then we flew to Flores and the decent was a bitch. Already under a lot of head pressure from a sinus infection, dropping altitude hurt like nothing else. My left ear simply did not clear.
Fortunately, we found a very nice and helpful van driver (he wasn't sleezy-seeming like some others) who took us to Hotel Mirador del Lago, a cheap yet nice place. He also took us by a tour office to get tickets for Tikal. On both his advice and the advice of one of the Black Cat workers we went with a Sunrise Tour, even though it was more than we budgeted. We went to bed soon after our arrival since we had to be up for the bus by 3. This was fine by me as I needed the sleep for my recovery.
I woke Tuesday feeling better, but having missed the alarm completely. Thankfully C had a backup. I dozed some on the ride to Tikal. We arrived a few minutes late, which turned out to be a very good thing, because that meant we drove through the park to Temple IV (on the far end) rather than walking. I realized by the end of the day that there was no way I would have made it the whole time (maybe even to the temple) had I had to walk. Climbing to the top was a challenge. But once there we sat and waited for a sunrise we couldn't see because of fog. We did get to hear the forest wake up, though, which was interesting. So many sounds, mostly birds I think, but the howler monkey was my favorite. It was a deep kind of roaring growl, not what I expected from a monkey. By the time we descended the fog had cleared enough that we could see other structures appearing in the distance.
Left: Part of Compex N
Below: The Palace of the Windows
Left: Temple III
Below: Inside the Palace of the Windows (showing Mike and, in front of him, Aidan, both of whom you'll meet soon)
We then walked on to El Mundo Perdido, basically the Mayan observatory. It was the tallest pyramid in Tikal (pyramids are flat on top; temples are taller, but have a small cupola on top). It was 73 steps (steep and often narrow) and it was very slow going for me, with lots of breaks. But once up there the views were really amazing. I wondered again, though, how the Maya regularly (and gracefully) handled those steps, especially considering that (if the current igdigeno population is any indication) they were likely rather short.
Climbing EMP was a bit of a challenge for me (in the dark blue shirt), what with having a sinus infection and lots of head congestion and all
Temple IV (in the background)
The temple of El Mundo Perdido (in the foreground)
Both pictures
Left: A video from atop EMP.
Below: A resplendant view of Temple III (aka, The Finger) -- click to enlarge in a new window
Temple III on the left. That's either Temple I or Temple V on the right, though I'm a little uncertain.
Also, contrary to popular belief, it only looks like I'm having an abismal time up there. In actuality, I'm having the time of my life. So why do I look so glum and pissy? Well, you try climbing 73 steep steps with a sinus infection and see how photogenic you are. Yeah, that's what I thought.
We came so close to getting that lined up right...
On my way down I was stopping to rest when I met Mike, from England [that's him in the brown shirt]. For the rest of the tour we got to talking more. He and his friend Aiden had taken a year off between high school and university and were spending four months traveling from Argentina to Miami. They're currently behind schedule and still have to make it through Mexico (now, somehow, without a guidebook).
Tikal is enormous. It really covers such a huge area, and I read that it used to support a population of around 100,000. There are so many structures, and what makes it even more interesting is that the whole city used to be open spaces. The forest only grew in so thick after the city's collapse. It's just so hard to fathom its original reality.
Pictured here is our entrance into the Plaza of the Seven Temples
When we hit Temple V, I simply didn't have the energy left to tackle it. It's grand, and majestic. So I took a seat on a stool down at the bottom with a few others who also didn't feel up to the task and Cristine took to the top with the bulk of the group (actually, about 2/3). In the bottom picture you can see her distantly seated atop the unclimbable staircase (there were wooden steps built on the side of the structure).
I'm not sure what temple this is, I think Temple III, as viewed by Cristine from atop Temple V. I must admit, this is a pretty cool effect. Well did! ;)
Monkey Business! From both above and below, we saw some monkeys swinging through the trees. Of three videos Cristine tried to nab of them, I think this one turned out best.
The Grand Plaza of Tikal (as usual, click on the image below to see it larger and in another window
This is just cool. The picture quality is bad (I was just figuring out how to do video -- sorry!), but the sound captures it. Our guide demonstrated that if you stand just so in the Grant Plaza between Temples I and II you can get an amazing echo effect off of the stonework.
The Grand Plaza from atop some of the structures (You can just barely see Mike and Aidan coming across the closest patch of green)
Temple II, as we enter the courtyard
Temple II, from atop some structures
Left: Temple I, from about the spot where the echo effect occurs
Below: Me and Cristine posing in front of Temple I
Me in the steps (I have no idea what my motivation was, it was a very spur-of-the-moment thing). But I find it amusing, nevertheless.
We decided to leave on the 1st shuttle back (at 11) rather than stay longer. A part of me wanted to see more, but I was exhausted from what we'd done (being sick and all) and in a way I was getting the seen-one-ruin-seen-them-all mentality. So we went to the exit to get food and I very nearly did not make it. I was walking so slowly. Then I could barely sit up to eat breakfast. When we got back to the hotel I napped while C got me more decongestant, which helped a lot.
We met Mike and Aiden for dinner at a place on the water with too many flies. They were good company and told us stories of staying in a no-tell motel by accident and mistaking a brothel for a disco.
The next morning we had a reasonable departure time (i.e., not before the crack of dawn) for Belize, where we would conclude our trip.
