Wednesday 13 - Saturday 16 July
We thought it was going to be a 4 hour trip (that's what the Lonely Planet said) but there had been lots of rain and landslides, which had closed the road, and so we had to backtrack 1.5 hours to Cobán, spend another hour picking people up and finally got on our way around 11:30. The rest of the trip was uneventful but long and we arrived to Flores at 5pm.
We were totally worn out by the big trip and Kitty was really sore so we didn't do very much the next day except eat at the lakeside and do some washing.
On Friday we caught the 7am bus to the Mayan ruins at Tikal and arrived around 8am. We thought we only paid for transport but when we got there, our bus guide also guided us around the site for around an hour.
Tikal is pretty incredible - after it was abandoned in the 10th or 11th century, it was swallowed up by the jungle and remained covered and undiscovered by modern settlers until the mid 1800s. It was mainly excavated by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania in the 1950s to 70s but still the majority of the ruins remain covered by vegetation. It's amazing to climb the pyramids and look out over jungle that once would have been a city and surrounding farmland.
We were totally worn out by the big trip and Kitty was really sore so we didn't do very much the next day except eat at the lakeside and do some washing.
On Friday we caught the 7am bus to the Mayan ruins at Tikal and arrived around 8am. We thought we only paid for transport but when we got there, our bus guide also guided us around the site for around an hour.
Tikal is pretty incredible - after it was abandoned in the 10th or 11th century, it was swallowed up by the jungle and remained covered and undiscovered by modern settlers until the mid 1800s. It was mainly excavated by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania in the 1950s to 70s but still the majority of the ruins remain covered by vegetation. It's amazing to climb the pyramids and look out over jungle that once would have been a city and surrounding farmland.
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| Lawrie was the first one on the bus to climb a pyramid. This one was on a plaza designed to carry sounds so, even when he was just speaking, we could hear him down below |
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| First view of Temple I |
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| Looking over the jungle to Temple V |
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| Taking a rest and trying to work out where we are |
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| Behind the Great Pyramid in the Lost World |
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| View from Temple IV back to Temple I |
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| Building on the Plaza of the Seven Temples |
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| Stairs to the top of Temple V |
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| Trail down to Temple VI |
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| Kitty on top of Temple VI |
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| Temple VI |
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| Inscriptions |
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| Northern Acropolis from Temple II |
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| Temple I from Temple II |
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| Mask of Chaac in the Northern Acropolis |
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| Temple I from Northern Acropolis |
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| Lake Petén Itzá in the afternoon |
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