Tikal, Breathtaking Tikal. A wonder of the world for sure and yet there are very few words to describe it without sounding cliche. On many levels the ruins are amazing, the spiritual, architectural, the emotional levels to name a few. You cannot come away without totally being put in your place about how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. Why did they build this? Who came up with the precise astrological equations spanned over tens of thousands of years? Why are we led to believe the Mayan people were in their heyday within the last 2000 years or less? Why did they, one day, just walk away from it all? Did they lose faith? So many unanswered questions will leave anyone at awe witnessing this place. Seeing Tikal should be high on anyone's bucket list. I promise!
 |
| Temple of the lost world (el Templo del Mundo perdido). A gateway to the Mayan underworld which contained 9 stages until resurrection. |
 |
| Wild Ocellated Turkey roaming the national park. The park has an intact ecosystem full of wildlife |
 |
| The Ceiba tree, also known by the Maya as the tree of life, is the national tree of Guatemala. This tree, still today, represents the 13 stages in life to the Maya |
 |
| Temple 3, in the foreground, is undergoing some renovation work as it was recently hit by lightning. This temple is about 170 feet high (55 meters tall) and nearly verticle |
 |
| This image shows the modern round restored stones next to the original, exact and flat surfaced stones. The Maya also covered every inch of these structures with colored plaster for added glory. |
 |
| One happy momma! Even though Elise is afraid of heights she still made it to the top. Temple 4 is the highest temple constructed at 220 feet high (70 meters tall) |
 |
| Good views from the top. Must be nice to be a bird. |
 |
| You need to come HERE |
 |
| About a dozen people braved it to the top. This park is nothing like the over traveled Chichen-itza site and is much more enjoyable with far fewer people and less hassles. |
 |
| For some perspective |
 |
| The Maya built structures with a lot of architectural detail and decorative inlays |
 |
| Each one of the levels on the side of the temple are 6 feet high (2 meters high). They used to allow visitors to climb this temple until recently when three people fell (two died and one very injured) |
 |
| Only 30 to 40 percent of the ruins are uncovered which gives us a reason to return in the future :) |
 |
| The grand acropolis |
 |
| Posing for daddy's camera |
 |
| The grand acropolis |
 |
| The grand acropolis |
 |
| The grand acropolis |
 |
| Ending a great day looking down on the grand acropolis |
No comments:
Post a Comment