Warning, this is going to get nerdy...historical nerdy.
I love history and I love hearing stories so, this tour was right up my alley. Paul was ok with it too :).
We learned about day to day life in this Mayan city and how the structures are either of 3 types: palaces, temples, or pyramids (I think). Excavation is still ongoing and our guide said that NASA detected roughly 6,000 buildings were still underground. The population is determined by the bodies that are found (people buried themselves under their houses) and the number was roughly 115,000...for now.
Scale model. University of Pennsylvania did the original excavation, before the Guatemala government took over.
Ceibo tree of the Tree of Life and our guide, Juan.
Me!
The furry stuff on this tree was used for stuffing mattresses and cushions and such
Ceibo represented a lot of religious thoughts too: the center is where humans are and then when humans die, they go down into the roots, the underworld. There, they go through stuff to make it up to the branches, or heaven. I'm so poetic.
I'm clapping for a reason. The Mayans built everything for a reason. In almost every plaza, the stairs are built in such a way as to enhance the acoustics, so everyone in the vicinity could hear the priests speak for the gods. It actually worked really well.
Also, plazas represented different things. The Mayans had 5 cardinal directions, as opposed to our 4: North (represents heaven), South (hell), East (lightness), West (darkness), and Center, the meeting of dark and light. Kings had their steles or markings, depicted in the North area...'cause they're divine.
This may look like an ordinary path, but it's actually the original causeway that was 25 meters wide and it's made of limestone (it gets super slick when wet).
And then we saw coatis :)
Jaguar Temple. The jaguar represents the guardian animal of the Mayan kings. The story goes that the Creator's original BFF was the jaguar. One day, the Creator wanted to make man, but the jaguar would get in the way, so he made a colander and told the jaguar to fill it with water. The jaguar wasn't too smart so by the time he got the help to fill the bowl with water, man was created. Since the jaguar was replaced, the Creator said that he would make the jaguar into the guardian of humans, especially at night. So, the sun turns into a jaguar at night and the jaguar guards humans.
You love this, I can tell.
Residence
Temple IV, the biggest one...I think that's the number
Look at that concentration
Residences
Grand Plaza with the Jaguar Temple. The ruler buried under this temple has a Mayan name but everyone calls him Lord Chocolate. I will pause for you to chuckle.
During the autumn equinox, the sun will shine through the room on top of the temple.
Across from this temple, is a little smaller one that was built for one of Lord Chocolate's wives. During the spring equinox, the sun will shine through the little room on top.
The top of the Jaguar Temple gets a lot of lightning strikes because the Mayans built the top in such a fashion as to attract energy. They were really smart.
OMGosh we caught a Discovery channel episode in real life! This wasp is attacking the spider so that she can lay her eggs in it and her babies can have a snack when they hatch. Delightful, huh?
Herds of coati!
Paul looks ready to pounce
The next morning, we did a sunrise tour, in hopes to see the sunrise on the city and to hear animal sounds. We heard tons of animals, but sadly, no sunrise.
A really good looking stele of Lord Chocolate. Apparently, dude was 6 ft. tall. Europeans were capping out at 5 ft I think. Maybe a little over.
Another enormous pyramid.
The city's zenith was from 500-late 600 AD, and then construction stopped. Before the Spanish even arrive, inner turmoil, famine, disease, and drought ended this great city, along with inept rulers due to inbreeding.
However, I always thought that the Mayans weren't really around anymore but I was wrong. There are still tons of them and it wasn't until 1996 that a treaty was signed, guaranteeing the Mayan's their rights and that they still practice their religion in Tikal. I mean, minus human sacrifices (they do animals), but wow! They're still here, after all this time!
No Central American trip is complete without some monos
Woodpecker
We saw a lot of mind boggling and awe inspiring sights here. It was sad to see our trip end because Sunday evening, we had to fly to Guatemala City again. But we at least got to see some of Flores too...
By tuktuk! Look at my face. I love tuktuks.
Flores is an island city and really lovely
Pretty town.
Rain
That was our fascinating trip to Tikal. We learned a ton, but we had a few unhappy souvenirs: bruise on my bum that looks like a black cloud of death and the most swollen, awful mosquito bites. So, as fun as it was, I was glad to go home to San Jose and relax.
But, now we aren't in San Jose. We are now in Lima and can I say "yay"?! I will discuss it all later, but here's a picture of flying into Lima.
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