Hola de nuevo!
If you've gotten this far, you either got tired of reading that obscenely long first post and decided to just move on, or you are actually a dedicated follower of the story. I applaud the efforts of the latter, but I don't blame you if you are a part of the first group. I'll try to keep these a little more brief.
Soooo after leaving El Zotz, we headed up the road a few minutes to a little station where they keep a couple buildings, and horses for anyone who wants a guide to Tikal. After assuring them, AGAIN, that we were alright without a guide, we had some lunch. You can't imagine how good a feast of Beef Jerky, refried beans, and canned peaches tastes after a day of solid hiking. Not to mention the knowledge that your pack just got a couple pounds lighter!
We met a nice couple there, that had decided a guide was the way to go. I suppose this takes a bit of the danger element out of the story, since we found out that they'd be a half hour behind us... worse came to worse, we could just stay put and wait for them to catch up. But we weren't about to let that happen. We made darn sure to keep our eyes on the trail, and our feet just a-movin, so our egoes didn't have to take any hits (however small). And boy howdy, if we didn't push right on through!
The day consisted of lots of footsteps, and frequent checks of the compass (thanks again, grandpa, if you're reading this!). The highlight of the day, BY FAR, was when we got to a large clearing around 5pm and stopped for food. A-Ron's dad, bless his soul, had given A-Ron 2 blocks of aged cheddar. I have never appreciated cheese more in my life, and I'm a guy who likes his cheese. A lot. I even like that aerosol cheese you can buy in the states. But I don't exaggerate when I say I was ecstatic.
We walked on another hour and a half or so, and set up camp. This time, we were in the absolute middle of nowhere, on a trail no more than a foot wide. Or two feet, if you want to get clever... hahaha. I do. But we were pushing fronds out of the way to set up the tents. When you looked around, all you saw was straight-up-mowgli-vs-tarzan-balls-deep jungle. Fo Reah!
Next mornin, we got up at 7 and were just about packed up when our friends from the day before came trotting by with their guide. Smiles all around, apparently we were on the right path after all. We passed them a few minutes later to ensure our manhood.
Caminamos, caminamos... the jungle was great, not too hot, we spent the day walkin along with the compass assuring us that as long as it's bearer wasn't an idiot (which is yet to be fully confirmed) we were going the right way. And, lo and behold, at around 1 in the afternoon, we stumbled out of the jungle and into the midst of Tikal. Boo-yah! It wasn't 2 minutes before we had beers in hand, saluting a job well done.
We sat on Temple IV for a bit and took it all in, planning on camping just outside the park that night and then checkin it out the following day. But then we found out that they were gonna make us pay twice, since by default we entered the park from the back way. Buggers. So we paid, stashed our bags at the campground, and spent a few hours till sunset walkin through the park, climbing temples, even playing frisbee overtop of some sacred mayan altars. But the park was near-empty by the time the sun was going down, and we had some great views.
If you stand in the middle of the main compound, it is set up in such a way that if you clap, it echoes back to you with a strangle sort of yelping sound. And a few feet over, it does the same thing but with a different high pitched squeal. Either the mayans were crazy architects, or they have a guy hidden in the top of each temple who really has to be on his game. Yelping architecture? Can you tell they didn't have much to do back then?
But jokes aside (for now), it is a breathtaking place. The temples are amazing, especially at sunset. Ahhh, but here's one for ya:
How do you know when Tikal has a headache?
- It's temples are sore.
Whoa. That's a good place to end 'er! Hahaha
Thanks for reading!
p.s. - yeah I made that joke up. As if you couldn't tell!
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