As usual now, the alarm went off at 5:15am, on the road by 5:30. Today would be a shorter cycling day, but still a very busy day planned. Immediately the hills hit, and I was sweating and struggling before the Sun came up. This whole stretch of the Western Highway in Belize is packed with eco-tourism resorts and programs: horseback riding tours, rafting, river cave tubing, and such. I thought of a bunch of you, how much certain individuals among you would love to do this or that... yes, I´m open to coming back without the bike for a totally different Belize experience! But for now I was more than happy with my own ultimate of eco-tours, and I sped through the morning mist towards Guatemala.
Again an easy border crossing... into Guatemala! Hee hee hee. I changed some of the American doneros that I´ve been carrying hidden away (shhhh!) and set out Westwards. The road continued weaving, climbing, and descending, and would have been fun had it been paved. I bumped and jostled along for 25km before the road went straight up a brutally steep, leg-crushing climb... and was rewarded with pavement at the top. Much to my happiness the little roadside drink vendors continue to have refridgeration, and drinks are that much more refreshing. The road kept rolling all the way to El Remate, a small tourist town situated at one end of the access road to Tikal. I grabbed a room at a beautiful place that was a steal at $27 (see pic). A quick shower and I flagged down a passing bus for a $2.50 ride to Tikal.
Tikal has a reputation of being the most awe-inspiring of the ancient Central American-Mayan ruins, and after having spent 3 hours walking and climbing there, I could see why. While Tulum was yawnable, Tikal blew me away. It is a huge site that is still mostly buried in the jungle... it would take massive amounts of manpower simply to uncover it, notwithstanding what it must have taken to BUILD it. The largest of the pyramids have been uncovered, but as you walk around you pass huge towering mounds that quite obviously are yet another pyramid, hidden away. The aggressive steepness of the pyramids adds to their presence, and they are not easy to climb (particularly after riding 82 hilly km´s!). It sort of compares to Angkor Wat in Cambodia in terms of scale... its smaller than Angkor but unlike Angkor, or the huge Egyptian Pyramids, etc., its all built to a master plan. Thats probably the most impressive element of all... hundreds of buildings, some massive and impressive sites unto themselves, all conspiring to add to the sum total effect. A city of pyramids and related structures. Incredible. I sat at the top of the highest, looking out over the jungle canopy at other pyramid peaks, trying to imagine what it would have been like in its heyday.
Back on the local bus, heading back to El Remate, it started to rain... the first rain I´ve seen this trip! Its dry season down here, and as I´m typing this the rain has stopped and I´m not too worried for tomorrow´s 90ish kilometre ride to Sayache.
A final look back at Belize
My hotel. The room was great as well.
Food at Tikal. My first cerveza of the trip.
Walking into Tikal
A pyramid-top view of other pyramids poking through the jungle canopy
You come through the forest... yet another pyramid
Steep and impressive
From the top of a facing pyramid
Looking down the steep steps.
One of many
4 comments:
okay, so i'm ingorant (i spelt it like that on purpose), but what's in the pyramids? why so many? were they the condos of 10,000BC? gives us the history.
The Pyramids were multifunctional, but essentially they were religious centres. The most famous use of them would be for sacrificing people (often, but not always, captured enemy soldiers) to the gods, but in some cases kings were also buried beneath or inside them. They were built on average about 2000 years ago, concurrent with the Roman Empire, so are much younger than Egypt´s pyramids but older than many other ancient sites. For a dramatization of the pyramids in use, watch Apocalypto!
okay, thanks, smarty pants. i still think they were condos.
So your first real climb day was not too bad and looking at the pictures Tikal is certainly well worth a trip (as is the hotel room).
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