Guatemala, Tikal – An experience of a lifetime

If you have never been to Tikal, you must go there……… sooner than later!

It is one of those wondrous places that just will not be the same pretty soon.

If you are the kind of traveller that likes to be led by a guide, stand, look and not touch, your fine to wait.

But if you want to be free to wander around this immense sight.  Climb the giant pyramids, wander through the palatial dwellings, market squares and ball courts, feeling 2000 years of history below your feet and across your finger tips.  You need to get there sooner than later.

The majority of the sight is built from limestone and with everyday the environment and tourist footsteps are wearing a little more of history away.  We have been to other sights in other countries and they already have roped fences around all the structures and you can not get near anything.  With the newly democratically elected President, and an influx of international money coming into the country, it will not be long before Tikal follows suit.

Here is a little story about our visit with company and you can judge for yourself if it is worth seeing.  First order of business, how to get there.

GETTING THERE

There are lots of  tour companies that can make all the arrangements you need for your trip to Tikal to suit anyone’s budget.

For the ‘independent’ traveller the local bus system ‘Fuente del Norte‘ offers regular service to the closest large town, Flores.  It is about a 4 hour journey at 65Q/person from Rio Dulce.  From Flores you can catch a 1 hour shuttle to Tikal National Park for between 40-50Q/person.

If you are catching the bus from Rio Dulce, I will warn you in advance.  Rio Dulce is a midway stop for the busses that originate in Guatemala or Morales.  There is a chance you will not get a seat, or even on the bus if it is already bursting at the seems.  For this reason you purchase your tickets from the driver.  Services run every hour starting at 8am.

There is an afternoon bus, about 3:30pm, that is a tourist shuttle.  You can purchase designated seats on that one.  Sorry, I do not know the cost off hand.  Check out Fuente del Norte‘s website.

OUR TRIP TO THE TIKAL

Our family had only a week to visit with us and we did not want them to miss out on this incredible sight.  For that reason we travelled at one of the busiest times of the year…..boxing day.  You will unlikely run into the same over crowding problems we did.

We headed over to the local town of Frontera to the Fuente del Norte bus station to catch the 9am bus to Flores.   Unfortunately it was full.  The conductor at the station offered to get us a private van for 175Q/person (cheaper if we could add to our group of 5), but we were able to fit onto the next bus.  Half of our group got seats right away, as the locals already on the bus moved kids onto their laps to accommodate us.  By half way we all had seats.

The bus station in Flores is on the mainland, just up the road from the pretty ‘touristy’ island in the lake. It is 5Q/person to take a tuk tuk, but a free shuttle to the island is given by the tour operators..  Expect a ‘soft’ sale of their accommodations, tours and shuttle services in Flores and Tikal.

The island town of Flores

We were anxious to see a bit of the ruins before sunset, so we caught one of their shuttles, leaving right away for the park.  50Q/person straight to your accommodations in the Park.

ONCE YOU ARE IN THE PARK

We dropped our bags off in the Tikal Inn, grabbed our head torches and headed straight for the gates of the ruins.

If you enter the ruins after 3pm your 150Q/person ticket is still valid the next day.  Staying right in the park means you can see the sun set and rise on the ruins!

There are accommodations to suit everyone’s budget including renting a tent.

Coming into the park in the evening is much cooler.  If you head for the main plaza, about a half hour hike in from the entrance gates, there is lots to explore before it gets dark.

The limestone of the temples reflect the warmth of the suns dying rays.

You can climb all over the burial temples and palatal residences around the square.

You can even get to the top of one of the big pyramids that sit either side of this square.

If you are going to stay in the park after dark, do remember your head torches.

It is an uneven trail in and out of the park with the occasional puddle, depending on the weather, and even a few creepy crawlies.  My first sighting of a scorpion.

We finished the evening off with a lovely swim in the hotel pool.

We had dinner at the Tikal Inn, because it was convenient, but the food was very ‘below par’.  I would recommend going to another hotel or one of the restaurants or outdoor venders.  Any of them could not do worse.

IN THE MORNING

You want to take advantage of the cool morning air to explore the sight further. We were eager to get into the park as soon as the gates opened at 6am and we came prepared.  As most of the accommodations do not serve breakfast this early, we had brought in extra bottled water, fruit, biscuits and sandwiches with us.

You can book one of many Sun Rise Tours either independently or through the hotels.  These start at 4am.   If you do not mind being ‘one of many herded along’ the average price is $18US/person with an additional 100Q charge for entering the park before opening hours.  Spend a bit more and you can get a much more informative guide.  We highly recommend Roxy Oritz (see Trip Advisor for rates and contact details).  Warning:  There is no talking by you or your guide once you are on the top of the temple awaiting and during the sun rise.  This is to insure the atmosphere is not ruined by chatter.

As one of us had already had Roxy’s knowledge to impart, the family decided to have a lye in and enter the park instead at dawn.

We headed straight across the park to the furthest western corner.  It is here you will find the Mesoamerican pyramid Temple IV, the tallest and most voluminous structure in the Maya world.

The sun rise tours were just leaving the summit.  This gave us the place to ourselves.

It was a bit foggy still when we got up there (and I stole this shot from our last visit), but it was still an incredible view over the entire park to enjoy with our breakfast.  It is definitely worth the climb.

The view from Temple IV was used in the movie Star Wars.

Just a bit of trivia I could not help throwing in.

With breakfast out of the way we had the day to explore all the nocks and crannies of the sight.

The park has some incredible wildlife.  Most are not easy to capture and many you only get to hear.

 

The historic island section of the city is a maze of narrow cobbled streets pin wheeling out from the church at it’s centre.  The whole place has a hippy/artsy feel to it.  You will find hotels and restaurants to suit anyone’s budget.

The restaurant not only suited our budget, had a great veiw out to the lake, but also it also appealed to our sense of humour.

The ceiling was filled with witty graffiti.

It was during lunch that we discovered we might be stuck on the island for a while.  It turned out that the public busses heading south do not run between 1pm and 7pm.  We decide to use the time to explore the town and enjoy the sun set.

Our little lunch time oasis.

GETTING BACK

Here is where things started to go wrong.  Hope you can learn from our mistakes!

First mistake.  Book your bus tickets home in advance.  Or better yet plan to spend the night in Flores and soak up the night time atmosphere here.

Besides the public bus there are a variety of tour agencies offering tourist coaches (around 150Q/person).  All fill up fast, especially during the Christmas holidays.  Flores is the ‘start of the bus line’ so you can book seats in advance.  Send someone to the local tour agencies or on a tuk tuk to the public bus station in advance (5Q/person/each way).

We did not do that and showed up together at the bus station to find the buses fully booked until 8:45pm.  A bit of a wait, but at least we were guaranteed a seat in the end.

Unfortunately we had further delays.

The bus ahead of us broke down about half way home.  Our driver did his best to help them get going again.  This added 45 minutes to our journey and the need to ‘relive ourselves’ around a corner street.

Then we made our second mistake.  By the time we reached Rio Dulce it was very late at night.  We should have gotten the driver to drop us off at the Marina entrance.  Instead we exited the bus to find ourselves in the ‘deserted’ streets of Frontera.  No chance of getting a tuk tuk or taxi at this hour.

Luckily a bus came by and we were able to flag him down.  The very bus that had broken down and delayed us.  They offered to take us over the river bridge.  From there it was a short walk to the Marina entrance and down to the boat.

We made it home!

LAST DAY

 We had one final day together on the Rio Dulce (sweet river) as a family before the Miller clan had to head back to Roatan to catch their flight home to Vancouver, B.C.

It is never enough time!

Hopefully we can convince them to come again!

There will always be a place on the boat and in our hearts for them.