Many of us have been to the Yucatan peninsula and have seen Mayan ruins. They are usually visited during a sideshow of a cultural visit one takes to the beaches of Cancun and Tulum - Been there, done that and probably shared it on Steem years ago. Tikal is different, it's was at the heart of the Mayan empire and is nowhere near a beach, being so deep in the jungle it is a lot less crowded. You're probably wondering how come there is no one in this photo, well Tikal is huge, it is isolated and they are excavating more of it each year as you can see in the back of the main photo.
This is the central acropolis, that is Yax Mutal, temple 1. You can see a few people hiding in the shade, Tikal is extremely hot. 1500 years ago it was probably teeming with Mayan's, I don't know how they worked in this heat. These temples didn't build themselves and after investigating the ruins, I can say they likely weren't built by aliens.
This central area is big, there are four large structures surrounding the square. That's the palace on the left and there was a temple palace to the right and we are standing on another temple to get this nice photo of Temple number 1 or the temple of the Jaguar. There are temples all over Tikal.
Here's a close up of one of the pieces of art in the temple. They weren't just blocks or paintings, this was made from stucco. The architecture is impressive for something made up to 2400 years ago in the America's. This is around the classical greek age for comparison, but to be fair most of this was built during the late Roman era through to the dark ages.
The angles and lines are impressive, these temples were built to align with stars, solstices and equinoxes from 2000 years ago. I'm not sure what went on here and we can only guess but I bet there were lots of bodies thrown off these temples. There are written records from the era which speak of what the kings did, their wars and even some pictures depicting decapitation. Powerful men ruled these ancient cities.
The city doesn't look so mighty from above the forest canopy. You can see many other mounds, which are probably temples. Tikal was built in a swampy area, it was good for farming but had no large hills so anything that looks like a hill is probably a temple or some earthwork. With advancements in Lidar technology we are finding more ruins everyday and making a map of just how big their civilization was. The road and city network was extensive and most of these trees would now be covering what was intense agriculture.
We can see some hills or covered ruins here. They were temples or palaces. The Mayans also build out of wood so there were probably thousands of huts stretching out in all directions. There are some elaborately preserved carvings found inside the temples but most of their wood work is long gone. The photo above may be recognizable if you are a Star Wars fan, they filmed part of the Massassi Rebel base at the end of New Hope up on this temple. We are looking back at the main square.
While exploring the ruins we saw a troop of Coati's, some monkeys (too far up in the trees to get a decent photo) and many birds. The jungle is thick but full of life. We were not lucky enough to see a jaguar but there were some alligators in the swamp.
This looks like a Guatemalan Turkey or Ocellated Turkey. It has unique colours and was looking for a handout. They are stupid but delicious birds. They make Kak'ik soup from these, it's red and spicy.
There were some wild pigs, Collared Peccary, but they are too fast to capture. And, we saw this bird by the souvenir stands but I'm not sure what it is. We came here directly from Belize after a stay in the Jungle Caves Branch and met quite a few birders. It was pretty cool taking a taxi from Belize to Guatemala, walking across the border, then grabbing another cab to Flores, a city near Tikkal we will write about next time.
When in this area we arranged a lot of private transportation. It's not expensive and you don't have to rely on other passengers. There are some discounted tours available from Flores and other places in the region to Tikkal but you just need to arrange a lift and can explore the place on your own time. Thanks for reading.
All photos taken with an s20 or iphone 13 pro and are unfiltered.
We really live in a fascinating world! I find it amazing how they built temples to align with the stars, and to think that thick jungle used to be a thriving community.
Thank you for sharing this part of the world with us here on Hive.
Tying one's culture to things such as stars and the sun makes more sense than a lot of things we worship in modern times.
Thanks for your comment.
I have noticed that you mentioned Temple 1 - is it only your wording or are they really numbered? If they are numbered, how many are there? It's interesting to see how temples are different across cultures. I have never been to the Yucatan peninsula (or that part of the world for that matter), so thank you for taking me with you to such a lovely place!
Have a great weekend! 😊
They have Temples numbered I to VI then there are some other temples with names and the numbered temples have names. They have pyramids, altars, etc. It's huge and then there are dozens of other cities just as big some of them haven't even been excavated.
I'd recommend flying into Cancun and going to a few south of there. Worst case scenario, there are some amazing beaches around Cancun.
the quiz looks very perfect, the building looks like a Mayan relic, it is an extraordinary place, I have seen the place explored by Motovlog Indonesia on his YouTube account called Mario Iroth, if I'm not mistaken there is also a national park forest in it airplane wreck, if I had the chance I would also really like to go there
Hope your dreams come true. Thank you for your comment
You're welcome
The terrace looks larger then I expected. Breathtaking pyramids, seems to go pretty tall. Amazing what the ancients left behind that can still be enjoyed. thank you for sharing this beauty.
One can just imagine what it looked like back in it's time. Thank you for your comment.
Such places that exist are very special and when one wants to visit here it is a great pleasure to see all the things.
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