Tikal

Sitting on the top of Templo #4 I couldn’t help feeling that I was stuck in the Book of Mormon one moment and then Star Wars the next. I kept imaging myself as Mormon and then the next second I would be Luke Skywalker prepping my X-wing for the final launch against the Death Star.

I left the lake and then took a 4 hour “chicken bus”, which is an old school bus, to Guatemala City. I bought a ticket on a “first-class” overnight bus to the city of Flores, which is about 40 miles from Tikal. The bus ride was 9 hours long and I slept for about 7 hours of that. Important because I wanted to be ready to go to Tikal right when I got in. This bus is the perfect way to travel. It was comfy. I could sleep on the bus instead of a hotel, and I didn’t waste any daylight.

So, when I got in the taxi drivers start hounding me. The price wasn’t too bad to the hotel I wanted, but cheaper if I could split. I looked around and spotted a gringo pouring over his guide-book. Asked him if he wanted to split and voila-- a new friend. Travis is from Georgia—is 21 and is taking some time to find himself. So, we ended up splitting a nice hotel and doing the whole Tikal thing together. It worked out perfectly, because he had a similar monument-pace as me. We saw everything pretty quickly, but with enough time to think a bit.


This is Travis. My new Bulldog (UGA) friend.

Tikal was pretty magnificent. Huge and covered by Jungle. I think my favorite part is that the jungle is still on and over everything. One of the tallest pyramids is still covered and inaccessible to climb, because of the foliage.

There weren’t a ton of people in the park with us, which was very nice. This was a very hot, but peaceful day. After we got back we went for a run around the island of Flores with is .83 miles around (thank you Google Earth) and by the time I finished I was soaking with both sweat and hose water that people sprayed on me by my request. The sunset was incredible and the locals were all playing in the water. Was running path. I was in heaven. My pace wasn’t great….but oh well. It was HOT!!

The day before I was to come to Tikal, I was looking at pictures and there was one shot that I swear was from Star Wars, so I googled it and yep I was right! I guess a true fan would have already known that, but I guess I get points for discovering it on my own. As you all know I am a huge Star Wars fanatic. So, this just increased the anticipation. And Tikal did not let down. Tikal is only in a short part of A New Hope towards the end when ships are coming taking off of Yavin 4. But it is the only exterior shot of the Jungles of the 4^th moon of Yavin, so it really defines the jungle moon. Multiple subsequent books have taken place on the moon, and let’s just say that I have been enamored with the Jedi adventures in that jungle for 25 years. It was great to imagine being in it. Just google star wars and Guatemala and you will get a wealth of info.

So, this is the last entry from Guate, and so will likely be the last blog entry for a few months. You can all stop checking it every day. Thanks for reading!!