I have not the words...

A tree at the entrace of the park
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Our little tour group spent a day and half in Tikal. Yes I know... I personally could have spent the entire holiday there, poking about the ruins, climbing lost temples, getting drenched in the tropical downpours... yet a day and a half it was. Tikal is a 3,000 year old Mayan city surrounded by lush jungle vegetation, the harsh cries of howler monkeys and the song of Toucan. Most of the city is yet to be uncovered but the steep sided temples which have been unearthed are jaw-dropping monuments to a lost civilization.

Stairs leading up to the Palace of Windows
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Tikal is truly the jewel of the Mayan civilization and even now, after such time has passed, I do not have the words...

And spread before you, reaching out of the jungle is Tikal, And it steals your breath.

A night on the bus decreed a restful morning... apparently I was the only one champing at the bit to get lost in the jungle city. The air was hot and humid despite being early morning. The soft buzz of mosquitoes sounding in the distant haze... the fan slowly circling with the breeze (there would be no power until the evening), a film of sweat and cotton covering my skin, a bottle of water always close at hand... i waited for the others to wake, impatient, energetic, we were in the presence of ghosts. Whispers of a once forgotten people. On the edge of discovery.

The Palace of Windows
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The walk to the gates of Tikal, our packs stuffed with camera equipment, pure water and protein bars, seemed far too simple for such a moment. Merely steps away and we would be within the jungle of Guatemala, baring witness to true history of man.

The entrance fee is 50Q each instead of the 150Q as the sign foretells. The price is yet to increase. A courtesy ute stops beside us on the rough dirt road. It is built safari style, with plastic green chairs bolted to the tray. I am almost breathless with excitement as I clamber up the side of the truck and into a seat. A bumpy ride into the heart of the ruins, through jungle thick, past uncovered ruins, past temples still buried... my heart is in my throat as I begin to realize the magnitude and the majesty of Tikal. The park ranger is laughing as he drops us near the center of the ruins, just south of the Palacio las Ventanas (Palace of Windows). There are spider monkeys in the tree, they scatter as we approach on foot. I have never seen monkeys in the wild.

Temple 4 in the distance
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The Palacio las Ventanas is a magnificent structure rising from a steep hillock in the center of a jungle clearing. We are unable to enter but we prowl around its moss covered stones, it is the size of a six bedroom house, perched atop a mound of earth which surely hides its lower levels. The stone bricks sitting neatly against each other, thousands of years old. As if placed there yesterday.

We walk from the Palacio las Ventanas further down the dirt track, further into the sense of discovery. Ahead, through a break in the canopy, a pyramid soars into afternoon sky. A sight so unexpected I am taken aback, I can almost imagine that the window in the canopy is not manmade, but that the trees themselves refused to hide away the work of the Maya. Temple 4 (it struck me then what boring people archeologists are).

Face on the Palace of Windows
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As we move closer, the sheer size of the structure becomes real and I understand the power and the glory of this past civilization. More than 40 stories high Temple 4 is breathtaking. Rickety stairs/ladders scale the side of the structure. An almost vertical ascent up slippery and half rotten wooden steps. On any other day, in any other place, common sense would have dictated I abort the climb, but undaunted I clambered upwards; level after level, one step after another until the canopy broke around me and fell away, I was climbing upwards into the clouds, upwards to the first level of a Temple of the Maya. Where kings and priests once stood. Where the blood of those sacrificed ran in red rivers down stairs long since abandoned. Where the Gods themselves stood beside men.

The ladder to Temple 4's first level
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From this first level of the Temple the jungle falls away like green carpet and you can no longer hear the birds. It is you and the stones under your feet, your lips touching the face of the sky and your fingertips brushing the wings of the eagles. And spread before you, reaching out of the jungle is Tikal. And it steals your breath.