Travelblog LA#16: Tikal & Uaxactun – Guatemala

 

9th – 12th July, 2023

 

After being in the Flores area for over five days, I finally visited its main attraction. The world-renowned, UNESCO-accredited, former capital of the Mayan world: Tikal.

And I am not afraid to admit that it is worth the hype. The only reason I refrained this long was not because I was reluctant but rather because I did not want to visit it during the weekend, and this turned out to be a good decision. This is one of those places that a lot of rich people want to tick off their bucket list so they fly directly to the local airport, do a tour of the ruins and then leave all within the same day, but this kind of behaviour peaks at the weekend. I visited on a Monday and found it quiet, and I shared a guide with just two other people. The previous day his group had numbered over twenty.

Speaking of guides, this is one of those occasions that I will publicly endorse one. Rony – whose contact details I will include below – ended up being not only very knowledgeable about this complex but also happened to be an ornithologist, and when he found out the three of us were wildlife enthusiasts he took us on a detour through the jungle. We spotted many species of birds that morning, including:

A white-collared manakin.

A blue-diademed motmot.

And some toucans.

When we got to exploring the actual ruins, we began with a smaller plaza on the eastern side that featured two pairs of pyramids opposite each other. One of them was still – like many Mayan monuments – buried beneath the jungle, but our guide explained that this is not always because they simply haven’t gotten around to excavating yet. Often it is deliberate, as the Mayans built many of their structures from very soluble limestone, and archaeologists want to preserve them.

The other, however, has been excavated and partially restored.

Many of the plazas in Tikal feature steles and ceremonial platforms. The former being where the Mayans recorded their history and bragged about their conquests, and the latter where they made offerings. Historians have translated much of the Maya script – which is why we now know quite a lot about their history and culture – but the cities with access to more durable stone have generally managed to preserve more of their history as their steles are more legible.

Shortly after this introduction, we made our way to the central plaza, featuring the iconic pair of pyramids that many of you have doubtless seen pictures of before and will recognise. What you don’t often see in the pictures is that there are also two huge acropolises on either side of them.

And the slightly smaller pyramid has wooden steps at the back that you can climb for a view of it all.

There are several pyramids that you can climb in this complex. I think my favourite was ‘Mundo Perdido’, as it featured a complete panorama from the top, and you could see many of the features of Tikal peaking above the treeline.

After exploring some of the smaller, less excavated plazas, our tour ended and my companions got back onto a bus heading back to Flores, but I had different plans. I was heading to Uaxactun – a village further into the jungle with its own ruins – and this meant I still had a few hours to wait.

I have mentioned here before that there are some positives and negatives when it comes to having a guide or going to places independently. I have been going on more tours than I usually do in Guatemala because the prices have been quite reasonable, and – after you have looked into the logistics of things such as transport – the convenience has often outweighed the difference in cost. Tikal is a site that doesn’t have that much information, so I was glad to have someone to give me context, and I was very pleased with Rony because he gave us a bonus wildlife tour.

But, another thing I will say is to remember that guides cater group tours to a wide range of people with differing levels of mobility and interest, and when it comes to historic places, this often means that guides will skip parts. This is obviously because most people are happy seeing the ‘more notable’ features, but if you are a bit of a geek like me and want to explore everything you might want to consider ensuring you have some free time in the end. I was glad that the circumstances of my visit allowed me this as I got to see some things that I would have otherwise missed, including this incredible pyramid.

I would have also missed this amazing stucco by the central plaza.

As well as some smaller places that were admittedly not as dramatic but still lovely, and I had entirely to myself.

When the end of the afternoon came, I returned to the entrance and waited for the bus to Uaxactun. There is only one each day, and it passes by Tikal in the late afternoon. It is primarily for residents, so by the time I got on it was crammed with not only people but sacks of beans and other supplies. The conductor gestured for me to sit on a crate of Coke bottles.

It was almost evening when we arrived, and I could immediately tell this was a very tight-knit community. Everyone seemed very familiar with each other, and the bus dropped off most of the passengers outside of their houses. This meant I got to have a little tour of the village. Its central feature appears to be an old runway for a disused airport that the villagers have appropriated and filled with football pitches and other community spaces.

Uaxactun only has one place for visitors to sleep: a hotel called El Chiclero. Its owner was the wife of one of the archaeologists who excavated the ruins, but she was away during my stay, and her brother was looking after the place. It looked a bit rundown, and there was an entire building that looked like it used to be rooms for guests but was now just a shell. Luckily they had a place for me in another block. I could tell that I was their first visitor for a while. When they led me to my room, I opened the door to find a girl hurriedly dusting off the pillows and sheets.

I ate dinner at Uaxactun’s only restaurant, and it seemed very much like I was the first customer they’d had for a while. I didn’t have time to do anything else that evening besides shower and sleep. The mosquito guards on the walls and ceiling of my room had lots of holes, but it was too late to do anything so I had to make do. I put some repellent on my shoulders and arms and hoped I would get through the night reasonably unscathed.

The following morning I got up early to watch the sunrise from one of the archaeological sites outside the village: something that Rony – my guide for Tikal – recommended. El Chiclero had a resident dog called Rocky who followed me.

This place is believed to be an astronomical observatory because it features a pyramid overlooking three edifices. During this time of the year – close to midsummer – if you sit on the pyramid, you can watch the sunrise from behind the edifice to the far left. It was a bit cloudy that morning, so I saw this as a general haze of light rather than the sun in its full magnificence.

But I did get to hear the dawn chorus, and as the area around me brightened, I also saw more of the site. I think my favourite feature was the stucco faces on the pyramid.

Rocky remained my loyal companion for the rest of the day. He did occasionally get a little excited at the sight of monkeys – and would start barking – but when it came to birds he was relatively chill and didn’t scare too many of them away.

The astronomical observatory is one of several sites excavated by archaeologists during the 1920s and 30s. They designated it as ‘Site E’, and nearby I saw a sign for a place called ‘Site H’, so I followed the trail only to find it had many forks that weren’t signposted. After getting lost for a couple of hours, I eventually gave up and returned to the village. One of the locals later informed me that many of Uaxactun’s ruins have been reclaimed by the jungle. It was possible I had walked over ‘Site H’ and not even known it. The only other sites that are still explorable – besides the astronomical observatory – are known as ‘A’ and ‘B’.

So that is where I went next, and conveniently these two were both easy to find and close to each other.

I don’t think I have ever been to somewhere like Uaxactun. Usually, when somewhere becomes notable for tourism it becomes a story of development and if you read a travel guide printed more than a year or two ago the swiftness of it can often be startling. With Uaxactun, I feel like the opposite has happened. Either people have stopped coming here, or perhaps they built all this infrastructure because they thought it would become more popular than it actually became, and now there are not enough visitors to keep them all maintained and running.

Despite this, I am glad I came here. The ruins are not quite as dramatic or photogenic as Tikal, but they have some features that its more famous neighbour doesn’t. I have already mentioned the amazingly preserved stucco faces on the pyramid in the astronomical observatory, but there are other things such as a series of inner corridors at the top of the ‘palace’ structure in site A.

And there is also the fact that the visitors who do come will almost certainly have the entire site to themselves, which makes for a lovely atmosphere.

The site also features many placards giving information (in both Spanish and English).

And then is also the village. After visiting both sets of ruins, I went for a little walk along the airstrip, and all the locals were friendly and keen to start conversations with me.

Later, when I returned to El Chiclero, I also chatted with Antonio – the brother of the owner – for a while and found out why the place looks a bit rundown. The roof collapsed for one of the blocks of rooms a year ago, and they are still in the process of dismantling the remains before building new ones. I am guessing the pandemic has not helped as repairs cost money and I imagine there has been very little coming in over the last few years.

I don’t want this blog to put people off coming to El Chiclero as I am sure it will be amazing once they fix it up again. I came at the worst possible time: during a time of renovation in the low season and whilst the owner was away. She could have closed the place completely – and not risked her reputation – but that would have left me stranded, so I appreciate she made arrangements to stop that from happening. I still had a clean bed to sleep on, the toilet flushed, and the shower worked. The only thing I will complain about is that they need to either fix their mosquito guards or put nets in the rooms, as I did get bitten a bit that first night. The second night I was better prepared and spent some time stuffing toilet paper and plastic bags into all the holes and gaps before it got dark.

Did I mention that El Chiclero has a museum? One of the cool things about staying here is that it is also home to a collection of artefacts from the area. The building is currently also being used to store beds until the new rooms are ready, but if you ask they will still let you in and show you around.

I am very glad I came to Uaxactun. Both the village and its ruins are lovely, and it was nice to get off the beaten track for a couple of days. More people should come here.

 

If any of you are interested in hiring Rony as a guide he can be contacted by WhatsApp on this number (+502 4910 2118). He is highly recommended by me not only for his knowledge of Mayan history but also for the local wildlife, and he offers both group tours through local agencies and private tours to various places.

 

Click on the hyperlinks for more photos from Tikal and Uaxactun.