Day 14 June 5
part 2




A view of the main plaza and its two pyramids from atop Temple 4.

We spent the last day exploring the more remote ruins of this sprawling ancient city. Between groups of ruins, it was usually a fifteen- or twenty-minute walk through ample but hair-raising jungle trails. Along one path, we witnessed a rare and fearsome sight: a terrible bivouac of ants that completely covered the forest floor.




No stone steps, but only a ladder, lead to the apex of Temple 4. (At 229 feet, this pyramid is the tallest in the Maya world.) The mound of earth still covering much of the unrestored temple helps preserve it from the ravages of its rainforest environment.




My charming companion Madjid gets a free tour of the ruins from a female guide he had befriended. He poses beside a building which appears to have been destroyed by fire-- not the fire of romance, to be sure, but of the less dangerous kind.

<<<--- Previous || Next --->>>

Home Page


Into Guatemala 1989. © 1999 J. L. Pe