“Look down, and don’t look up until I tell you,” Erdo says to us. Our small group of six obediently follows the instructions of Erdozain López, our guide, shuffling slowly along the uneven limestone ledge, eyes on our feet. “Ok,” he says. “Look up now.”

I know what to expect, having been here once before. But even so, I gasp quite audibly at that first view of Plaza Mayor, the main square of the Mayan mega city of Tikal. Temple 1, the Jaguar Temple, towers over us as we stand on a perch that would have once been part of a residential neighborhood. Temple 2 faces its counterpart across the plaza. A labyrinth of stairs and smaller temples flanks the fourth side of the plaza. The term breathtaking is meant for a time like this.

Of course, Plaza Mayor is only one of countless plazas in Tikal, and these temples merely two of more than a hundred. For this city, sitting in the north of Guatemala, about an hour’s drive from the city of Flores and its airport, is thought to have been the pinnacle of the Mayan classical age, a vast sea of humanity within the ocean of the Guatemalan jungle. And seeing this city, feeling the size and scope personally, is to me the most important experience to have here in a country I love.

Like a fair number of the many tourists here on a Saturday in January – the prime “dry” season to visit – I am here merely for part of a day. I was picked up at my lodging in Antigua Guatemala at 330 this morning, driven to Guatemala City for a 530am flight to Flores, arriving here at Tikal with my group a bit before 9. Some will return to Guatemala City or Antigua again tonight; I’ll stay over in Flores to see another Mayan site tomorrow. Regardless, it is a long day, only allowing for about five hours inside Tikal itself. (There are a few places to stay within the national park surrounding Tikal, as well, for those who want a more full experience here, or one that includes sunrise and/or sunset.)

But even in a short time, the vastness of Tikal, the incredible engineering of the Mayans, and the overwhelming inevitability of the Guatemalan jungle are possible to experience in a meaningful way.

Tikal was founded in roughly 400 BCE, but rose to prominence during the Mayan classical age, from 200 to 900 CE. Evidence of Tikal’s dominance is shown both within the region, as other city-states adopted many architectural features from Tikal, and as far as Mexico’s Teotihuacan, at which jade treasures from here and inscriptions mentioning Tikal rulers, have been found. (There is also plenty of evidence that Teotihuacan actually had more influence here than Tikal did there, and that one of Tikal’s ruling dynasties was from the Mexican power. Whether that included a full military conquest is open for debate.)

The city is huge, measuring more than 25 square miles (although only a relatively small portion of that is fully excavated), and estimates of its peak population range from 100,000 to more than 350,000. During its primacy, many of the other Mayan city-states in what is now Guatemala would have likely been vassals, allied with Tikal against the city of Calakmul – in what is now Mexico – and its allies and vassals. Each city would seem to have conquered the other at least once, with the conquest of Tikal in the latter half of the sixth century CE ushering in a period of basically no new construction.

Tikal was abandoned by the eleventh century, part of a complete collapse of lowland Guatemalan Mayan society. We don’t know the reason for this end, though speculation is largely environmental factors, including extended drought, overpopulation, and a slash and burn of the jungle for agriculture that left land arid after a time.

After being abandoned, Tikal was overtaken by the jungle, left hidden until 1848. And while more than 150 years of excavation has led to the stunning city visitors will find today, so much is still left covered. It is said that everything that seems to be a hill here is actually a Mayan building waiting to be unearthed. It is staggering in scale.

Each guide at Tikal seems to have his/her own preferred route. Indeed, on my two trips, I took two very different paths, although I saw mainly the same highlights that I’m guessing all of the day trips experience. Erdo is also a naturalist, and spends much of our jungle trek looking upward, spotting monkeys, toucans (with dark beaks), black squirrels, and more. He also says that about 60 jaguars live here in the park, although the chance of seeing one during daytime hours is slim. (I’m of a mixed mind about this. On the one hand, I love the big cats more than almost every other animal. On the other, I do place some value on not being food for them myself.)

There are way too many incredible buildings at Tikal to cover in a single article, too many times I said “wow” to talk about, and too many truly awesome places we just had to quickly pass by in order to cover those things that Erdo felt were the top of his list. Temple 38, for instance, is the first we see and will only get this briefest of mentions. (The temple numbering is the order in which they were officially surveyed. There is no bearing on importance, or what the Mayans would have called them, or even where they are located, although the earlier ones are along the central axis of the city.)

While the tour includes Mayan residential areas (as mentioned above), and even what are thought to be some commercial facilities, the highlights for people are the two types of towering structures, temples and pyramids.

To tell the difference, one can basically examine the top. If the top is flat, it is probably a pyramid, used – it is thought – for astronomical observations. From some of the pyramids, like Tikal’s Great Pyramid, temples are arranged to offer specific views of the solstices and equinoxes, like Temple 88 and its still covered neighbors.

Here is the Great Pyramid from the base, as an illustration.

Temples have buildings at the top, likely used for religious offerings. Another look here at the Jaguar Temple will show what to look for.

Some of the tallest structures of Tikal can be climbed via wooden staircases built adjacent for visitors to use. The Mayans themselves would have used the main stone stairs, and tourists can do so as well in a few places, although the limestone can be very steep and slippery. Specifically, these wooden staircases lead to the tops of Temple 2 on Plaza Mayor, the Great Pyramid (the steepest of the climbs although not the tallest), and Temple 4, which at 70m is the tallest building in Tikal, and the second tallest to be discovered in the Mayan world after a temple in El Mirador at 76m.) The views from the tops of the Great Pyramid and Temple 4 are above the canopy, leading to a truly incredible perspective on the jungle.

That jungle is itself fascinating. During Mayan times, the city would have been bare, the jungle being cut back miles outside the city with fields between. Tikal was mainly paved in lime, a mixture of ground limestone and water, heated with wood from the cut down jungle. The ash from slash and burn techniques was used to add nutrients to the soil surrounding the city, allowing for irrigated fields of corn, beans, and chilis. (Over time, that ash would have needed to be replaced, meaning more cutting away of the jungle, and ultimately much less productive soils, part of what might have led to Mayan collapse here.)

And let’s not skip over the sheer magnitude of buildings here besides the pavement. Consider that the Mayans did not have metal tools, as no metal needed for alloys is found here. So while yes, limestone is a soft stone, everything here was constructed by hand using stone (obsidian mainly) tools. That makes it even more impressive, and though the city’s workforce was likely slaves taken in battles with neighboring city-states, it still leads to a truly awe-inspiring series of building projects.

A few more temples, a few other buildings, those all sort of blend together as our group works its way toward the exit – and a solid lunch – after the tour. A few more monkeys, and a few more trees and vines that could come from a fantasy novel, and Tikal is left behind for the drive back to Flores. The ride back is much quieter. While some of that is due to sleep – we’ve all had very early mornings and a lot of walking and climbing in the humid jungle – much is reflection. What did we just see? How do we process something so incredible? As I write this, it is a feeling I still have.

Tikal is easily one of the most impressive places I have ever been, a combination of history, beauty, and scale that is rarely matched in the world. It is a place I cannot believe that I have been lucky enough to see twice, and one I will eagerly await another return. If it is even remotely within your logistical and budgetary constraints to take a day trip – or more – to come here, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

For those curious, I booked this tour through a company called Guatemalan Adventure. Everything was smooth, and I’d happily use them again.

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