Tikal, the incredible Maya city buried deep in central Guatemala is almost as shrouded in mystery today as it was when it was first rediscovered after being reclaimed by the jungle centuries after it was abandoned by the enigmatic culture who lived there: the Maya. Why they left, why their civilization collapsed, and many more aspects of this incredible society remain unknown. Luckily, visiting the excavated part of the ruins is easier than ever, but there are some important things to know before you go.
1. If you plan on a Tikal sunrise tour, make sure to purchase the ticket (additional to the normal entry) before you enter the park.
What happens most often is that tourists get a ticket for park entry at the gate (or ideally, beforehand at a Banrural office anywhere in Guatemala). They enter the park, planning to visit the ruin the next day at normal hours, but after realizing how amazing it is they want to go on a sunrise tour. Unfortunately, because you cannot purchase tickets inside the park, and because the earliest ticket office opens at 8am the next morning, guess what? By the time they can get a ticket…the sun has already risen and unless they’re able to spend an additional night in Tikal, they’ve missed their chance. A shame, when (keep reading), a sunrise tour is one of the park’s most rewarding activities.
2. Be prepared for inclement weather.
Assuming you’ve got a ticket all set, the other big mistake tourists make is underestimating the weather on a Tikal sunrise tour. No, you’re not going to see six feet of snow there, but the jungle can get pretty darn chilly in those morning wee hours, and until the sun comes up it can be teeth-chattering cold, especially if it’s raining or misty. Bring warm layers, bring umbrellas, bring rainproof shells. You may not need them, but you’ll see goose-pimpled, huddling, shivering tour-goers who will wish they had.
3. Be alert and aware.
It’s dark, and depending on the conditions, the hour-long hike to Tikal’s Templo IV can be muddy, slippery, and on uneven ground. There are wooden stairways that have mossy surfaces, often slick after a rain. There’s a (small) chance of wildlife such as snakes being on the path. Keep your flashlight on and pay attention. Not just for hazards, but so you don’t miss some of the natural wonders there you might see as well: Birds, bats, monkeys, coatis (a raccoon-like denizen of Yucatán), and more.
4. On Templo IV, be silent, and keep your phone ringers off.
You’re here not just to enjoy one of the world’s most ethereal, precious wonders, you’re here with a group of other people, and not a single person sitting next to you wants to have their mystical vision, their contemplation, marred by you yakking loudly to your friend or spouse, or have you playing some phone game that’s beeping and so on. This is for some a near religious experience, and for many it is deeply spiritual: Watching the sun slowly rise over a jungle, sitting in a spot where Maya chiefs once looked out on plazas filled with citizens. It’s a chance to see (and hear!) the sounds of a jungle waking up: the roaring of the howler monkeys, the screeching of the spider monkeys, the calls and chattering of the parrots. Respect this chance to disconnect.
5. Bring water, insect repellent and sunscreen.
Tourists are probably the tastiest treat around for the local insect hordes, so plan on dealing with that aspect with whatever spray, lotion, repellent, or clothing you normally use to keep the biting buggies away. Once the sun comes up, it can be quite bright (you’re in the tropics after all).
6. Hope for the best, expect the worst.
Everyone on the Tikal sunrise tour is praying for a brilliant sunset (ahem, like the one I was lucky enough to see on my third try, the photo above, which I’m using as my blog’s cover shot). This region of Guatemala has cloud cover up to 80% of the time, meaning that you only have a 1 in 5 chance of seeing the full sunrise on any given tour. If you’re going to be going home angry and disappointed, feeling like you’ve wasted your money, if you don’t have that iconic shot with a golden sunshine backdrop silhouetting Tikal’s temples in all their majesty…then don’t go. It’s expensive, you have to get up at an ungodly hour of the night, it’s quite possibly wet, rainy, or muddy. There are all kinds of reasons why this tour might not be right for you. Go see it during the day: It’s going to still be amazing.
For the rest of us who still want to go, the chance to see wildlife that hides once the sun comes up, the chance to quietly ponder life and it’s wonderful mysteries atop a temple that’s been sitting in this spot for a millennium, and the option to walk around the park long before the bus tours arrive…for us, that’s what makes this worth it. A jaw-dropping sunrise is just icing on an already amazing cake.
So is the Tikal Sunrise Tour it worth it? The answer really is something only you can know.
A final note of trivia:
If you’re up there on the temple waiting for the sun to rise and start thinking, “Why does this view look vaguely familiar?” you’re not experiencing déjà vu, you might be recalling the iconic scene from Star Wars: A New Hope (the 1977 original), where near the end of the movie the rebels are preparing to attack the Death Star from their secret base. That was filmed here, atop this very temple, and the view hasn’t changed much since then.
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