Despite its location, tucked away deep in the lowland jungle of the Guatemalan department of El Petén, the magnificent Maya site of Tikal attracts its fair share of tourists. After all, the Tikal ruins are probably the greatest Maya buildings in the whole of Guatemala, maybe even in the world. Unesco-listed already since 1979, the ancient town provides a great insight in daily Mayan matters as well as on religious and cultural affairs of this great nation. Nowadays the ruins are part of the 576 km2 large Tikal National Park, trying to preserve both the historical and natural treasures of the region. Established in 1955, it's about the only conservation area in Guatemala that escaped the human threats of deforestation, thanks to a huge support of its national park status by each subsequent government, no matter how corrupt or brutal they were. The park is incorporated in the 30 times larger Maya Biosphere Reserve, covering the whole north of the country and established in 1990, in a worthy attempt to combat illegal logging there.

All visitors are required to go to the Tikal Visitor Centre, right in the centre of the national park and just east of the main ruin area. You are to buy your ticket here (150 Quetzals, around 20US$). When you arrive after 4PM, you also receive a ticket for the next day, a great way to see Tikal at different times. Apart from a relief map of the ruins, there is also a quite pricy restaurant, some gift shops and even a post office in the visitor centre. Nearby are a few cheaper eateries ("comedores"), two museums (the Tikal museum is free), a few expensive but good hotels, like the Jungle Lodge charging around US$100 for a double, and even a campsite (only 30Q per person).

Apart from the extensive cultural heritage, which I will discuss in other reviews extensively, the park also contains rich natural treasures. Located in the lowland tropical rainforests of the Petén Basin, its climate is hot and humid all year round, but during the wet season (June-November) precipitation rises sharply. Many parts of the rainforest are impenetrable but a few dirt roads and trekking routes are available. Should you want to spend some time in the rainforest, the travel agents in Flores and Santa Elena offer specialised tours. There are great rainforest treks to one of the numerous Maya sites still hidden deep into the El Petén departement, like nearby Uaxactun and El Zotz or the great El Mirador site close to the Mexican border. But even if you don't participate, the ancient site of Tikal offers already great opportunities to discover the forests. A few temples towering over the sea of trees are climbable, which offers excellent bird's eye views on the lush green rainforest. Several of the ruins are overgrown with indigenous flowers, trees and plants. Several of the forest's wildlife, including howler monkeys, coatis, toucans and Guatemala's national bird, the Quetzal, are regular visitors to the ancient site and can be spotted, most likely during dusk and dawn, but also during the day. Larger mammals like the ocelot or the jaguar normally hide deep in the rainforest.

Tikal was one of the great cities of the Mayan empire. It was abandoned over 1,000 years ago and has become overgrown by jungle, painting a vivid picture of an advanced society's demise followed by the reclaiming of the land by nature. It is an awe-inspiring site. The Mayan empire was once the most developed civilization in the New World, before the Europeans arrived in North America. One of the details that makes this area so interesting is that no one has inhabited the area since... the ruins remain buried deep in the jungle, giving it an extra air of mystery and discovery. Until the mid-1800s, in fact, knowledge of their existence to Europeans and North Americans was limited to rumors. Tikal was inhabited approximately between 800BC and 900AD and supported as many as 100,000 inhabitants at its peak. See the pictures attached of the huge pyramids, organized into plazas, varying in size and date. They are unbelievable to witness from the ground, and you can climb some of them, giving you a birds eye view of the vastness of the area and the surrounding jungle.

Tikal is an amazing experience. We spent one very full day exploring the park, and found that there was a lot to see. It is do-able in 1 day, but 2 or even 3 days could be spent walking around and exploring without getting bored, especially if you hired a guide.

We did not hire a guide (on a student's budget) and did not find that we were missing much. The maps provided by the park are very detailed, and we were able to use descriptions of the history in our guidebooks to enhance our experience. Basic knowledge of the Mayan story is nice to have and will make the experience all the more powerful, however, the sheer size of the site alone is striking.

When the cab picked us up at our hotel in San Ignacio, we thought, uh oh, what kind of tour is this? The driver didn't speak any English, and we were transferred to the Guatemalan border (about 15 minutes away) in somewhat anxious silence. Once there, the guide told us to walk across and look for Nelson, our cab driver who would take us to meet our tour guide. We braved the throngs of people at the border (see the picture!) and made our way across to the very sweet Nelson, who also spoke very little English. He let us speak to our tour guide, Walter, on his cell phone, however, and Walter explained that Nelson would drive us about 1.5 hours to where we'd meet Walter and begin our tour of Tikal.

Everything went just as Walter (waltertours@yahoo.com) said, and we had one of the most wonderful private tours of our lives. Walter is VP of the Tikal visitor organization, and he knows Tikal in and out. He also knows a great deal about Guatemala, and by the end of the day, we had fallen in love with this beautiful and poor country, vowing we would return one day.

Tikal itself is nearly impossible to describe. It is an enormous park, and we felt safe the entire time we were there. We went in January and had very few problems with bugs, though it did rain the whole day on and off. Bring sunblock, water, and a snack, as you may need an energy boost after climbing the pyramids. Walter guided us to the best sites in the ruins and waited patiently while I crawled up the pyramid without a railing (overcoming my fear of heights for what was a spectacular vantage). My only regret was that we didn't spend MORE time near Tikal. Go early in the day (or late) to see animals, as they were all sleeping while we were there.

Walter stopped by a local family's craft store at the end of the day, and we were able to pick up some crafts and textiles. We would recommend buying cloths in Guatemala rather than Belize, as they are all made in Guatemala anyway.

We had a magical time in Guatemala. If you have the chance and opportunity, we would highly recommend Walter and the beautiful, mystical, and ancient Tikal.

This was simply amazing. If you have time, get there early and go up any temple except Temple 1 for the sunrise. Or go up Temple 1 or the pyramid for the sunset.

Beware - your ticket is only good for 1 day.

In my life, I had never seen anything quite like Tikal. When I saw the top of the Temple of the Jaguar-King rising out of the verdant growth of the rainforest, I was transported back to a childhood dream of being an archaeological explorer. Everyone who comes here will have that moment of discovery, just as the first European visitors must have had.

It is almost unbelievable that a site on this scale was uninhabited for so long. Most of these temples were once covered in earth and foliage, and indeed most of the hills at Tikal are buried temples. Each ruler here had to build a new temple every twenty years.

The highlight of the trip is climbing Temple IV. The view is something that cannot be described except with pictures. You can sit up there all day if you like, watching the birds flit about the canopy. They say sunrise is good from here. It is a popular temple to climb, as there is a sturdy wooden staircase/ladder.

The Lost World complex is another great area to explore. It was one of the last areas to be restored, and the Lost World pyramid is an ambitious hike. Because of the broken steps, I didn't feel comfortable climbing to the top. However, my traveling companion confessed that the sunset vista from here was something I should not have missed.

You could spend at least two days at Tikal, exploring all of the major and minor ruins. A guide is worthwhile. Ours gave us a basic orientation to the site and gave us a photography-oriented tour. Our visit was quite dramaticly planned, with grand vistas surprising us at every turn.