El Mirador, Guatemala

View all photos from El Mirador: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNmzVq5YsWLyo


The Toyota pick-up truck has been loaded with enough food and water for 9 people for 6 days. Along with the 2 drivers we are 11 (3 people in the front, 8 in the back), which would make for an interesting ride during the 3 hour trip over the bumpy pot-hole road from San Andrés to Carmelita.

We are headed to the jungle: 6 days of living, breathing pure nature. Our destination is the pyramids of “El Mirador” (the highest pyramids built in the Mayan empire). No road leads there and the only way to see this ancient Mayan treasure hidden in the middle of the jungle is to walk.

The plan: 2 days of walking through the Guatemalan jungle to reach “El Mirador,” one day there of rest and relaxation and 2 days walking back.

2 hours into the 3 hour road trip to literally the end of the last road in the country the right rear tire makes a suspicious sound. We have a flat. Here we are in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire. With modestly reduced speed we proceed. I wonder why. A few curves later we stop by the side of a small driveway and parked in this driveway is another Toyota pick-up truck of the same model. The owner greets us and with Guatemalan friendliness and immediately agrees to swap us tires (he would repair the broken one for us to pick up on the way home). 10 minutes later we are on the road again with a new tire. How could we have been any luckier?

Our journey ends in the small settlement of Carmelita (and even if we had wanted to we could not have gone further because it is the very end of the last road). Our guide’s uncle lives here and has agreed to let us spend the night. After a tasty dinner we cuddle up in our hammocks suspended in a cabaña in front of the house.

The next morning starts early. We want to reach the jungle early because the earlier hours are not only better for spotting animals but also avoid the hottest midday sun. Finally the expedition starts: 6 tourists, 3 guides, 4 mules fully loaded with lots of food and water. And we are lucky and see many kinds of animals: birds, butterfly, a poisonous snake, monkeys, spiders and a big scorpion carrying babies on its back. The jungle is beautiful: thick, green, wild, almost inpenetratable and full of noises and surprises (but yet distinctly different from the jungle along the Amazon I visited several years ago). After 6 hours of walking we reach our camp for the night; a small opening in the forest which archeologists created a few years ago while staying here for several months excavating the premises. Fortunately for us they left behind a few simple tree stumps for us to sling our hammocks.

I am hot and sweaty and decide a nice shower (jungle style) would be just perfect. Our guide directs me to the “wash room.” Following a small path for several hundred meters I reach a small lagoon in the middle of the forest. The lagoon is completely covered with green weeds and would have been easy to miss altogether. I undress and climb on a fallen tree stump which leads from the shore in the middle of the lagoon. Having reached the center I use a stick to push aside the weeds to create a space of open water. I then take an empty bean-can (serving as the water faucet) and pour the refreshingly cool chocolate color water over my body.

Before dinner we climb a Mayan ruin nearby towering tall above the jungle canopy and enjoy a picture perfect sunset. A delicious dinner awaits us upon descend and the evening is rounded up with a camp fire and listening to live guitar music (one of my fellow companions chose to carry his guitar all the way into the midst of the jungle).

The next day starts even earlier. We are up by 6am, have eaten and are ready to go by 7am. The road ahead is long: 8 hours of walking plus a 1 hour lunch break. So we arrive at 4pm after a beautiful but long walk at “El Mirador” the tallest pyramids build in the Mayan empire. There is something magical and uplifting about finally arriving at a place that took so much energy to reach.

We are all alone, not a tourist in sight. For obvious reasons the journey here is not everybody’s taste. But the trip was well worth it. A huge city of enormous proportions (including temples, pyramids, houses, squares and even highways) was once located here. Today the entire city is hidden by the jungle (only a tiny portion of the site has been excavated). After setting up camp, watching another breathtaking sunset and a delicious dinner we climb the pyramid “El Tigre” (with the guitar). A cool breeze in my hear, gentle guitar music in my ear and a beautiful view spoil my senses as we relax on top of this ancient Mayan pyramid far above the jungle.

The next day is our day of rest. We walk around the ancient walls of this city (over 2000 years old) admiring the many temples, walls and pyramids. After dinner everybody is tired and disappears into their hammock for the night. I however have different plans. Once more I want to enjoy the amazing experience of climbing the pyramid, but this time at night and alone. But in order to climb the pyramid you first have to find it, which is easier said than done in a pitch black forest. I stumble around some narrow paths somewhat intimidated by all the sounds surrounding me. Eventually I realize that I am on the wrong path and have to turn around. Finally I reach “El Tigre” after this night walk though the jungle, which was an adventure all by itself.

The long walk and tiring ascend all become worthwhile as I reach the top of the pyramid. I am greeted by a beautifully clear starry night. The moon gradually rises over the horizon and over the hours I watch it gradually descending again. The moon finally sets at about 1am and leaves behind one of the clearest and starriest nights I have ever seen. I can see the Milky Way and millions of stars scattered all over the sky and accompanying this picturesque view are the sounds of the jungle below. I decide to spend the night. The ground is rocky so my sleep is frequently interrupted, which is fine because the view is well worth it. I wake up in time to watch the sky turn from black to blue and then sun gradually rising over the horizon. A new day has begun and I return to the camp, just in time for breakfast. What a night!

We have a long walk back ahead of us. And so we spend another 2 days in the jungle, walking during the day and enjoining camp fires with live guitar music at night.

On day 6 we return to Carmelita. We are all tired, dirty and our bodies covered by mosquito bites but more importantly we are happy. We load up the truck and head back. On the way we stop by a farmer’s house and our guide buys a big (for Christmas he says) which is put into a bag and thrown on the back of the pick-up as well. So we make our way back through the pot-holes, the pig squeaking and jumping up periodically. Suddenly there is a strange noise from underneath the car – something had obviously broken. But no problem, the driver jumps out with a roll of wire and disappears under the car. 10 minutes later he reappears and declares the car as repaired. The trip resumes uninterrupted until we reach San Andrés and although San Andrés is tiny it feels like we are returning to the big city.