| The Temple 4 Experience At Tikal, Scenic Views & a Star Wars Connection |
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| The Tikal model presents Temple 4 with a normal Mayan stairway, as constructed in around 741. I would have loved using that stairway to climb the tallest building at Tikal, also taller than any other pre-European structure in North or South America. No such luck and no stairway. |
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| Instead, the struggle upwards to Temple 4 involved dragging myself over a steep non-trail obstacle course that included ladders at odd angles, combined with the need to grab ropes, rails, or tree roots in order to reach the ladder shown here, where one climber is emerging. I made it that far too. Although I could hardly walk the next day thanks to aching muscles, reaching this high platform was worth the pain. |
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| From atop Temple 4, Tikal's signature images emerge, such as the two temples facing each other from the previous page. Only their crowns are visible above the jungle canopy which swallows everything else. |
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| This wider shot adds Temple 3, also rising above the vast jungle. Does it look familiar, even if you have never been to Tikal? You are looking at the location of the secret rebel base from the original Star Wars (Episode 4), which could only be taken from Temple 4. The scenic vista appears at least three times in Star Wars, for only a few seconds, but it's Tikal for certain. |
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| Temple 3, unrestored in 1995, was mostly covered by the relentless jungle in the thousand years or so since the Maya abandoned Tikal. At other sites there would be more Mayan pyramids concealed within jungle green. After making it down from Temple 4, I was far too exhausted for additional exploration of Tikal. Instead I filmed a marimba band which played at a party for Tikal's Maya employees. Marimba is modern Maya music, and that band both sounds and looks great in the video. |
| If you have a high speed internet connection, watch the Intrepid Berkeley Explorer's free streaming video of this trip to Central America and Mexico, "Mayavision", by clicking on AdventurePics.com . |
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