2 Best Things in Tikal Guatemala under 12 hours

Tikal National Park

I was excited that Tikal, Guatemala was going to be one of our destinations on this trip. Guatemala is west of Belize, located in Central America.

Tikal is an ancient Mayan city located in the middle of the largest rainforest in Central America, with its area extending more than 580 km². It was declared ‘Tikal National Park’ in 1966 and became a protected site.

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It is one of the biggest Mayan sites Pre-Columbian times and some temples can be seen towering above the canopy of the rainforest. The Tikal Park dates back to 400BC and was high in activity between 200 AD and 850 AD.

Tikal is found as one of the Seven Alternative Wonders of the World and listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Catch a local bus

This might seem counter-productive in a country when the locals speak only Spanish and the rest of us mostly only speak English, but catching and riding a local bus can really open your eyes the people in Guatemala.

Before we went, I read warnings on some online sites to be wary of Guatemalan people and to not expect people to help you when you need assistance, but I found this to be completely untrue.

Firstly, the shop assistants at the local petrol station immediately helped us when we asked about the bus. Even though they didnt speak a work of English, they still tried their hardest to communicate with us.

Secondly, when we were on the bus, a middle-aged lady helped carry a backpack on her lap for me on the bus, while I struggled to fit in the the small seat carrying a baby and a backpack, sandwiched between two people, while slouching over to the left to help accommodate the excess passengers on the door side on the right. By the way, the bus will allow as many people inside the bus as space will fit, rather than the allowed capacity. For us, since this was a mini-van there were at least 4 people in excess, all crouched over the passenger seats.

Thirdly, we almost got into the wrong bus (going in the opposite direction) on the way home, but a man stopped us and told us to wait for the next bus. Lucky he did this or we would have had to go back a long way in the dark too.

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Location

Tikal National Park

Flores

Petén Department

Guatemala