TIKAL, A MAYAN ADVENTURE & crossing the border from Belize to Guatemala

Star Wars movie set, jungle trek, monkeys and ancient Mayan Ruin. What more can you ask?

Video notes:

We are here in Tikal, located around 90 minutes from the closest major city of Flores.

The bus from Flores cost ranges from 125G to 150G and another 150G ($22) for entrance to the national park.

Tikal was the capital, which became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya.

According to modern Mayan spelling is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre- Columbian Mayan civilization and was declared a World Heritage Site , by Unesco , in 1979.

The population of Tikal experienced continuous growth, from the Preclassic Period (approximately between 2000 BC and 200 AD ), reaching its peak in the Late Classic , with rapid growth between 700 and 830 d. C.
During this time, the city dominated much of the Mayan region, in the political, economic and military sphere; it maintained links with other regions, throughout Mesoamerica

The population estimates of the city of Tikal vary, from 10,000, to more than 90,000 inhabitants,

As Tikal and its surroundings reached their maximum population, the area was affected by deforestation , erosion and nutrient loss, followed by a rapid population decline . Tikal and its surroundings apparently lost the majority of its population between 830 and 950 and the central authority could have collapsed rapidly.

In the century 9th, the crisis of the Maya collapse of the classical period spread throughout the region, with a population in free fall and city after city fell into silence.

Fun fact for you...

You might recognize this location.

American filmmaker George Lucas used Tikal as a stage for the rebel base in his first film in the series Star Wars , Episode IV: A New Hope which premiered in 1977.

In the British movie Moonraker by secret agent James Bond , filmed in 1979, the protagonist - played by Roger Moore - arrives at Tikal on a glider, descends into the Temple of the Great Jaguar and discovers that it is from this Mayan city where ships are launched Secret to space.

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