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Day 13 Uaxactún: Town and Ruins
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Day 14 Last Day in Tikal

Into Guatemala 1989 [Part 7 of 11 Parts]

Jo
2004-03-05 22:59:29

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Day 13 June 4

Uaxactún: Town and Ruins

[Photo 1]

Early in the morning, we drove along a jungle road barely wide enough for our jeep to pass through. The Petén wilderness had never seemed to me more vast and forbidding. Trees more than a hundred feet tall flanked us on both sides. I had a strange feeling of being swallowed up by the endless green, and also wondered what would happen if a bus suddenly appeared in the opposite direction. Roberto matter-of-factly stated that either our jeep or the bus would have to back up all the way to Tikal or Uaxactún. For the unfortunate driver, it could be an unforgettable six-mile detour in reverse gear.

The roar of our jeep's engine surprised a black lizard or bird scavenging in the middle of the road. (From afar, I could not be sure which it was.) The creature had a tail, a long beak or snout, and what appeared to be two small atrophied forelimbs. It looked like a miniature t. rex. Rushing on its hind legs, the beast lost itself in the darkness of the rainforest like a specter fleeing the dawn. Its ominous and sinister appearance made me uneasy for the rest of the ride. Fortunately, with the exception of a fallen branch that momentarily blocked our way, we met with no problems.

We arrived in the small jungle town of Uaxactún, about twelve miles from Tikal. One main dirt road divided the ruins into two sections. At one end of the road, there was a sizeable, pot-holed clearing that was muddy from yesterday's rain. A few makeshift dwellings occupied one side of this space, and faced immense, unbroken jungle at the other side. In front of one hut, a noisy old converted Volkswagen motor was grinding corn or coffee. The scene reminded me of frontier settlements in the Amazon region of Brazil that I had watched on TV. Until now, I had scarcely believed that such places really existed.

We stopped ...