El Reino Kan – In the Kingdom of the Snake - El Mirador

In my youth I have been fascinated by the adventures of a fictitious university professor and his quests for mythical artefacts in remote corners of the globe. Indiana Jones made the (mostly) boring job of an archaeologist look as sexy as a Victoria’s Secret photo shoot. As a child, my parents would take me to forgotten ruins of medieval knights, the biblical sites of ancient Israel or the majestic remnants of the Roman Empire, but when I first ventured to Central America in 2002 I was stunned by the beauty and mysticism that surround the lost cities of the Mayas. Dodging poisoned arrow traps and running from giant stone balls I explored Palenque, Chichen Itza, Tulum and Tikal, the latter having certainly been an absolute highlight.

Back in 2002 only a handful of specialized archaeologists and local chicle gatherers knew of the existence of a site set deep in the Guatemaltecan jungle, a city dwarfing all other Maya cities in magnitude and importance. El Mirador, named for the view you have from the top of is massive pyramids in an otherwise flat landscape, was the centrepiece of an influential Mayan kingdom – El Reino Kan, the Kingdom of the Snake.

Back in 2002 I had no idea of its existence and if I’d had I probably wouldn’t have had time to explore it. It takes a 5-day jungle expedition to explore the site. And when I heard of it in 2003 when major excavations took place (before you’d probably only have seen forested hills) it has always been a dream of mine to return to Guatemala and feel like Indiana Jones again. That dream came through in March 2017.

Arriving in Flores, the island town serving as the gateway to Tikal, we shopped around the various tour agencies for a reliable guide. Although we had some cheap offers we settled for the (in my eyes) best choice, the Cooperativa La Carmelita. These guys and girls represent the village closest to the site, they maintain the paths in their former chicle territory, they have the best knowledge of the area.

We set out early to catch the first of only two busses that run to Carmelita. The beat up 60s Mercedes Bus took us in a bumpy 4-hour ride over unpaved roads through dry farmland to the end of the road at Carmelita. From here it would be a roughly 50km walk through dry jungle to El Mirador itself. In the bus we also met our group who would turn out to be a hilariously funny and lovable bunch. Two Dutch, an American, a Brit, an Austrian, a German and our local guides. While we had an early lunch our guides would prepare the mules and off we went to the first camp at another Mayan city called el Tintal.

Hiking proved to be easier than we had expected. Although it was incredibly hot, the path was well visible and the terrain mostly flat. We had packed lightly and because the mules carried our food the water bottles were the heaviest we had to carry. With just a short break for a small snack we arrived early at the first camp where cold showers waited for us. There are no streams or other sources of water (except for our sweating bodies) on the way. After a simple but delicious dinner we explored the site and climbed the highest temple to watch a superb sunset in an almost cloudless sky.

On the second day we had a far longer stretch to walk so we started early. Walking mostly on acient Maya walkways we passed a number of Mayan structures that are otherwise unintelligible for the untrained eye. Thanks to my university seminaries in medieval archaeology I spooted  some unusual small hills that seemed to me out of place. Our guide confirmed and although he was eager to keep us at a steady pace he paused to show us how the structures were built using limestone and concrete-like clay. Unfortunately, you can also see wild tunnels leading to the structures, remnants of graverobbers who would dig illegally in order to find artefacts. Ceramics bearing the name of ancient rulers can make you up to half a million Dollars on the black market.

Although there is nothing but monotonous jungle, every now and then interrupted by a group of spider monkeys or small deer, you can get a sense of this highly dynamic cultural landscape when you walk with an open eye (and/or a good guide). What seems like an inhospitable hot and dry forest was once a centre of Mayan civilization with a highly sophisticated system of irrigation. There had been fields, villages, roads, canals and military encampments everywhere providing for a population of more than a million. Now, there’s nothing.

Tired and exhausted we finished our second stretch, finally arriving at El Mirador. We entered some outlying temples and finally our guide revealed to us that he had been part of the 2003 excavation team when we came upon a massive inscription that revealed a good deal of the city’s history and significance as the capital of the rulers of the Snake, a motif that would follow us all over the place.

When we arrived at our camp there was massive excitement. A helicopter had landed and we asked the pilot if he could bring us a bottle of whiskey when he would come back the next day, to which he agreed. And, first and foremost, we wanted to see El Mirador’s highlight, the 72m high pyramid of La Danta, the highest structure of ancient America and maybe the highest pyramid in the world. Although we would see it the other day, me and the other German guy set out straight to watch the sunset from the pyramd’s top. Our guide joined us being afraid of us getting lost in the forest and really, it turned out to be a 30 minute march to reach it from the camp in the city’s central acropolis, a reminder of the magnitude of this megapolis. Climbing over steep and withered stairs we made it to the top and were rewarded with oe of the best views imaginable. Into every direction you could only see endless jungle in a 360 degree view. With a binocular you could see the jungle covered pyramids of other Maya cities that beg for excavation. The sunset had the wow-factor every traveller is looking for, undisturbed by any signs of civilization with birds whooping over your head and the T-Rex-like groans of the howler monkeys. Bam!

I could go on describing El Mirador forever – the astronomic observatory, the smaller and bigger pyramids with their symmetrical and astronomical orientation, the artificial pools and basins, the paved roads, the impressive decorations and elaborate carvings, the acropolis and its holy sites, the city walls and its sheer size and so on and so on. I must say I was thrilled although a pessimist would say that 90% of the place is just jungle with millions of spiders. True! Only 10% is excavated. But what I experienced was the Indiana Jones within me – minus the death traps , mummies and rolling stone balls but with a deeper understanding of the complexity of Maya society and culture, its achievements, its cruelty, its mysticism. Never mind the blisters that plagued on the two days of marching back,never mind the pilot who did not retur but took our money,  never mind the heat and the mosquitoes and the spiders. What an experience with awesome people in an awesome place!