N10-43 The High Temple

The High Temple is well named. Standing at 33 meters in height, it is a solid block of stone that towers above the surrounding jungle. And is one of the largest pre-classic structures in the Mayan area.

Construction on the temple began in the year 100BC, and even when complete, three revisions and additions on top of the original structure were undertaken throughout the following hundreds of years. It is an awe inspiring site, especially when I asked how it was built (it really is SOLID) and learned that although the Mayans knew of the wheel, they had no beast of burden and never used wheels to help them in any practical way. It is therefor believed that the entire structure was built by the local Mayans as a labour of love - built by hand.

We were permitted to climb the high temple which our guide describes as "Physical going up, psychological coming down" since the steps are built on a near vertical, so going up you are basically climbing with hands and feet, while going down you are staring straight at the ground below. There was also the heat to deal with, while on the ground in the shade it was a cool 90 degrees, up above the trees on the temple it was a scorching 110 - so after the climb you were literally dripping with sweat.

The view from the top is worth every drop though. The jungle stretches out as far as you can see - with small rises visible throughout the surrounding area where other as yet uncovered sites remain hidden.

It was also interesting that while standing on the ground, you can hear conversations taking place on the top of the structure clearly - making it easy to imagine a Mayan priest standing atop the temple preaching to the crowd below during a sacrificial ceremony.