Tikal excursion is worth effort, cost

The ruins of Tikal, a Unesco World Heritage site deep in the jungle of Guatemala, are a lifetime checklist item for many travelers. But the location is remote, and for cruise travelers arriving at Puerto Quetzal on the country's Pacific coast, it takes a two-and-a-half-hour trip inland by bus and plane to get there.

The cost is steep, as well. My Tikal Expedition by Air tour, offered on a recent 14-day cruise aboard the Azamara Journey, was priced at $699 per person.

So what's so wonderful about Tikal that makes it worth the trouble and expense of getting there?

The Mayan civilization thrived between 800 B.C. and 1000 on the site, which was a commercial capital of sorts. After building temples as tall as 20 stories in the ninth century the Mayan population declined, and the site was abandoned to the rain forest, only to be rediscovered in the 1850s.

the source - travelweekly