Its not often while traveling that you can really let your Geek Self out. But at the top of Temple IV in Tikal, Guatemala I had that opportunity to Geek Out with other Star Wars fans. You see, a very short scene from the original Star Wars (A New Hope) was shot at the top of this temple in Tikal to show the Millennium Falcon landing at the rebel base on the 4th moon of Yavin. Temples I, II, and III are seen off in the distance.
Yavin 4 (Tikal) in Star Wars A New Hope
I had opted not to climb other temples because I had previously sprained both ankles a few days earlier in the trip, and each stone block was HUGE. I almost didn’t climb Temple IV because it was so hot, and the wooden stairway was missing a step here or there. But after watching the group head up, I decided to see how far I could go. And boy am I glad! I hadn’t realized which temple it was that I was climbing, but as soon as I got to the top, I knew instantly where I was!
Corny Tourist Shot
Earlier our guide was saying that the scene from Tikal was in Return of the Jedi, but I knew that was wrong. While I was on the top I overheard some girls debating which movie actually featured Tikal. I meekly said “It was A New Hope” and then the other girls looked up, smiled and we all started talking all at once about Star Wars. ‘
After a lovely conversation I just looked out over the jungle towards the other temples. Beyond the tops peaking out, the jungle seemed to go on forever.
The jungle goes on forever.
Travel Missteps is an every-other week series on how sometimes part of the journey is making mistakes and getting lost.
(And yes I know I switched up the schedule, next week will be Museum Monday. Why because today is a STAR WARS DAY and so I had to switch this post to day.)
Leave a Reply