4 ms·

How expensive could it be to go look in person?

by lancefisher 10y ago

sp332 10y ago
It's in the middle of a huge forest. It would be very difficult to travel there.
- elif 10y ago
  This is 114 miles from Ciudad del Carmen, out of which 4 helicopter charter companies fly. Commercial helicopters have a range of up to around 330 miles. All you'd need is about $2000 and a 100ft rope. EDIT: Flores is even closer, at 72 miles.
  - ryan_j_naughton 10y ago
    You are imagining that you get under the canopy and magically a city in ruins appears. Instead, it is so entirely overgrown with a thousand years of vegetation, that it is difficult to spot the difference between a hill and a temple. I was in tikal recently (drove from Flores, as you pointed out), and it was astounding to compare the parts they have excavated and restored to the rest. You would see hundreds of small hills and know that under each is an undiscovered building! Had it not been for the escavated parts, I wouldn't have even realized the hills were anything else. As a parallel, under parts of Guatemala city (far to the south in the highlands) there are the remains of a Mayan city from pre-classical to early classical. The center of which is under a high end shopping mall. There are similar hills there covered in grass in a nice lark. I have laid on hills like this throughout the city without really realizing there were ancient buildings underneath. Thus, there is a good rule in the capital. If there is a big, grassy hill, it is probably because there are ruins underneath. The government prevents people from developing that land, but no one has the money to excavate. Thus they stay entombed, waiting for future grad students and funding.
    - codingdave 10y ago
      Maybe getting into the canopy is not practical, but if the whole premise was that it was spotted via a satellite photo, surely someone in a helicopter can at least fly over and say confirm whether or not it is worth a closer look.
      - scrumper 10y ago
        Helicopter-mounted ground penetrating radar perhaps.
    - refurb 10y ago
      This is a great point. Borobrudur was a massive Buddhist temple from the 9th century built in Indonesia. It was "rediscovered" in 1814. The temple was 115 ft high, but after the surrounding vegetation overgrew it, it just looked like a hill.[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur
  - justin66 10y ago
    > Commercial helicopters have a range of up to around 330 miles. All you'd need is about $2000 and a 100ft rope. How many people who don't wear a uniform use a 100ft rope to enter or exit a jungle canopy if they aren't in immediate fear for their life? You're underplaying the logistical difficulty.

How expensive could it be to go look in person?

sp332 10y ago

It's in the middle of a huge forest. It would be very difficult to travel there.

elif 10y ago
This is 114 miles from Ciudad del Carmen, out of which 4 helicopter charter companies fly. Commercial helicopters have a range of up to around 330 miles. All you'd need is about $2000 and a 100ft rope. EDIT: Flores is even closer, at 72 miles.
- ryan_j_naughton 10y ago
  You are imagining that you get under the canopy and magically a city in ruins appears. Instead, it is so entirely overgrown with a thousand years of vegetation, that it is difficult to spot the difference between a hill and a temple. I was in tikal recently (drove from Flores, as you pointed out), and it was astounding to compare the parts they have excavated and restored to the rest. You would see hundreds of small hills and know that under each is an undiscovered building! Had it not been for the escavated parts, I wouldn't have even realized the hills were anything else. As a parallel, under parts of Guatemala city (far to the south in the highlands) there are the remains of a Mayan city from pre-classical to early classical. The center of which is under a high end shopping mall. There are similar hills there covered in grass in a nice lark. I have laid on hills like this throughout the city without really realizing there were ancient buildings underneath. Thus, there is a good rule in the capital. If there is a big, grassy hill, it is probably because there are ruins underneath. The government prevents people from developing that land, but no one has the money to excavate. Thus they stay entombed, waiting for future grad students and funding.
  - codingdave 10y ago
    Maybe getting into the canopy is not practical, but if the whole premise was that it was spotted via a satellite photo, surely someone in a helicopter can at least fly over and say confirm whether or not it is worth a closer look.
    - scrumper 10y ago
      Helicopter-mounted ground penetrating radar perhaps.
  - refurb 10y ago
    This is a great point. Borobrudur was a massive Buddhist temple from the 9th century built in Indonesia. It was "rediscovered" in 1814. The temple was 115 ft high, but after the surrounding vegetation overgrew it, it just looked like a hill.[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borobudur
- justin66 10y ago
  > Commercial helicopters have a range of up to around 330 miles. All you'd need is about $2000 and a 100ft rope. How many people who don't wear a uniform use a 100ft rope to enter or exit a jungle canopy if they aren't in immediate fear for their life? You're underplaying the logistical difficulty.