Fall 1995

For Tikal and Lamanai a 4WD is not necessary. Specially for the latter,
I recommend you the boat trip along the river in the middle of the
jungle from Orange Walk.  Palenque is wonderful, I prefer it during
the sunset after all the buses left. In the morning the shadows are
not very good for photopraphs.

The most rewarding trip is probably to Yaxchilan, a mayan site on the
river that separates Mexico and Guatemala. Wake up early if you stay
in Palenque and drive south on the way to Aqua Azul. Before you arrive,
a paved road (there is a stone sign with the distances of some
irrelevant towns, but the big numbers indicate that the road goes on
for several hundred kilometers --there is only one road).  There are
pass controls all along the way (between 3-7 each direction), so bring
your pass with you. Then at the last control you turn left on an
unpaved road (a 4WD can be useful after a rain).  When you arrive to
the indian village, they will tell you where to park the car, and then
they will ask you ridiculous prices to bring you by boat to the site.
If you are a group of 4-5 people it is OK (around 500 pesos), otherwise
wait till more people come (I had to wait for no more than 5 mins, and
I was lucky because 3 Mexicans came and negotiated the price with the
Indian, so we paid only 300 pesos altogether) and then you can all
charter one boat.

The trip by the river is the first highlight. Crocodiles around,
beautiful Guatemalan villages on the right side, dense vegetation.
After 1 hour you have to climb to the site (there are "stairs").
It is huge.

The best part after the ballcourt is the palace on the top of a hill,
and behind it there are 3 temples in the jungle, from the top of which
you can view the whole area to Guatemala --you will need a guide to
bring you there.

If you have more time, you can continue further south to visit a few
Indian villages, people are friendly and you can sleep with them --
do not expect any comforts though.

Bonampak is another interesting site on the way to Yaxchilan. It
involves 10 kms walk though, which is pure mud after a rain.

If you are into rafting, you can negotiate the river north to Piedras
Negras.  Not much to see there, but the trip is exciting. Since you
have a car you can do this trip from Tenosique.

The second best place in Yucatan is the area around Xpujil and Rio Bec,
which is full of Mayan sites. On the main road you have Chicana, Becan
and Xpujil, while 3 hours south by 4WD there is Rio Bec. If you decide
to see Rio Bec you have to ask for a guide at Xpujil, or (the easiest)
ask the guard of the Becan site to bring you there.

After this, on the way to Chetumal do not miss Kohunlich with probably
the most photogenic vegetation in the whole Yucatan in a Mayan site.

Going north, Coba is beautiful, especially in the sunset.

If you stay by the coast, Tulum is probably the best choice: you can
visit the site in the night (if it is full moon!), and there is some
great scuba diving around with wrecked boats.

Then there is the Puuc route south of Merida where the one site comes
after the other within 15 minutes, very elegant sites.

Uxmal is something you shouldn't miss --try it either very early or
late, it is too busy with tourists.

If you decide to go to Tikal, my recomendation is to go by plane and
stay overnight in Flores. The road is not very safe if you do it
alone, it is probably better to follow a tour bus --the guerillas
stopped the bus but let us go (we rented the car in Flores). You can
fly to it from Belize City, Chetumal or Cancun.

Philip Santas
santas@inf.ethz.ch