By now we were in Guatemala to visit the famous ruins of Tikal.


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Built on a cliff overlooking the river, the city of Yaxchilán is only accessible by boat. The jungle is actively reclaiming the ruins. I felt that if I stood still for too long, plants would start growing on me!


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Palenque was a 9-hour bus ride from Mérida.  We stayed in a "hotel" that consisted of cabins in the jungle, actually quite nice.  I have wanted to visit this site since I first saw it in a movie our Spanish teacher showed us in 9th grade.  We used to bug subsequent Spanish teachers until they would let us see the movie again.  It's an Academy-Award ( Read more... )

Kabáh was a city as large and important as Uxmal.  Unfortunately, very little remains and the entire site can be seen in 20 minutes, more if you have a guide explaining it.


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On the third day of the trip, we went to Uxmal.  This site was one of the reasons I chose this trip.  To go here you have to really want to see it, not like the kind of casual tourist who might make it out to see Chichén Itzá.  I think the bus would take 6 hours from Cancún, but it was only an hour from Mérida where we were staying.

I should ( Read more... )

I have returned from my trip, maybe more tanned and definitely more exhausted.  Our tour kept us on the move!  I explored Mayan ruins, traversed jungles, explored caves, and finally got to snorkel along the barrier reef.

Our first stop was an appropriate beginning.  Chichén Itzá is the most visited of all the Mayan ruins.  It is an easy day trip ( Read more... )