Unique Places in Estado de Chiapas

Yaxchila may not be one of the more important sites of Mayan culture, neither as big as others. But there is something about the place that makes it special. It can be reached only by boat (or airplane for those who can afford it). The one hour irde is already adventure for itself. And once you get to the site, you almost have the feeling being the first person in many centuries to walk around the ruins of once important mayan town. And every step you take will be observed by a howler monkey family high on the trees.

My Yaxchilan Page

From Palenque, I took a tour into the Lancandon jungle. The jungle excursion from Palenque was awesome! I ventured into the Lancandon jungle with the aid of a tour since the area is not that secure. We were escorted by the 'federales' (police) all the way. During the two days, we visited three Mayan sites and the Lancandon jungle. The first site, Bonampak had impressive steles and Mayan murals in near perfect condition. The second site we visited, Yaxchilan, was engulfed within a jungle. This has to be the best Mayan site I’ve seen so far (well, just went to Tikal, Guatemala today, so Yaxchilan is now the second best... lol). Yaxchilan is not the best in buildings perhaps, but there is something about visiting a Mayan ruins that is the home of a family of howler monkeys. I almost felt like I was in Africa among gorillas for a second there :}. That night we slept on a simple cabin in the Lancandon jungle. The next day we venture into the jungle with a guide. Our guide took us on a 5 hr circuit that included the small Mayan temple of Lacanja. Try to take this tour! This trip is a wonderful chance of visiting an often missed region of Chiapas. Shop around the various companies to obtain the best price. As always, bargain, bargain, bargain! For additional information, check out my Palenque page, my Bonampak page, and my Yaxchilan page. Note, all of this tips would have made up my Selva Lancandon page, but there was no location for it so excuse the repetition.

We did a short hike into the jungle that day. Afterwards, we swam in the small stream. The main jungle trek occurred the following day. We started the trek into the jungle in the morning. Our guide was the 26 y/o sister of the owner of the hostel (by the looks of the pic and of her you will think she was a young girl). After 2 hours we arrived at the Templo de Lacanja, a small temple atop a hill (pyramid). It's amazing the way the forest, including a huge tree grew on top of the temple. We proceeded back to the falls, but they were charging us to go down so we decided not to go in (under Mexican law the region is free for everyone so don't fall into the scam). We walked back to the cabañas to relax and swim.

A van picked us up at Fronterra Corozal and dropped us up at las cabañas, where we will spend the night within in the Lancandon jungle. Let me tell you, after a full day of traveling, the peace and quite of the cabañas made for an excellent sleep.

I wasn't prepared for the beauty and splendor found in Yaxchilan. This was one of the large Mayan settlements in the region. The jungle has engulfed the ruins over the centuries to a point were the jungle becomes the ruins. At the entrance to the Grand Palace, we enjoyed an orchestra of Howling Monkeys, which never stopped throughout our visit. I guess we were intruding on their home :). The sound was so unique that one almost feared the thought of coming face to face with one of the monkeys. We spent 2 hours touring the ruins, and then we went back by boat to the town of Fronterra Corozal.

We then took a boat ride to Yaxchilan along Rio Usumantista. Similarly to the Rio Bravo border in the north Mexico and the USA, this river serves as the border between southern Mexico and Guatemala. The boat ride takes about 45 minutes from the town of Fronterra Corozal.

Bonampak is monopolized by the Lancandon Indians, so expect a high entry fee (they even force you to take their vehicles the last couple kilometers of the road used to access the ruins). The sight is amazing. The steles are so well preserved, clearly beyond belief. There are three rooms with some of the best murals I’ve seen. The certainly are one of the best preserve Mayan art available today and probably one of the best preserve Meso-American art as well.

The tour was escorted by the "federales" (federal police) truck and the "angeles verdes" (green angle truck that offers assistance to vehicles on the road). I'd advice you to take the tour since there seems to be ongoing conflicts in this region.