Has anyone here visited Mayan ruins?

My wife and I are going to Belize/Guatemala/Mexico from late October to mid-November.

In addition to doing other stuff, including diving, we plan to visit Tikal in Guatemala, Altun Ha in belize, and Calakmul in Quintana Roo.

Does anyone else here have any first-hand experinece in Mayan ruins and cares to give any recommendations?

Thanks.

The only thing I've been blessed to see up to now has been Matchu Pitchu in Peru. My sister however went to Bolivia, Mexico and Peru a few years back on an archeology tour as a volunteer, together with people from the archeology group at the University of Leuven(she herself is a bio engineer and doctor from the same university).

Matchu has this magic around it for me, because its built in such a stunning scenery.

I've been planning to go to Mexico to visit some(if posible ALOT) of ruins and have been looking at alot of sites with info on them.

This site: mayaruins.com... with a Yucatan map here: mayaruins.com...

has alot of pictures, maps and nice tourisme and other info about pritty much all the known sites there.

Might want to check it out.

Thanks for the links, matrix; I will go check them out.

My brother visited Macchu Pichu about eight or ten years ago, and was overwhelmed by it.

However, my wife is a pretty hard-core scuba diver, and she likes tropics. She's done some diving, including cave diving and night diving, in Cancun, but Belize and guatemala are going to be the first for both of us. We're also going to go to Teotihuacan north of Mexico City, but that's a Toltec, not a Mayan, ruin.

I spent two awesome weeks in Guatemala last year.

Visited Tikal.

I recommend staying overnight at one of only two hotels in the UNESCO park. You take a plane from Guatemal City (a 20 seater! ) to a small regional airport then a 2 hour bus ride into the heart of the park.

I stayed at the more "expensive" place but it was REALLY cheap for a Canadian.

If you do this you get to watch the sunset from the top of one of the pyramids and walk back throught the site to your hut at dusk in a tropical forest with all of the sounds (howler monkeys, birds, jaguars etc.) eminating from the darkening surroundings. I walked quickly!

After supper at a round 10 pm the electricity is turned off and I swear that in your room you cannot see your hand in front of youre face it is so dark and you can hear the jungle alive around you. WOW!!!!

I woke up around 2 am hearing something splashing around in the swimming pool just outside our huts and something scrapping around on the roof. I was too chicken to open the door and see what was in the pool.

and oh yeah the night sky in an area with no electricity for like a two hour drive on all sides is awesome!

I envy your trip! I will definitely be back to South America.

EDIT: PS: for diving I recommend Lago de Atitlan and staying at least one night at the La Iguanna Perdita in the small village of Sant Cruz around the lake. You get a good view of the three surrounding volcanos and the ancient crater lago de atitlan.

I also recommend getting the "Lonely Planet: Guatemala" if you have not already done so.

[edit on 9/11/2004 by Gools]

Gools, thank you; that is exactly what I was looking for!

Actually, my wife and I will be coming to Tikal from Belize; our first week there, we'll be staying at a place called Coco Plum Cay, and that's where we'll be doing our scuba diving. But I will spend the night at the "better" of the two UNESCO hotels and will follow your plan!

Thanks again for the great info!

Never been, But plan to do so in a few years!

I visited Chichen Itza last December - it was quite spectacular. I enjoyed the human sacrifice pond, the observatory, the ball court, and of course, El Castillo.

During the summer solstice, El Castillo casts the shadow of a serpent. It was designed this way.
Equinox at El Castillo in Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza Features

I really want to visit Palenque next.

Zip

I so envy all you world travelling jetsetters. I would be so worried right now about being a "gringo" that I would not enjoy the travel even if I could go.

Take pictures! Take pictures!!! Do a travel blog!

We haven't gone yet, but I want to. We're planning on being there for December, 2012.

I will do beaucoup pictures, never fear. When I went to Japan on business, I'd just got a digital camera and managed to get some pretty good shots ( members7.clubphoto.com... ) This time I'm ready, except that I don't have an underwater camera. I'm thinking of renting a Nikonos, but I don't know how much they are....

This past summer me and my girlfriend went on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and while we were there we went to the Ruins of Talum, and WOW what a site. It was truely like i drifted back centuries. Our tour guide was actually a decendent of the peoples from Talum. And aside from the ruins the beach there was something off of the Travel channels best beaches. What a beautiful place. I could post some pics.

Go for it! I'll post some picks of Chichen Itza a little later, probably tomorrow... Need to reduce their filesize. Our guide wasn't a Mayan, but there was a guy selling Mayan birthsign necklaces who was... Our guide told us that we could identify Mayans as being really short with big round noses and reddish coloured skin.

Zip

YEah our guide said they stood no higher than 4 foot and some inches were very dark and did have fairly rounded noses. It was really cool.
I saw the birthsign necklaces at a stop before we got there. We also had books made from the paper they used and it had signs and symbols and their writing on a specific date. Namey my b-day. It was really awesome.

Ill have some pics up very soon have to upload them.

I'm looking forward to seeing these pictures!

Last year, my wife went, with a bunch of other RNs, to a "nursing seminar" at Cancun (of course it wasn't really, it was just so that they could take a tax writeoff).

I'd always been fascinated by Mayan ruins; I'd seen other cultures' ruins, including Aztec, Toltec, and even Ponapean -- but Mayans are the real thing, Jim. Anyway, I told her to check out some and we'd go out there together next year (2004). She went to Chichen Itza with a couple of her colleagues, but spent the rest of the time scuba diving. Anyway, this upcoming trip will be scuba the first week and archaeology the second -- if the sharks or the bends don't get us first!

I'm looking forward to seeing these pictures!

Last year, my wife went, with a bunch of other RNs, to a "nursing seminar" at Cancun (of course it wasn't really, it was just so that they could take a tax writeoff).

I'd always been fascinated by Mayan ruins; I'd seen other cultures' ruins, including Aztec, Toltec, and even Ponapean -- but Mayans are the real thing, Jim. Anyway, I told her to check out some and we'd go out there together next year (2004). She went to Chichen Itza with a couple of her colleagues, but spent the rest of the time scuba diving. Anyway, this upcoming trip will be scuba the first week and archaeology the second -- if the sharks or the bends don't get us first!

www.uploadyourimages.com...
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Digital camera wasnt working that great. But image linking is not working at this site. Maybe later ill be able to get one that works.

Tell me if the links dont work.

If you are going to be in Mexico Do not forget to go to Tulum and the Hidden Worlds Cenotes (going up from Belize (going north).




MAYAN RUINS ARE SIMPLE UNBELIEBABLE


Can Cun Beaches are world famous...spend a day there on your way to chichenItza



In Chichen Itza there is a town called Paste that has a nearby Cenote calle mun ki or something like that is AMAZING and you can swim there!!!

Also tehre is a place called Xel -HA is like a water park with mayan ruins NEARBY tulum and it has reefs and diving equipment is full of colored fish SIMPLY AMAZING.

if you need more info please ask...

And don't forget to visit the local Wal-mart while you're there too...

Rule #1- if you are going to buy anything, always haggle with the vendors. A good trick is if you see something you like, start haggling. Make an outrageously low offer (remember, they want your currency). When they start trying to up your offered price, adopt a blank facial expression and turn to walk away. They'll come down really fast if they want to make the sale.

Don't be afraid to wander away from the tour group and have some time for yourself. Often these sites are placed on important energy points around the earth- "coincidences" seem to be much more common. For instance, the last time I spent time in Mexico, I went to Chichen Itza. The tour was very informative, but there was something pulling me away from it. I engaged in focused meditation at the top of the pyramid, and during the visualization I kept imagining a reptile. I opened my eyes and walked around the top, and just as I was about to walk down the steps,there was an iguana sitting at the top of the stairs, looking at me. This wouldn't be so surprising except for the fact that it was the only reptile I saw that day. This experience has entirely changed my perspective- and I wouldn't have had it if I wasn't open to having it!

MK

i went to a place named teotiucan (i dontknow how to spell it) it mexico . it kinda freaked me out.