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Villa Luz
The beautiful jungle park Villa Luz is a five-minute boat ride (two/three people round-trip M$70/100) along the Río Oxolotán from the village embarcadero (boat landing) – you may have to get local boys to whistle a boat up for you. From the landing, it’s a 1km walk to the park’s Ca
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La Ciudadela
This expansive, square complex is believed to have been the residence of the city’s supreme ruler. Four wide walls topped by 15 pyramids enclose a huge open space, with a major pyramid, the Templo de Quetzalcóatl , built around AD 250, to the east. Rooms here may have been the city
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Museo de la Cultura Maya
The Museo de la Cultura Maya is the city’s claim to cultural fame – a bold showpiece beautifully conceived and executed, though regrettably short on artifacts. It’s organized into three levels, mirroring Maya cosmology. The main floor represents this world; the upper floor the heav
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Palenque Northeastern Groups
East of the Grupo Norte, the main path crosses Arroyo Otolum. Some 70m beyond the stream, a right fork will take you to Grupo C , a set of jungle-covered buildings and plazas thought to have been lived in from about AD 750 to 800. If you stay on the main path, you’ll descend some s
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Dzibilnocac
Though it only has one significant structure, Dzibilnocac possesses an eerie grandeur that merits a visit. Unlike the many hilltop sites chosen for Chenes structures, Dzibilnocac (‘big painted turtle’ is one translation) is on a flat plain, like a large open park. As Stephens and C
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Museo de la Amistad México
Completely refurbished in 2014, the Mexican-Cuban Friendship Museum is filled with displays on José Martí, pictures of Che Guevara and Castro, and other memorabilia. To get to the museum, take a boat (M$5) across the river from the quay near the ADO bus station, walk several blocks
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Sima de las Cotorras
The Sima de las Cotorras is a dramatic 160m-wide sinkhole that punches 140m down into the earth. At sunrise, a green cloud of screeching parrots spirals out for the day, trickling back before dusk. With binoculars you can see a series of red pre-Hispanic rock paintings that decorat
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Kohunlich
This archaeological site sits on a carpeted green. The ruins, dating from both the late pre-Classic (AD 100–200) and the early Classic (AD 300–600) periods, are famous for the great Templo de los Mascarones (Temple of the Masks), a pyramid-like structure with a central stairway fla
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Banco Chinchorro
Divers won’t want to miss the reefs and underwater fantasy worlds of the Banco Chinchorro, the largest coral atoll in the northern hemisphere. Some 45km long and up to 14km wide, Chinchorro’s western edge lies about 30km off the coast, and dozens of ships have fallen victim to its
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Grutas de Loltún
One of the largest dry-cave systems on the Yucatán Peninsula, Loltún (stone flower in Maya) provided a treasure trove of data for archaeologists studying the Maya. Carbon dating of artifacts found here reveals that the caves were used by humans 2200 years ago. Chest-high murals of
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Ancient Mitla
Mitlas ancient buildings are thought to have been reserved for specific occupants – one group for the high priest, one for the king and so forth. Visitors usually just see the two main groups in the town: the Grupo de las Columnas (Group of the Columns) in front of the three-domed
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Mina El Edén
Visiting one of Mexicos richest mines (1586−1960s) provides an insight into source of wealth and the terrible price paid for it. Digging for hoards of silver, gold, iron, copper and zinc, enslaved indigenous people worked under horrific conditions. Up to five people a day died from
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Hacienda Real de Salinas
This abandoned hacienda a few kilometers south and east of town once produced dyewood and salt, and served as a summer home for a Campeche family. It’s 5km in from the mouth of the estuary. Out in the ría (estuary) you can see a cairn marking an ojo de agua dulce (freshwater spring
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Gran Juego de Pelota
The great ball court, the largest and most impressive in Mexico, is only one of the city’s eight courts, indicative of the importance the games held here. The court, to the left of the visitors center, is flanked by temples at either end and is bounded by towering parallel walls wi
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Templo de las Inscripciones
Perhaps the most celebrated burial monument in the Americas, this is the tallest and most stately of Palenque’s buildings. Constructed on eight levels, the Templo de las Inscripciones has a central front staircase rising 25m to a series of small rooms. The tall roofcomb that once c
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El Tajín Chico
The path north toward Plaza El Tajín Chico passes the Juego de Pelota Norte (Northern Ball Court), which is smaller and older than the southern court and bears fainter carvings on its sides.El Tajín Chico was the government area of the ancient city and would have been home to the r
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Beaches
The best beaches for swimming are along the road to Cabo San Lucas. Playa Santa María at Km 13 is one of the nicest beaches in Los Cabos.
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Ek Balam
The fascinating ruined city of Ek Balam reached its peak in the 8th century, before being suddenly abandoned. Vegetation still covers much of the archaeological site, but excavations and restoration continue to add to the sights, including an interesting ziggurat-like structure nea
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Grutas de Calcehtok
The Calcehtok caves, aka Grutas de XPukil, are said to comprise the longest dry-cave system on the Yucatán Peninsula. More than 4km have been explored so far, and two of the caves’ 25 vaults exceed 100m in diameter (one has a 30m-high ‘cupola’). The caves hold abundant and impressi
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Balamkú
‘Discovered’ only in 1990, Balamkú boasts a remarkably ornate, stuccoed frieze that bears little resemblance to any of the known decorative elements in the Chenes or Río Bec styles. Well preserved, with traces of its original red paint, the frieze is a richly symbolic tableau that
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