Itinerary

Day 1

At the crack of dawn you'll depart from Palenque. Bring your passport because you're close to the Guatemalan border and will pass two military checkpoints on the way. After an hour you'll arrive in a makeshift roadside restaurant where a breakfast buffet laid out for you. After a freshly baked omelette and fresh fruit salad you'll continue on to Corozal where a colourful longboat will take you across the wide Uscumacinta river to Yaxchilan.You can see local children playing along the river banks and elegant, white ibises diving for fish.
Unlike Palenque, the Mayan built Yaxchilan on the river. This is why you'll find a lot of wildlife living among the ruins. On your walk through the ancient ruins bats flutter around you and toucans, woodpeckers, parrots and howler monkeys make their presence known in the jungle canopy overhead. The inscriptions tell us that women played an important role here, something you won't see at other Mayan ruins. Apparently the Yaxchilians were liberal for their time.After a couple of hours exploring the ruins, the boat trip continues on to a border village along the river where you can enjoy some local vegetable soup. After lunch it's a short drive to the next stop where you'll switch minibus. Our bus isn't allowed to travel any further as you are now entering the sacred land of the Lacandon indians.Passing under an archway of overgrown trees at the entrance you reach a large clearing in the forest. This is Bonampak.The temples themselves don't seem very spectacular but in the temple chambers you'll find beautiful fresco paintings portraying the life of the Mayans. The murals have been astonishingly well-preserved after all these centuries.The first chamber displays the exuberance of the elite in that time, the second chamber depicts the bloody war against an unknown enemy and the barbaric torture of captured warriors. The last chamber shows that even the royals couldn't escape the ritual sacrifice to maintain their claim to the throne.Several royal limbs were perforated in ritual blood sacrifice to the almighty gods.After Bonampak you will be taken back to Palenque where you'll arrive back at your jungle bungalow around 7pm.

Day 2

Your night in Palenque marks the end of this tour. From here you can travel on to San Cristonal de las Casas, Guatemala or the Yucatan peninsula.

Extra Information

Inclusions -

One night in Palenque, all transport, meals as described, admission to ruins Bonampak and Yaxchilan.