This trip was conceived in my mind more than 16 years ago, when Dustin and I drove through the Chiapas region of Mexico (visiting Palenque) back in August of 1991.  Ever since then, and especially after Scott and I visited the Peten region of Guatemala (seeing Tikal) in 1992, I've wanted to travel overland between the two.  The lush rain forest, along with the indigenous Mayans and their ancient archeological sites make the area special.

My mode of transportation on this trip differed by light years from my earlier experiences.  As opposed to arriving via a 2-3 week drive from Oregon over sometimes washed out roads and split tree trunk bridges over ravines (one half of the split log for the drivers side wheels, and the other for the passenger side wheels), I arrived by Boeing 757.  The country of Guatemala is noticeably less militarized than back in 1992.  The government and rebels signed a peace accord more than a decade ago, ending the 36 year old civil war that killed an estimated 200,000 people.  Gone are the heavily armed military check points set up along random stretches of desolate roads.

My main impression upon arriving in Flores (the tourist Mecca near the ruins of Tikal) was how prosperous it seemed compared to 1992.  Tourists have obviously flocked to the area since the end of the civil war, bringing the infrastructure with them (more cobblestones and asphalt, less pot holes and dirt roads).  The town of Flores sits on a small island in Lago Peten.  It is compact, with lovely breezes wafting off of the lake, helping to cut down the stifling heat.  The narrow cobblestone alley ways were also a joy to aimlessly meaner.

The ruins at Tikal were as spectacular as I remember them, and joyfully free of the Greyhound sized tour busses plaguing popular Mayan sites in Mexico.  The lush rain forest surrounding the site (a protected area the size of New Jersey) is gorgeous.  The forest has a 200 foot canopy teaming with monkeys (I saw two different types), birds (I saw toucans, falcons, parrots, humming birds, along with countless other species), butterflies, tarantulas and crazy stripped ants, not to mention the 60 meter pyramids.  Truly stunning.  I wandered the site for six hours before the heat and humidity finally caught up with me, sending me back to the lake side breezes in Flores.

The following day I crossed the boarder between Guatemala and Mexico.  Anymore, most of my boarder crossings involve sterilized airports and impersonal customs officials . . . but the crossing between Bethel (Guatemala) and Frontera Corozal (Mexico) was a classic Latin American affair.  The boarder is defined by the Rio Usumacinta, and a 20 minute boat ride down river is the only way to get between the villages.  Floating down the scenic river gave me the impression of crossing a wild frontier.  It was great!  Tourist card filled out and passport formalities taken care of, I then headed into the Mexican state of Chiapas and toward the town of Palenque.  Chiapas has had a relatively recent bought with Zapatista insurgents, and thus there were several military check points along the way.

The next morning I took another boat ride (for about an hour) down the Rio Usumacinta to the ruins of Yaxchilan.  Like Tikal, towering ancient forest enveloped the site with chattering birds, howling monkeys and much needed shade.  The site also had a beautiful river side location.  Perhaps because the site is less visited, there were no "closed" areas, allowing a much closer inspection of the still visible paint on many of the carved stone steles.  I was also able to explore the labyrinth of corridors in one of the temples (using a head lamp I brought) much to the chagrin of the local bat population.  After coming home and downloading my photos I also noticed that the bats were not the only animal I shared the corridors with (huge spiders are visible in a photo I took in a small chamber).

After a boat ride back up the river I visited Bonampak, which had unbelievably well preserved frescos in one of its' temples.  They were amazingly colorful and detailed and I felt fortunate to be able to see them.  I couldn't help but think that viewing these murals will be closed to the public in the near future (like Pacal's tomb at Palenque as I was to later find out) because the heat and humidity from people have an impact on the delicate 1,300 year old paintings.

The following day I visited the ruins of Palenque.  Many times when I look back with nostalgia "in the rear view mirror" I have a tendency to look back wearing "rose colored glasses" (making my earlier experiences better than my present ones), but this was certainly not the case with Palenque.  In my 16+ year absence there had been extensive restoration work to the site, opening whole new areas to visitors.  There was also a fantastic new (to me) museum that had quite a few artifacts on display.  Although the site was more touristed than before (with Greyhound tour buses arriving around noon), and the Templo de las Inscripciones and Pacal's tomb were closed to the public, I feel that the site is actually better now.  I again wandered the grounds until the heat got the better of me, then headed back to my funky little backpacker hotel and then to Villahermosa (where I was to catch a flight home the next morning).

The bus ride to Villahermosa was typical of driving on Guatemalan/Mexican roads, with the the driver dodging  taxi's, dump trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, pigs, dogs, chickens and small children.  At one point a thunderstorm with buckets of rain surrounded us, with visible bolts of lightning striking a couple hundred yards from the bus (no lag time between flash of light and crack of thunder).

As we drove into Villahermosa it became apparent that it was a "working town" with a utilitarian ugliness, not a "tourist town".  That being said, I had a great time walking through the central out door pedestrian shopping district (near my hotel) where I was the only gringo to be seen.  I enjoyed one last Mexican meal at a restaurant with a view of the action and watched the world go by.  It was a nice way to finish the trip.

My advise would be to go.  Go see the ruins.  Go hike in the amazing rain forest.  Go see the unique wild life.  Go quick, before CAFTA changes things in Guatemala and Chiapas like NAFTA did in the rest of Mexico.

To see photos from the trip, click here for a gallery view, or here for a slideshow view.

To see an interactive map of the area, click here (click on the blue markers for information about a location).

Here's the trips theme song (2.1 mb).