Kabah, Sayil and Labna (Puuc Route)

A Chain Of Puuc Style Maya Sites On The Hill Road South Of Uxmal: Kabah With A Wall Of Hundreds Of Chac Rain God Masks, Sayil With A Great Three Storey Palace, Xlapak And Labna With Its Arch And The Mask Temple. Quiet, Shaded And Often Empty, A Yucatan Day Out Reached By Car, And Usually Combined With Uxmal · Santa Elena, Yucatán

The Puuc Route is a short chain of Maya ruins in the low Puuc hills along Highway 261, south of Uxmal. Kabah, about 25 km from Uxmal, is known for the Codz Poop, a long wall covered in hundreds of hook-nosed masks of Chac, the rain god. Sayil, a few kilometres on, has a great three-storey palace with rows of columns. Xlapak is a small ruin with a mask facade, and Labna has a free-standing arch and the Mask Temple, the best known picture on the route. The sites are quiet, shaded by scrubby forest and often empty, and each is small enough to see in about an hour. You need a car, a taxi or a tour, because buses are rare. It suits people who already plan to visit Uxmal and want more Maya architecture without crowds, and it is worth a full day for that. It is not worth the trip in the heat of midday, or if one ruin is enough, when Uxmal alone will do. Grutas de Loltun, a big cave, lies further east and needs its own half day.

Kabah, Sayil, Xlapak and Labna, the Puuc hills ruins along Highway 261 south of Uxmal, about 25 to 45 km from Uxmal; coordinates approximate, Santa Elena, Yucatán, Mexico

Each site is usually open daily from about 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon, with last entry earlier, but confirm times locally because they shift. Entry is NOT free: each site charges a small fee, commonly MXN 60-100, roughly USD 3-6, and Mexican nationals and children often pay less or nothing. Parking is usually free or very cheap. Nothing on the route is free to enter except the road. Some small sites may be CLOSED on a given day without notice after rain or for repairs, so ask at the first gate and keep to the morning.

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