Yaxchilán and Bonampak
Zonas ArqueolóGicas (INAH) / Selva Lacandona · Ocosingo, Chiapas
Two Classic Maya cities in the Lacandon rainforest of Chiapas on the Guatemalan border. The only way into Yaxchilan is by boat: forty minutes or so down the Usumacinta in a long launch from Frontera Corozal, with Guatemala on the far bank, crocodiles on the sandbars and howler monkeys in the canopy. Its carved lintels are among the finest Maya sculpture anywhere, and the most famous, showing Lady Xoc drawing a thorned rope through her tongue, is in the British Museum. Bonampak, about thirty kilometres away, has three painted rooms holding the most complete Maya murals ever found, a battle, the display of captives and a victory feast painted around 790 and still in colour. These are remote, hot and humid places that reward an early start, a night at a Lacandon community lodge and a guide. Chiapas roads can be closed by blockades and the border road has checkpoints, so check current state travel advice and travel by day. Few sites in Mexico feel as far from the tour circuit.
Frontera Corozal, Ocosingo, Ocosingo, Chiapas, 29950, Mexico
⚠ YAXCHILÁN IS REACHED ONLY BY LANCHA FROM FRONTERA COROZAL, about 45 minutes down the Usumacinta, priced per boat - share it. ⚠ BONAMPAK IS ON LACANDÓN LAND: vehicles stop at the community boundary and visitors transfer to community transport for a separate fee. Both sites keep INAH daytime hours and close mid-afternoon; INAH Sunday free admission applies to Mexican nationals and residents only. ⚠ THE MURAL ROOMS ADMIT A FEW PEOPLE AT A TIME - NO FLASH. ⚠ BRING A TORCH FOR YAXCHILÁN'S LABYRINTH. ⚠ THE CARRETERA FRONTERIZA RUNS ALONG THE GUATEMALAN BORDER WITH MILITARY CHECKPOINTS - daylight only, carry your passport, a tour from Palenque is the sensible default. ⚠ CHIAPAS ROAD BLOCKADES CLOSE THESE ROADS WITHOUT NOTICE - ask on the morning. ⚠ HOURS AND PRICES NOT VERIFIED FOR THIS FILE.
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