Which Mayan Ruins? (Xunantunich, Chacchoben, or Kohunlich)

(Cross-posted to rec.travel.cruises and rec.travel.latin-america.)

Hi, folks. Looking for some advice on which Mayan ruins to visit on an
upcoming cruise. I'm something of a history geek, but the Mayans aren't a
strong point of mine (or of my traveling companion), so I'm not looking
for anything terribly specific.

I've narrowed my choices down to Xunantunich, Chacchoben, and Kohunlich.
I'd consider doing both Xunantunich and Chacchoben, though Xunantunich and
Kohunlich is probably out (due to the time involved) unless they're both
really worth it.

Altun Ha and Tulum are also options, but don't sound as interesting as
the others. (Tulum sounds gorgeous, but very touristy and not terribly
interesting from a historical perspective.)

Advise me! Correct me! Tell me where I've gone wrong!

And thanks so much.



.................................................. ...............
Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access
at http://www.TitanNews.com
-=Every Newsgroup - Anonymous, UNCENSORED, BROADBAND Downloads=-

"A. Freed" wrote in message
. ..
(Cross-posted to rec.travel.cruises and rec.travel.latin-america.)

Hi, folks. Looking for some advice on which Mayan ruins to visit on an
upcoming cruise. I'm something of a history geek, but the Mayans aren't a
strong point of mine (or of my traveling companion), so I'm not looking
for anything terribly specific.

I've narrowed my choices down to Xunantunich, Chacchoben, and Kohunlich.
I'd consider doing both Xunantunich and Chacchoben, though Xunantunich and
Kohunlich is probably out (due to the time involved) unless they're both
really worth it.

Altun Ha and Tulum are also options, but don't sound as interesting as
the others. (Tulum sounds gorgeous, but very touristy and not terribly
interesting from a historical perspective.)

I can't help you on the ruins in Belize, but I've seen most of the
major, and many of the minor, Mayan sites in Mexico. While it doesn't get a
lot of credit for it Tulum is interesting from an artistic point of view.
Not many murals have survived into modern times and Tulum has a nice, if
monochromatic, mural in the Temple of the Murals. The corners of that temple
also have some nice stone faces. (Today's newspaper had a story about a new
mural discovered in Guatamala. They're so rare that any mural is a major
find and this one is reported to be excellent. The site is also reported to
provide new information on the development of Mayan culture.) Tulum has some
historic interest. While it was built late in the Mayan era and wasn't as
large or as well built as earlier sites, it is a window into Mayan culture
at that time. It is very touristy as it's a small site that gets a lot of
visitors.

Kohunlich is interesting because it has a number of well preserved
stucco masks or faces. It's also a very pretty and lightly visited site. In
that region Balamku has an even better example of Mayan stucco artwork. For
sheer size and historic interest Calakmul is the premier site in that area.
It also sits in the middle of a very interesting bio-reserve. With a cruise
ship time frame Kohumlich is probably the only site in the area you would
have time for and you might want to consider exploring the lagoons north of
Chetumal instead--assuming your cruise is visiting Chetumal.

Dennis

If you have time to go all the way to San Ignacio to see Xunantunich, I
would recommend you to go to Tikal in Guatemala instead. "Mayawalk" runs
tours from San Ignacio (all-day) that are very good. They will drive you
there in a van in the morning and have you back by evening. Tikal is
incredible and far larger in scale than Xunantunich.
"A. Freed" wrote in message
. ..
(Cross-posted to rec.travel.cruises and rec.travel.latin-america.)

Hi, folks. Looking for some advice on which Mayan ruins to visit on an
upcoming cruise. I'm something of a history geek, but the Mayans aren't a
strong point of mine (or of my traveling companion), so I'm not looking
for anything terribly specific.

I've narrowed my choices down to Xunantunich, Chacchoben, and Kohunlich.
I'd consider doing both Xunantunich and Chacchoben, though Xunantunich and
Kohunlich is probably out (due to the time involved) unless they're both
really worth it.

Altun Ha and Tulum are also options, but don't sound as interesting as
the others. (Tulum sounds gorgeous, but very touristy and not terribly
interesting from a historical perspective.)

Advise me! Correct me! Tell me where I've gone wrong!

And thanks so much.



.................................................. ..............
Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access
at http://www.TitanNews.com
-=Every Newsgroup - Anonymous, UNCENSORED, BROADBAND Downloads=-