Yaxchilán
Ruins
Chiapas, México
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You can't get to Yaxchilán by
train, bus, or car. However, you can fly there or swim if you'd like, well,
take a river-boat. It's fun though - the boat. The Río Usumacinta
divides Mexico and Guatemala. You can hire a boat at Frontera Corozal for a 40
minute ride down-river passing crocodiles and large ceiba trees to the
river-front ruins. Unless you are spending the night, the boatman will wait a
couple hours for your return.
Yaxchilán, "Green Stones," is the real deal,
right out of Indiana Jones. A powerful kingdom rising from the river-bank to
temples placed strategically atop the hills overlooking the river. To enter the
main plaza you may go through a structure called the Labyrinth. Bats fly past
your head missing by inches, but it feels natural - not scary at all. With a
flashlight you can see how the building got its name, rooms connecting deep
into the structure.
The main plaza is studded with stelae and altars
with structures lined on either side. The ballcourt stands prominent with its
markers still in place. Ballplaying is recorded on monuments throughout the
site. So too is sacrifice and blood letting. Lintels and stelae record the
events of kingship, war, marriage, and ritual.
It's pretty much an uphill walk from the main
plaza. As you climb the steps and walk the trails, howler monkeys move through
the canopy. You encounter Temple 33 with its carved hieroglyphic stairs and
statue. Through a small valley and up to the top to Temple 41 you look out to
Guatemala. More jungle trails take you to the North Group then it's back down
to the river. The boat ride back up the river takes a little longer, by then,
the time to relax is more than welcome.
