This is a holiday for 4 weeks travelling ( 6th of December till the 1st of January ) by local transport and with backpacks in Yucatan, Guatemala and Belize, also know as La Route Maya.

From Cancun via the Maya site Chichen Itza near Valladolid to the Puuc route around Merida.
Visiting the friendly town Campeche going onwards to the amazing Maya site Palenque. Entering Guatemala after a visit to San Cristobal de Las Casas and the markets and bizarre church of San Juan de Chamula.

Enjoying the area of Lago Atitlan and the market of Chichicastenango before climbing the volcano Pacaya in Antigua. Paying a visit to one of the most famous Mayan sites Tikal.

Spending of few days at Caye Caulker in Belize for some snorkelling before returning to Cancun to get back home.

After arriving at the airport of Cancun in the evening we catched the bus to the Mayan Hostel in the centre of Cancun. (Not at the hotel strip). The bus stop is straight ahead from the airport exit across the street in a narrow street.
Some banks and a little ticket box mark the bus stop where you can buy a ticket for $40 pp. It took us about 10 minutes waiting and 20 minutes by bus to take us to the bus station in the centre.
Since Cancun isn't our cup of tea we had already decided to take the bus to Valladolid the next morning. To spend the night we stayed in the friendly Mayan Hostal, which is a few blocks from the bus station for $90 pp (dorm beds) and a $100 deposit for the sheets and the locker. It's a family run hostel with a kitchen and a great terrace on the roof.
For diner that evening we went to the Parque the Las Palapas to have some very tasteful tortillas at the local stales for little money. After diner we bought our bus tickets for Valladolid (Company: Super Express, Service: Primera, $79 pp, Duration: 2 1/2 hours)

We arrived in Valladolid around noon. We found a place to stay at Antonio's Rooms. (a little bit out of the centre in the Calle 41 number 225) The owner can be found at the opposite of hotel Maria Guadalupe (Calle 44 no. 188). The owner took us to the rooms by car. The rooms were clean, sheets provided, own toilet and shower (hot water) and also had air-conditioning. We paid $80 for a double (which could be used as triple). The bus station (Calle 37/Calle 54) to Chichen Itza and a supermarket is nearby.

That day we visited the Cenote Zaci ($10 pp) in the city, which is worthwhile and nice to lose some time. The next day we took the bus at 8:00 am to Chichen Itza ($15 pp) which took us there in about 45 min. Since it was Sunday we didn't have to pay entrance, which we think is unbelievable. Chichen Itza is a nice to start with but in our opinion not the most beautiful Mayan site in Yucatan.
The Castillo is very impressive and also gives you a very nice view of the site. The treasure chamber at the bottom of the Castillo is very worthwhile seeing. It's easy to spend a day or more. We spend about 5 hours in Chichen Itza walking from El Castillo to the group of the thousand columns via the Observatory and the Nunnery to the Great ball court and the Cenote Sagrado. In the evening we returned to rainy Valladolid. For diner we found a bakery. The next day we went to Merida by bus.

The next day we went by bus to Merida (Company: OTE, Service: Intermedio, $57 pp, Duration: 3 - 3 1/2 hours). After a few hostels we decided to to stay in Hostel Las Monjas ($125 clean double room). The owner is very friendly en helpful. (English speaking, which is handy if you don't speak Spanish).
The Puuc route is besides tours to the flamingos in Celestun the main attraction in Merida. The Puuc route is often done in tours but we wanted to see if we could do this on our own. The owner of Las Monjas was very helpful in providing us the information needed to do this. We appreciated this very much since there is a travel agency located in the lobby of the hostel. There is a bus company ATS (Service: Intermedio, $100 pp, Duration: 08:00 - 16:00 ) which provides the transport to the main sites of the Puuc route. Basically it's a return trip Merida to Xlapak. Since they are the only company it is wise to get your ticket a soon as you can. The Puuc route isn't cheap (see below) but we are glad we decided to do this. The sites are quite different from all other sites we encountered during our travel in Yucatan and Guatemala due to their special architecture. Most of the sites are nicely located in the woods, which make the sites also more colourful.
The bus first goes to Uxmal dropping of the people who will spend the full day in Uxmal. We drove a little further to start our trip at Xlapak (20 min, entrance: $27 pp). This is a very small site and not the most impressive one of the Puuc route but a nice start.
The next site is Labna (30 min, entrance: $27 pp). Labna is well known for El Arco. But even so impressive is El Palacio with beautiful carvings. This site is one not to be missed.
The next site we visited was Sayil (30 min, entrance: $27 pp) with her very big and three-tiered El Palacio. The last Puuc site that day was Kabah (30 min, entrance: $27 pp). Kabah isn't a very large site but it has some beautiful buildings. Entering the site you first encounter El Palacio nicely situated at the end of the field of grass. The most impressive building is Palacio de los Mascarones ( Palace of Masks) The facade with almost 300 Chac masks (rain god or sky serpent) with their huge curling noses was a highlight of the day. Also the Atlantes (male figures used as a supporting column) on the back of the facade is something which is very rare.
Uxmal (1 1/2 hour, entrance: $85 pp) was the final site of the day. This is a very large site and the one and a half hour we got was not enough to visit the site completely but gave us a good idea. The Gran Pyramid (Templo Mayor) with her view over the site and nice carvings, Cuadrangulo de Las Monjas with some nice Chac and serpent figure and the Casa del Adivino and her Iguana inhabitants make this a site which can compete with Palenque and Tikal. For diner we went to Nicta-ha cheap and good food, at the Plaza Grande. In the evening we visited the local market. At the local market there are little tortilla bakeries. It's very nice to see how your tortilla is made. It could be wise to pay a visit because we haven't seen a lot of them later on during our trip. The next day we took the bus to Campeche.

The following morning we started early taking the bus of 8:30 to Campeche (Company: ADO, Service: Primera, $83 pp, Duration: 2 hours) a very nice Spanish colonial city. The city is very well restored and has a pleasant atmosphere. We stayed in the brand new hostal Campeche with a great roof terrace ($70 dorm, $160 double). We made a walking tour through the streets to explore the city walking along city wall with the several Baluartes and watchtowers, starting in Calle 10 at the ex-Templo de San Jose, along Calle 8 to Puerto del Mar (sea Gate) visiting the Parque Principal. After paying a visit to Baluarte de Santiago we continued our walk in Calle 51.
To cool down we had a drink a pub, which was a very nice experience. In Yucatan there are lots of pubs that are crowded during lunch (especially the ones you can't directly look inside) In Campeche there lots of them. Just enter one and you know why there is a siesta, but also find out the friendliness of the people. Not knowing what to expect we entered the bar. All heads turn to the door (this might have been because tourist entered or a lady enter the bar) and every conversation stopped. After finding a table and ordering a corona everything became normal again (drinking a lot)
After our refreshment we continued the Calle 51 to walk via the Baluarte de San Pedro to the Baluarte de San Fransisco at Calle 57. Returning to our starting point via Puerta de Tierra (Land Gate), Baluarte de San Juan and Baluarte de Santa Rosa. The last Baluartes are free of charge and good for a visit. We had dinner in La Parroquia (Calle 55) with nice traditional and regional dishes for reasonable prices. After dinner we went to get a bus ticket for the next morning to Palenque which can be necessary due to the large amount of tourist and the limited service. On our way to the bus station we ended up in a procession in honour of Maria de Guadelupe. (The Guardian of Mexico). We also visited the Cathedral where children were lighting candles and went to see the Christmas stale in front of the Cathedral.

From Campeche we catched the bus to Palenque at 11:00 am which is a long drive. (Company: ADO, Service: Primera, $161 pp, Duration: 7 hours) 12 December is the day of Virgin de Guadalupe and arriving in Palenque we ended up in a procession. We stayed Hostal Yun-Kax (Corregidora 87, $120 double) with fan. Nice clean Hostel with free drinking water, which was very close to the bus station to Palenque. A little bit away of the busy main street, which makes it a good place to sleep. Very Early the next morning we took a little van to Palenque ($7 pp). This enabled us to enter this incredible Mayan site with a few tourists (entrance: $35 pp). Palenque is located in the middle of the jungle and early in the morning it can be covered in the mist. For a good overview we went strait to the Templo de la Cruz. It's great to see the mist disappear in the morning and hear the monkeys in the jungle. After our breakfast on temple we started to explore the site in more detail. The ruins, which are excavated in the central area are very beautiful with the palace as one of the most famous for Palenque. there is also a lot of well preserved carving and very nice details. Looking behind the central area you can imagine that there must be a lot more ruin in the area. Everywhere you look is the jungle mixed with the ruins. The setting of Palenque is great which makes it a very attractive site to visit. Too bad that they closed the temple of inscriptions and the mirador (for an even better view of Palenque). We stayed a the site for about 4 hours visiting the Grupo de la Cruz continuing via Grupo Norte to Grupo B crossing the river at the little waterfall back to central area via Grupos I and II saving the Templo de las Inscripciones and the characteristic El Palacio for last. From the sites we have visited so far Palenque cannot be mist and might even be the best site of Yucatan we visited. In the evening we spend our time in the city of Palenque which is a nice town with a vivid central Plaza where the sell a lot of handicrafts for reasonable prices. The next morning our travelling continued.

Leaving the Mayan ruins for a couple of day we decided to pay a visit to San Cristobal de las Casas taking the 9:30 bus (Company: Altos, Service: Primera, $83 pp, Duration: 5 hours). We stayed in Posada Margarita (Real de Guadalupe 34, $120 double). The hostel is fine, nothing fancy. The courtyard however in the sun is great and their is a supermarket nearby. We haven't mentioned a lot of restaurants in our report but this one deserves her place Restaurant Bugambilias (Calle Real de Guadalupe 24-C). A family run restaurant. Very small but very cosy. The kitchen is in the restaurant. Staff is very friendly. Menu of the day $35 pp.(bread with garlic, guacamole, soup, main course , tea or coffee) and their breakfast is also very good. San Cristobal is a very nice place to relax a little but in the neighbourhood is a little village which is even more interesting San Juan Chamula. The next day we took the bus to visit this village ($7 pp). We visited on a market day, which gives a beautiful picture of the town and it's people. It always great to see the daily markets which isn’t organized for the tourists. We had a great time walking at the market but also viewing normal life from a distance.
But the most amazing thing is the Church. To enter the church you have to buy a ticket $10 pp a the tourist information. The Church is absolutely everything you didn't expect. The are no chairs on the pine-needle-carpeted floor the are rows of burning candles. Clouds of incense and candles. People praying with eggs and Cola. The eggs for rubbing on the body at places people have pain and the Cola to expel the evil spirits by burping. You can't take any pictures in the church so this is something you have to see for yourself.
The evening we spend in San Cristobal witnessing a Fiesta going on at the church smashing on a moving rope hanging paper puppets and ball filled with candy blindfolded.
The next morning 6:45 am we tried to get to Guatemala. Starting by bus to Cuidad Cuahutemo the border of Mexico (Company: Altos, Service: Primera, $68 pp). Before leaving Mexico you should get a stamp at immigration. To get to the Guatemala border we took a taxi (messilla) with 6 persons $5 pp.

Entering Guatemala filling in a form , getting a stamp and pay $30 pp. Try to change a little money (more then $US 10 for 2 persons) before entering Guatemala. From the border we wanted to get to Panajachel. Being used to the well-organized bus system in Mexico Guatemala can be a shock. The busses (Old US school busses) aren't called chicken bus for nothing. The busses can be so crowded that you feel like chickens in a little cage. It took us 4 chicken busses to reach Panajachel. From the border to Huehuetenango (Q10 pp) then to Los Encuentos (Q25 pp) continuing the last few miles Solola (Q1,5 pp) and finally reaching Panajachel just before dark (Q1,5 pp). We stayed for 4 nights in Hostel El Viajero (Q90 double), It has beautiful clean rooms a great balcony with chairs and is situated a little bit off the main road which makes it less noisy. For diner and breakfast we went to Restaurante Las Palmeras. (Calle Santander c Frente Hotel Regis) This little restaurant is run by three women. The food is very good and compared to the Panajachel standards cheap. The restaurant has only 9 tables and is situated directly next to the street. So there is also a lot to see.
The next day we walked to the nearby village Santa Catarina. Which turned out to be more natural then the villages we saw on the trip the next day. In this village we saw people making coffee.
The following morning we took a tour by boat at Lago Atitlan (Q50 pp). The boat started to sail at 8:30 and bring you to three villages. The first one is San Pedro were we spend 1 1/2 hours walking along the market. The people in Guatemala as you can see on the pictures wear traditional clothes. Every village has it's own colours. The second village we visited was Santiago Atitlan (1,5 hours). The hometown of the famous Maximon. arriving in the village a lot of children would like to take you there for a few Quetzal. The last village is San Antonio (45 min). The villages are very nice to wander around. On the markets there is a lot to see and handicrafts to buy. We also had very good weather so we had a great day.

Just a general note in Guatemala people don't like to have their picture taking due to superstition. Its better to ask if it's OK. (It might cost you a few Quetzals but can save you a lot of trouble).

Just a day trip from Panajachel is the Thursday market of Chichicastenango. As usual taking the early bus (leaving 7:30, Q8 pp not a direct connection 3 chicken busses and a flat tyre) Arriving in Chichicastenango we encountered a group a dancing people with masks according to some people representing the Spanish and local people. It was a pleasant bonus of that day. The market is very busy and crowded. It is a mix of a tourist and normal market and we think especially around Christmas there are some extra festivities, which are also enjoyed by the inhabitants. A nice place to visit is the church. On the stairs of the church, which has some similarities, regarding rituals with the one in San Juan Chamula there is the flower market. This is a very colourful site. The market with the enormous variety of products and different stales is a pleasant place to spend some time. We had a great time. For our way back to Panajachel we decided to save some time taking a direct connect bus (Q10 pp).

To get to Antigua we had to face the chicken bus again. An early start for a change because we picked a popular small hostel. The first chicken bus took us to Chimaltenago (Q10 pp) from there we could go straight to Antigua (Q2.50 pp). We succeeded getting a double in Posada Juma Ocag (Alameda de Santa Lucia 13, Q100), Absolutely one of the best hostel we have seen on our trips. They don't do reservations which we think is the true spirit. The hostel has 7 decorated rooms with lots of handmade ironwork of the owner. In the evening from the inner court you can see eruptions of the Vulcan Fuego. The owner is very friendly (speaks a little English) and very helpful.

The next morning it was time for some actions again we were going to climb the Pacaya. We booked this tour at Gran Jaguar Travel (4a Calle Poniente, Q52,50 pp) A bus takes you at 6:00 am to the foot of the Pacaya, which is a 1 1/2 hour drive. Entrance Pacaya Q25 pp (Which they forgot to tell us at Jaguar, so not enough money). The walking trip up the Pacaya, which takes about 2 hours, is not a very heavy one. We stayed at the crater for about 20-min. (We haven't seen any lava only smelled a lot of sulphur) but this couldn't harm our day since we had great views due to the good weather. Downhill is much easier especially the first part where it feels like skiing down. From the crater back to the entrance take you about 1 1/2 hour.
That evening we had diner at the street. Next to the little market is the street of Jaguar. The food is great cheap and tasteful and the people are great.

The next day was a lazy day. Sitting in the Park watching people (tourists and locals selling their stuff) and three Santa Clauses. Christmas in these countries differ a lot from our. In the evening we had diner at Restaurant Las Palmas (6a. Avenida Norte 14, Entre 4a y 5a Calle) This isn't a very cheap restaurant but the meat was very nice. Maybe it is a little too big to be cosy.

Since the trip to Flores is a long one we decided to book this trip at Jaguar rather then to go by chicken bus..

Jaguar took us with a little bus to Guatemala City and put us on a 1st class bus to Flores (Company: Transportes Rapidos Del Sur, Total cost: 25 $US, first class, Duration 10 hours). If you would arrange it yourself the chicken bus from Guatemala City to Flores will cost you about Q120. We stayed in Hostal Santa Rita (Calle 30 de Junio, Q75 double). Very nice helpful old lady who spoke only Spanish. With a little patience of both sides no problem. It was a nice clean room but it could occur that there wasn't any water in the night or morning. On the other side of our hostel there are a lot of (more expensive) hotels with a terrace with views over the lake. So a good reason to have your drink over there.

The next day we visited Tikal. (Bus to Tikal: Q40 pp Entrance Tikal: Q50 pp).
Tikal is the best Mayan site during our trip. It is a very large complex with very impressive and famous temples. The Jungle setting of Tikal makes it also very pleasant to walk. The views from the temples are magnificent. Some people say the temples are like ships in the green Jungle Sea. Besides the ruins you also meet a lots of animals like racoons, squirrels, toucans and monkeys. In earlier days it was possible to camp in the evening in the park to see the sunset and sunrise but a lot of tourists made inscription in these old buildings and therefore the site is closed in the evening and also a lot of temples are closed due these actions as well.

The next day is was Christmas. So a lazy day at the Lake. It was even hard to find a restaurant that day.

The following day our third county Belize. We booked a bus tour for $US 12 pp to Belize city. (It can be done for $US8 pp) Duration: including crossing the Border 6 hours. Leaving Guatemala was just receiving a stamp.

Entering Belize is just filling out a form and receiving a stamp. After 6 hours we arrived in Belize City at the boat terminal for the cayes. Belize City isn't a place to hang around. So get to the Cayes. We catched the boat of 13:30 ($BLZ 15 pp, Duration 40 min). We choose for Caye Caulker. A very small island in Bob Marley style. Basically if you enter Belize you are in a totally different world. We stayed in Hotel Sobre Las Olas ($BLZ 35). This is a very nice place with a big balcony. An outdoor restaurant (opposite of the street, same owner). where we ate Lobster for $BLZ 25. (we think that's cheap). What had supposed to be relaxing tropical days were in our case rainy and windy days.
Since there isn't much to do on the island we wanted to do some snorkelling and manatee watching. To find a good tour we did some shopping around. The problem with the tours is always that they don't exactly do what you like. They say the best place is at Chocolate's. We don't doubt the 73-year-old expert but with the weather conditions we had (wind and rain) Chocolate is not a sure thing. With bad weather Chocolate isn't going. Opposite of the Hostel Sobre Las Olas next to the restaurant there is tour operator Ragamuffin. He helped us out on a tour. He wanted to go himself but since not the whole group showed up. He arranged a trip for us at Anwar $BLZ 70 pp.
The trip was great despite the bad weather. We started at 11:00 am first visiting Shark and Ray alley. Here you can swim between little sharks and rays. It's a little artificial since the animals are being fed every day. (Duration: 1 hour). Then we went snorkelling in Hol Chan a marine reserve (Duration 1 hour). We had an underwater tour from our guide explaining every coral he saw. This was very nice but must be much better with a little sunshine. For lunch we spend 1 1/2 hour on San Pedro (The other Caye) not very interesting but it is included in the tour. We ended snorkelling at Coral Garden for 1 hour, which was nice, but not as good as Hol Chan.

After our "tropical" adventure in Belize it was time to go back to Cancun Mexico. First by boat leaving 8:30 to the mainland ($BLZ 15 pp) and by taxi to the Bus terminal ($BLZ 3 pp). From were we left at 9:00 am for a 3-hour bus trip to Chetchumal (Company: Novello's Bus Line Ltd, $BLZ 14 pp). Leaving Belize by land is also very easy but expect to pay at least $BLZ 20 departure fee and $BLZ 7,5 preservation fee. At Chetumal we had to changes buses and continued our trip to Cancun (Company: Mayab, Service: Intermedio, $142 pp, Duration 7 hours). We arrived in Cancun at 20:30 and went straight to the Mayan hostal, which we reserved a few days earlier. For diner we went to the Parque the las Palapas.

After a good night sleep for a change we went to the Cancun beach. The beach is basically the place to be for many people. There are a lot of expensive hotels and place to go out. The beach is nice but due to the hostels it's small. We stayed for a couple of hours. In the evening we had a great time with the people in the hostel.

Unfortunately we had to leave for home the next day. Before we went to the airport we went to a bank to pay our departure fee of $170 pp, which should be necessary. We took a taxi ($100) to the airport and to our surprise we were one of the few with a departure stamp and since nobody checked we think you won't need one.

We had a great time travelling for 4 weeks in three totally different countries. If you are planning to go there we hope it will be just as great for you.