JAN 7, 2016 – At lunch in Frontera Corozal I had met Adrian, who had been traveling for six years all around the world. We decided to get a boat to Yaxchilán together for the next morning, as there was no group transportation there. The negotiation ended up being a bit tricky, but in the end we had a cheaper and faster lancha than what the tour agencies would offer. The site is about a half-hour boat trip away and surrounded by dense jungle. Its most impressive element by far is el laberinto, a dark two-storey building with multiple entrances, exits, and stairwells. It is one of few Maya buildings I’ve seen where the roof is still completely intact. As always, the Mayas made good use of the existing hills, so the largest building overlooks the entire site and the river. I wouldn’t have made a trip to Yaxchilán and Bonampak for the ruins alone, but together with the flora, fauna and surrounding villages, the trip was definitely worthwhile.

The same afternoon I took another lancha to the Guatemalan village of La Técnica. From there, an old and shaky van took me to Flores, mostly along dirt roads and through small villages. I had spontaneously decided that I preferred to see Tikal and some of Guatemala’s north, rather than taking the southern route via Cobán to Quetzaltenango.