What I missed in all my travels through the world of the Maya, was a book that concisely explained where the interesting Mayan ruins are located, how to get there, a short guide which otherwise was limited to the description of the Maya sites and lacked the overload of restaurant and hotel descriptions. Because something similar was simply not on the market, I sat down and wrote such a book myself:

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This is a compact guide that contains the 15 main archaeological ruin sites of the ancient Mayan civilization on the Yucatán peninsula and also explains the optimal route for visiting these sites. A perfect guide for those travelers who are primarily interested in the most important Maya sites.

Map of Yucatán with the most important Maya sites

The Maya Sites – Hidden Treasures of the Rain Forest

A Traveler’s Guide to the Maya Sites on the Yucatán Peninsula, in México and Guatemala

ISBN-13: 978-3000601422

The Maya sites to be visited in this way and described in the book:

Tulum

Chichén Itzá

Cobá

Ek Balam

Izamal

Uxmal

San Gervasio

Edzná

Palenque

Toniná

Bonampak

Yaxchilán

Tikal

Yaxhá

El Mirador

Additionally, I included the La Venta Museum Parc in Villahermosa in the book, where the traveler will find several monolithic structures of the Olmec culture. The Olmec culture is famous especially for the giant stone heads which they left behind when their civilization disappeared.

Yaxchilan Temple 33

The perfect route through the land of the Maya

I divided this route into three sections, which can be visited either sequentially or divided into individual stages. The three sections are:

Northern Yucatán Peninsula

Chiapas and Campeche

Petén in Guatemala

The modern cities, which are approached on these routes are

Tulum / Playa del Carmen

Valladolid

Merida

Campeche

Palenque

Villahermosa

Flores

From these starting points or “base camps” you can explore the world of the Maya. From a leisurely day trip to a 5-day walk through the Guatemalan jungle, all levels of difficulty are available.

Maya pyramid – Yaxha – 3

Light, short, crisp

I didn’t include lists of hotels or restaurants because I wanted to avoid the inclusion of short-lived information. During my travels I found that common travel guides can become a reason for frustration because such accommodation related information is outdated. In contrast, I think that the internet is a much better information source for hotels in a certain city than any printed travel guide.

Therefore, I do not exaggerate if I state that this is the perfect book for all kind of travelers and explorers: Light, short, crisp.

Uxmal – The Non’s quadrangle and the pyramid of the Magician.

Details

Each of the Maya sites is documented with numerous color photos. Altogether there are about 100, which I have inserted at appropriate places in the book. For each (almost) of the Maya sites discussed I included a sketch map (a total of 14 maps), so that you can find the path along the site in the ruins. I have visited each of these sites on several trips and all photos are my own.

Map Yaxchilan

For the modern traveler who tries to keep his luggage lightweight, an eBook makes the most sense. And viewing it on a modern tablet allows to zoom in the photos. Therfore I used a fixed-size layout, similar to the printed version. A print version can be purchased as well.

The “Maya Sites – Hidden Treasures of the Rain Forest” is suitable for any “variety” of tourist, for backpackers, luxury travelers, and explorers. It is available in English and German language so far and contains 155 illustrations (91 color photos).

El Castillo in Chichén Itzá

Additional sections and chapters in the second edition

I added three additional sections to the second edition, to satisfy the request of many of my readers.

Section 3 describes the history and culture of the ancient Maya

Section 4 is solely about the Maya calendar

Section 5 talks about the Mayan languages and the writing system

Symbols of the Haab Calendar

Content directory of “The Maya Sites”

Introduction 9

Section 1 – Routes and Short Descriptions 11

The Standard Route – Yucatán and the Riviera Maya 14

The Exotic Route – Campeche and Chiapas 18

The Adventurous Route – Petén – Guatemala 22

Section 2 –The Maya Sites 25

Region: Yucatán and Quintana Roo 25

Tulum – Turquoise Sea and Temple Ruins 25

Cobá – Ruled by women? 33

Cozumel – Pilgrimage to Ixchel – San Gervasio 39

Ek Balam – The Black Jaguar 43

Chichén Itzá – The star among the Maya sites 48

Izamal – The Magic City 59

Uxmal – Built in One Night 63

Region: Chiapas and Campeche 72

Edzná – The House of the Itzá 72

Palenque – Mysticism in the Mist of the Rainforest 81

The Olmec – La Venta Parc Museum in Villahermosa 93

Toniná –In the Ocosingo-Valley 99

Yaxchilán – On the banks of the Río Usumacinta 105

Bonampak – Murals in the Selva Lacandon 110

Region: Petén in Guatemala 117

Tikal 117

Yaxhá 131

El Mirador – The Jungle Adventure 139

Section 3 – History and culture of the Maya 149

The Homeland of the Ancient Maya – the Mayab 149

Natural Resources in the Ancient Maya World 157

The History of the Maya Civilization 160

The Collapse of the Classical Centers 169

Society and everyday life of the classical Maya 172

Section 4 – The Maya Calendar 175

Introduction 175

Haab – a Calendar for the Solar Year 179

The Tzolkin Calendar 185

The Calendar Round 192

The Long Count in the Maya Inscriptions 194

Numbers and mathematics of the ancient Maya 199

The date in the Maya inscriptions 208

Section 5 – Language and Writing System of the Maya 216

Mayan Languages and their Distribution 216

Cholan – The Language of the Inscriptions 220

Some Features of the Mayan Languages 220

The Writing System of the Maya 229

Epilogue 238

Appendix 239

Further Reading 239

Planning your Travel 241

Index of Figures 244

Index of Tables 246

Index of Maps 246

Acknowledgment 247

The Author 247

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