Lost Cities In The Jungle

Leaving the Chiapas Highlands and entering the flat, humid, formerly inpenetrable plains of the Yucatan, you encounter a bewildering array of Mayan cities lost in the jungle. This area and neighbouring Belize were among the last parts of Central America to be subjugated by the Spanish, and until recently they remained difficult to access from the rest of the country. Even now there is a distinctive feel to the place and a noticeably different cuisine with strong citrus flavours in the cooking.

It's a hot, sweaty and godforsaken place for any civilisation to flourish, but nonetheless, the Mayan cities thrived here long after they had collapsed and been abandoned in their heartlands of Guatamala, and they were still occupied when the Spanish turned up to snuff them out in the mid-sixteenth century. The result is a remarkable collection of sites, with stone pyramids poking out through enveloping jungle at Palenque, and an enormous ballcourt at Chichen Itza with relief carvings showing the sacrificial execution of players at the end of the game - nobody is too sure nowadays whether it was the winners or losers who got the chop.

However, the most perfect location of all for a city must at Tulum, where a smaller fortified site occupies a promontory overlooking the Carribean. The sea here is pure aquamarine, rolling up to embrace an endless stretch of pure white sand. On first arrival we all just gasped with astonishment at the sight of something so inviting, and pretty much lost interest in developing our knowledge of the Mayans any further.