Today was the first of my day trips I had scheduled. Overnight I had developed a sore throat and cold surprisingly in 30 degree weather. Our new offices were blowing cold air on me from the overhead vents for a few days while they figured out the right settings after enough people complained. The plane was also blowing cold air during the four hour flight.

For breakfast the hotel had buffet omelette and potato dishes to help energize me. My pickup time for my tour was 9am and I was panicking as the person didnt arrive to 9.15am.

Although my hotel offers most of the tours I wanted, today I was going to the less popular Mayapan archaeological site. I found a tour on Viator which offered it for $139 CAD along with a visit to a colonial church in Mani and some caves later.

My driver and guide was an arab bearded local called Augusto. We didnt have a van but were driving in his car. There was only one other passenger, a Chinese woman visiting from the States. We got chatting about my time in Asia.

The drive to Mayapan took about an hour. The entrance is a dirt road turnoff. It is not possible to come by bus and you can only come by car by yourself or on a tour.

As my first day trip and site Mayapan was a good introduction. Being less popular for some reason the site was virtually deserted and we had it almost completely to ourselves. The heat was also not so bad with some morning breezes.

Augusto narrated stories of the site. They had steam baths and would eat the iguanas who they did not consider religious. We climbed the small pyramid for a span of the site.

In some places there were decaying murals covered by added straw canopies to protect them from the elements.

The observatory was a round building where shamen would sit inside waiting for the sunlight to illuminate thru the doorways. Sacrifices were also sometimes offered.

Other places there were more remnants of murals and artwork. Sacrifice was part of the culture and suicide still permeates in society today.

Unlike other sites, it was allowed in Mayapan to climb the big pyramid as there are few tourists here. I chose not to due to the uneven steps and discomfort with heights.

Augusto also told us despite being raised Christian locals are trying to keep their Mayan traditions alive and passing on to their children.

Mayapan is an overlooked archaeological site which is worth making the effort to visit. Its layout is not exactly the same as other sites and its uniqueness is its absence of other tourist crowds.

The site is much larger and only a small fraction that has been excavated is what we visited. Rumours abound about other hidden cities buried in undergrowth.