Yaxhá, the least known Mayan ruins in Guatemala

Day 5: Night bus from Guatemala City to Flores - Yaxhá - Sunset in Tikal

It's 5:30 in the morning when we arrive in Santa Elena, where the Maya de Oro terminal is located, from Guatemala City from where we left last night after visiting the towns of Lake Atitlan and seeing that it has not yet arrived the driver we have today through Guatemala Destinations, which will take us to Yaxhá, the least known Mayan ruins in Guatemala, we pass to the interior area of ​​the station, where there is a small cafe that we take to take a couple of cups of that good black gold that begins to charge us energies to face the whole day today.

At 6 in the morning, Marvin arrives, who will be our driver today in The Petén, taking us first to Yaxhá and to know the surroundings, and then leave us at Tikal Inn, which will be our accommodation tonight, inside the archaeological site.
A good option if you are staying in Flores is to book this excursion to Yaxhá in advance with a guide in Spanish.
Being the time it is and telling that we have not yet had breakfast, we set off towards the area of Yaxha, stopping first in a restaurant that is on the route to breakfast, where we ask for the most complete of the letter for 137 quetzals.

While we have breakfast we can only comment, looking out the window, the change that has given the landscape since we entered this area of Guatemala. The vegetation has become lush, almost insulting how impressive it is. Seeing the environments we are in, it really seems that we are in an adventure movie and right now we are in the middle of a shooting set.
It's half past 7 when we have just had breakfast and continue on our way to Yaxha, about 45 kilometers from here, surrounded as we commented on lush vegetation and incredible landscapes. We are now in The Petén!

The first stop is at Lake Macanche, a little touristy place or rather, where there are some small laundry rooms for the neighboring town and where locals come to relax and enjoy a unique landscape.

These kinds of small, or big things, are the ones that remind us of the reason we enjoy traveling so much. Touring this area with a car with a driver is also a perfect option, since this way you can go to such places, which would be impossible to access by public transport, at least on the same day you visit Yaxha.

After this stop where Marvin gives us a brief introduction of the place and the area, we continue our way now to get to Yaxha following a few kilometers of paved road, until reaching a last section that becomes a dirt road of about 11 kilometers.

We arrived to Yaxha about 9 in the morning, a perfect time to discover this national park, often forgotten and in the shadow of Tikal, surrounded by unique landscapes in which nature is its main protagonist.
Before entering the park we have to go through the ticket office area, where we pay 80 quetzals per person, 40 for the locals, and there we will go through Yaxhá, the least known Mayan ruins in Guatemala.
Marvin tells us that he is studying to be a tour guide and that if we want, without financial commitment, he can accompany us, so he can practice a bit. In these hours that we have been with him we have already seen that he is more than a couple, so we decided to leave the option of hiring an official guide for tomorrow on the visit to Tikal and today tour Yaxha with him, in a quieter way.

In Yaxha there are practically no tourists, apart from being less known and being 10% of the total site of Tikal, tourists focus more on their "eldest brother", something that has attracted us a lot of attention and why we have decided to check whether or not it is worth getting here. For now and telling that we have only been here for a few minutes, we have to say flatly, Yaxha Worth a visit.

Yaxha, what does it mean "greenish blue water", it is one of the 4 main cities in the area, next to Topoxte, Nakum and Naranjo, being also the most accessible of the four and also, within the few visits it receives, the most tourist.
After passing the entrance, the first thing we find is Plaza C, with one of the two astronomical observatories that we can find in Yaxhá and where we begin to discover the immensity of the place where we are and above all the incredible feeling we have at discover how many of the structures are still buried or semi buried, waiting to be discovered in future times.

From here we follow the path through the Quarry Causeway until we reach the area where we find the Ball game, surrounded by the South Acropolis, from where the aristocracy enjoyed the games.

From here we follow the path that branches to the left, surrounded by greenery and the sound of howler monkeys until we reach the Great Astronomical Complex or Plaza F, from where, after climbing some wooden stairs, we have a unique perspective of the area and the North Acropolis.

After enjoying these incredible views for more than 20 minutes, making all the photos that the cameras spoiled, we finally decided that it is time to continue with the visit to Yaxha, going north through the Plaza de las Sombras, a place where citizens gathered in religious ceremonies.

After the visit to this last structure of the northern area of Yaxha, we retrace our steps, now going through the North Acropolis, one of the areas that impress us the most and from which we have unique perspectives from the upper area, as you can see.

From here we continue towards the entrance, going to the maybe, Yaxhá's most important structure, the Temple of the Red Hands or structure 216, in the area of ​​the Acropolis east, from which you have unique views of Yaxhá of 360º.
Reaching the top, taking into account that it measures more than 30 meters is not an easy task, but without a doubt, with patience and above all intuiting what awaits you at the end of the tour, this effort is made with a much more positive attitude.

After enjoying a few unique minutes, totally alone on top of structure 216, from where we have unique views of the Yaxhá Lagoon and from all the surrounding area, we return to the first structure we visited, the Minor Astronomical Complex, to take a few photographs, now that we have a much broader view of these Mayan ruins, so little known, but so incredible.

The visit to Yaxhá It takes us just over two hours and is more than recommended. In our case we have not square the visit to see the sunset from temple 216, an experience they say is spectacular, but we have to say that coming early in the morning has given us to have the whole enclosure for ourselves, something that Thanks and much.

More practical information to prepare your trip to Guatemala

- 10 essential places to visit in Guatemala
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Guatemala

Visit or not Yaxhá?

Always under our perspective, we believe that the visit to Yaxhá It is totally recommended if you have time to do it. After meeting Tikal and Yaxhá, we believe that the best way to do both visits is first Yaxhá and then Tikal, if possible in 2 days. First Yaxhá in the morning, with the surroundings, ending in Tikal to enjoy the sunset. And on the second day enjoy Tikal, doing the Dawn Tour if time permits.

It's a little after 11 in the morning when we return to the parking lot and go to the Remate area, where we want to take a walk around the town and where we enter several craft stores to get an idea of ​​the souvenirs in this area, which We had read they were more focused on wood carvings than on the most common souvenirs. We have to say that we have not found anything that has caught our attention, so after having a coffee in one of the bars where we stopped, we decided that the time has come to make way for one of the sour cherries This trip to Guatemala and Honduras for free.
We arrived at the entrance of the Tikal Park in just over an hour and seeing that it is already 12:45 noon, we took the opportunity to eat at the Mundo Perdido restaurant located right at the entrance, a couple of chicken quesadillas with more lemonade potatoes and coke for 160 quetzals that leave us with the worst taste since we arrived in Guatemala and that is that the food is bad to rage, of which you can practically not eat. After seeing the structure of Tikal and the experience of the next day, if you find that you have to eat in this area, it is best to access the park and do it directly in one of the restaurants that are at the entrance to the ruins.

Tickets to Tikal in Guatemala

-The entrance to Tikal has a price of 150 quetzales that give access to the park.
-If you arrive after 3:30 in the afternoon, you can buy this ticket of 150 quetzales and you have access that afternoon and the morning of the next day to the Tikal National Park and the ruins themselves.
-If you arrive before 3:30 in the afternoon and you only want to see the sunset that day, you can pay 100 quetzales
- The enclosure closes at 6 pm, but you can stay longer to watch the sunset from one of the structures, especially from the V Temple.
And if you stay inside the park, do you arrive before 3:30 and don't want to see the sunset? So you stand yourself. You have to buy the entrance of 100 quetzales to see the sunset even if you do not want to, since even staying inside the enclosure, you must pay double entrance if you access before 3:30 in the afternoon.
We know, it is not logical, but it is so.
- As we mentioned before, the entrance to see the sunset is 100 quetzales, but they have told us that if you explain to the guardian that you only come to see sunset, and the visit to the ruins you will do the next day, they usually fix the price to 20 quetzales We have not checked, but said is in case anyone wants to check.
After valuing it and seeing that it is still 2 in the afternoon, we prefer to pay the 100 quetzals of the sunset to be able to access the Tikal Inn, where we will stay tonight, and thus take a shower and rest before going to see the sunset.
We pay our entrance fee of 100 quetzals per person and travel the 14 kilometers through the National Park that take us to the Tikal Inn, which will be our accommodation tonight. We say goodbye to Marvin and after checking in and entering our bungalow for $ 140 a night, we realize the mistake or little success we have had choosing this accommodation.
We have to say that we had not read great reviews of this hotel, but we did not expect it to be so extremely bad. After a first contact we can only ask ourselves why they call an accommodation ecolodge that they should classify as "old", "bad", with few services and a lousy catering service?
One thing is not to have light or hot water throughout the day, if not only from 6 to 9 in the afternoon, when most guests, by the way, are watching the sunset or from 10 to 12 in the morning, when all The world is visiting Tikal and a very different one is to have very old, unhygienic facilities and announce services that are not available, such as Wi-Fi. Not to mention the restaurant service that is dismal, even fearing for our health if we ate according to what dishes.
And so with that small bad taste in the mouth, we leave our bungalow, to forget about it watching sunset from Temple V of Tikal
We enter the site at 3:15 in the afternoon, initially heading to the Central Plaza, at which time we really realize the beauty of the place, discovering another of the great reasons why this trip to Guatemala and Honduras and Coming here has been worth it.
After a walk around the area, tomorrow we will make a description of everything that can be seen and we saw in Tikal, we went to the place we have in mind for so long, probably since we started preparing this trip: Tikal Temple V, one of those places that are already a symbol.
Here we have to say that despite everything we had read, about the difficulty of the ascent, if you take it easy, it does not take more than 10 minutes, going up little by little.
As soon as we reach the top we find another 10-12 people who wait anxiously for the moment when the sun begins to hide, so we settle on one of the steps, invaded by a unique sensation: the happiness of being here now and in this moment.

We wait on a step until 5:10 in the afternoon, at which time the sun begins to hide and the colorful dance turns Tikal into a more magical place yet.

The only thing that is not clear to us, as we see how the sun begins to hide and the sky begins to get dark is how we will make our way back. Although we carry flashlights and there are indications, we have not seen any light in the park, so we take it for granted that the darkness will be total in a while, something that does not make us very funny to check first hand, so we decided that It is better to go down and head to the Central Square, from where we only have a walk of about 15 minutes to the hotel.
We only need to look at the sky a couple of times to go up to Temple II, from where we have one of the images that we will surely remember every time we have Tikal in mind.

We had read that the stairs to the temples were "dangerous"or very tired. I (Vanessa) that I have vertigo and I do not do anything of sport, I have to say that for nothing. The ascent, taking it with tranquility is totally feasible for anyone. You only have to be careful if it rains and slips

Tips for watching the sunset in Tikal

The Tikal Sunset Tour It can be done either by staying in the National Park or through an agency or by free, since access with a guide is not necessary.
Although, our recommendation is to do it for free, since it has no difficulty, quite the opposite and thus allows you to also access other areas of the park and not only the Temple V, as usual.
It is essential to carry a flashlight, since it is night and there is no lighting, a map (here there is no mobile signal and therefore the offline GPS does not work) and repellent, since there are many mosquitoes.

Tips for watching the sunrise in Tikal

The Sunrise Tour in Tikal It can also be done if you are staying in the National Park or through an agency, staying outside the park, for example in Flores.
Although, our recommendation is to do it by staying inside the park, because if you don't have to get up very early: Flores is more than an hour from Tikal and the tour usually starts around 4 in the morning.
The accommodation in Tikal They are:
- Hotel Jaguar Inn Tikal: Very good recommendations
- Jungle Lodge Hotel: The largest of the three. It also has good opinions.
- Tikal Inn: The one with the worst opinions and the one that from our own experience, we do not recommend unless any of the above is not available, as was our case.
The 3 accommodations are a few meters from the entrance to the ruins, so the choice should be based more on price and opinions, not on location.
It's after 6 in the afternoon, when practically in the most absolute darkness we return through the trails, accompanied by the sound of not a few animals to our hotel, willing not to get discouraged and try to enjoy of these last hours of the day reading and reviewing the incredible day we know awaits us tomorrow, day in which we will discover Tikal.