I wandered around Xunantunich today. It's a Mayan archaeological site near San Ignacio Town, Cayo District, Belize. The local tour companies usually don't market it since it's too close. Tour companies farther away will market it though. Some local hotels and resorts will sell it as a half day trip. You can do it on your own though.
It's a ten minute taxi ride to the ferry boat near Soccotz Village near the Guatemalan border. You'll find a small tourist style roadside market and Benny's Restaurant across the street. The ferry boat ride is free but feel free to tip the guy that uses a good old fashioned hand crank to get you and your car across the river. I tip $1.00 BZD (50 cents USD). Why not?
I've never hired a guide here but I know they are available. Guides here in Belize are well educated on the sites. It's impressive. Anyway, you'll walk about 1.25 miles to the entrance. There's only one road so good luck getting lost. It seemed secure too since I must have seen six machine gun packing soldiers patrolling the area. The entrance area has a gift shop, snack bar, and a covered picnic area.
The most predominant feature is the pyramid standing 132 feet tall (or so they say). There is one higher by a few feet somewhere else in Belize. You can see into Guatemala and much of the surrounding area from the top which is beautiful. The far side of the pyramid has some carvings left on it. There are 3-4 other areas with pyramids, courts, and other cool things to see. I'll leave it to you to discover. See this before you wander to Tikal or Caracol which are quite a bit more extensive. Bring water and snacks.
Click for panoramas here
Regards,
Ben Kim
www.esotericvision.com
Friday, November 21, 2008
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