If Children Can’t Climb Pyramid, It’s History : In Mexico’s Yucatan, nothing makes impression like getting to know an ancient site with one’s hands and feet.

“We can really climb it?” We stared up 140 feet to the top of the crumbling white pyramid the Maya had built more than 1,000 years ago.

Nine-year-old Matt and 7-year-old Regina were so mesmerized by the sight of the Nohoch Mul pyramid, they forgot that moments before they had been dying of heat and thirst, as a result of our 15-minute trek through the jungle to the site. Then we climbed to the top of the tallest pyramid in the Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula--all 120 uneven, crumbling steps--right behind a high school group from Clarksville, Tenn., and a Mexico City family with three young children. Reggie counted every step, reaching the top before I was halfway there.

Once at the summit, we could see jungle-covered pyramids all around us. I tried to explain to the kids that where we saw dense jungle was once a city complete with an intricate network of ancient paved highways and thousands of small houses; that less than 5% of the 18-square-mile area has been excavated. We speculated on how difficult it must have been for the Mayan priests to climb to the top in their heavy robes and headdresses in the terrible heat.

“Tell the children the background before you go,” suggested Clarksville High School Spanish teacher Elaine Tucker, who has shepherded students through the ruins for 20 years. When we met her at Coba, she was busy imparting historical facts to her charges. But I confess that Matt and Reggie were absorbed more by touching and seeing--and most of all climbing--than by anything I said. And when they got hot and tired, we left. It was better to quit while they were excited.

To continue our adventure, we headed straight for the Villa Arqueologica Coba. Owned by Club Med and located at the entrance of the ruins, the small hotel served us a wonderful lunch (although expensive at $35) of gazpacho, cold seafood and quesadillas in a lush garden by the pool. Before our food was served, the kids jumped in the pool. It was a perfect end to the morning touring the ruins: There were even other American kids on hand to compare notes about climbing the pyramid.

“We really took our time,” said Eric Bueschlen, who had just finished touring the ruins with his wife and two kids, 7 and 9. “Don’t forget to carry water and snacks and wear good shoes,” the Lansing, Mich., teacher advised. And be sure to take insect repellent.

“I won’t say Sarah understood all of the cultural implications of what she saw,” said Diane O’Neill, a public defender from Middletown, N.J., who was touring Coba with her 6-year-old daughter and husband the same week we were there. “But it was a real adventure in the jungle.”

That’s because this is not a manicured historic site with T-shirt salesmen and smooth-talking guides. On the two-lane road leading to Coba, we passed Mayan villages with thatched huts, waving to shyly smiling children toting water in buckets and sticks on their backs. “I guess they don’t have to take baths often,” Matt and Reggie decided, noting how difficult water was to retrieve.

When we arrived at the ruins, we found a lone ticket taker (the entrance fee was roughly $5 for adults; free for children) who handed us a small map. I had been advised to get a guide to help us tour the site, but there wasn’t one to be found. It is easy to get lost amid the jungle paths that lead to the excavated ruins. None of the paths are well marked, and to make matters worse, I realized I had left my guidebook at the hotel.

But searching out the ruins ourselves, looking for lizards along the dirt paths lined by jungle foliage, seemed to add to the adventure. At one point, a caretaker obligingly pointed us in the right direction. At another, some German tourists helped. Maybe we didn’t see everything, or understand all that we did see, but we had a lot of fun doing it. And with kids, that’s always the point.

Matt, Reggie and I wandered on our own. We checked out the small temple at the top with the Tennessee high school students and then obliged them by taking a group picture with each of their cameras.

“You get an experience for your whole life,” said 16-year-old Beth Shelton.

Matt and Reggie would agree. They still haven’t stopped talking about climbing the giant pyramid.

Taking the Kids invites reader questions and comments about family travel. Address them to: Taking the Kids, 2859 Central St., Box 119, Evanston, Ill. 60201.

DR, SUSAN MONDT