YOUTH BEAT : Mayan Adventures Require a Little Homework First

If there’s a clear sky at sunset on Sept. 21, an ancient Mayan mystery will unfold once again at the ruins of the great pyramid of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan jungle. Each year, at the autumn and spring equinoxes, evening shadows form on the steps of the great pyramid, El Castillo, creating the illusion that there is a giant snake slithering down its steps.

The civilization that mastered such unique architecture, then mysteriously abandoned its massive temple complexes, has intrigued travelers for centuries.

The average tourist visits sites such as Chichen Itza on a day tour from a seaside resort, arriving during the hottest period of the day and having just a few hours to explore.

Independent budget travelers have the advantage of arranging to explore without the crowds, in the cooler morning or late afternoon, or to head off to other sites less frequented by the package tourists.

If you are going to visit the Yucatan region of Mexico and the Mayan ruins beyond, you need to do your homework on budget accommodations, local transportation, and health and safety issues. Fortunately, there are a variety of sources that can really help backpacking adventurers, including some that are free.

You can actually browse through the entire text of the 528-page “The Maya World” (Rough Guides, $19.95) for free on the Internet at https://www.roughguides.com. Six travel writers contributed to the 1999 edition of the guide. It offers a wealth of practical information for visiting southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

It might seem a bit odd for a publisher to put the complete text of a book on a site where people can help themselves for free, but the way it’s divided up, the effort it would take to piece together your own copy to carry with you would be impractical. They’re hoping you’ll like what you read and buy the book.

“Guatemala, Belize & Yucatan: La Ruta Maya,” by Tom Brosnahan and Nancy Keller (Lonely Planet, $19.95), is not only full of practical travel information, but it’s an interesting read, with lots of maps for wandering around key sites without a guide. The drawback is the date of the most recent edition: 1997.

But author Brosnahan also operates a helpful Internet site where he posts important reports from readers, many relating to safety situations, plus links to government travel advisories and health information. You can view the information at: https://www.infoexchange.com.

If you want to be sure to meet up with other young travelers along your route, then consider carrying a “Let’s Go” guide. They are researched by students and focus on the activities and places that backpackers prefer. If you’ll be touring Mexico and beyond, you’ll need to buy two separate guides: “Let’s Go: Mexico” and “Let’s Go: Central America,” $19.95 each from St. Martin’s Press.

As you do research, you’ll learn that in this part of the world you won’t find many youth hostels, but there are other budget options. For example, “Rough Guides” suggests: “Beach huts, or cabanas, are found at the more rustic, backpacker-oriented beach resorts, and sometimes inland. Usually just a wooden or palm-frond shack with a hammock slung up inside (or a place to sling your own), they often do not have even electricity, though as a resort gets more popular, they tend to transform into sturdier beach bungalows with modern conveniences and higher prices.”

For those entering the region via Cancun (a popular gateway to the Yucatan region, 127 miles from Chichen Itza), the guide adds that “the former backpacker havens, the tiny island of Isla Mujeres, just offshore from Cancun, and the beach town of Playa del Carmen, about 60 miles farther south, are becoming more expensive and more crowded every year.

“Those on a tight budget shouldn’t despair, though, as there are more affordable beach destinations near Tulum, the most perfectly situated of all Maya ruins.”

Safety is an issue. You should familiarize yourself with current issues and areas of concern, such as the Chiapas highlands in Mexico, the region of the 1994 Zapatista rebellion. One way is to check government travel advisories. For U.S. government advisories, visit https://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html. The Canadian government’s are at https://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca.

Also, try to talk to travelers who can offer their firsthand recommendations and suggest situations that you should avoid. I talked to a traveler who had been with a small group waiting for a bus in Guatemala. When it didn’t arrive, they were offered a ride in a truck, which they accepted. This is common in many Third World countries. You pay the driver a fee similar to the bus fare.

Eventually, they noticed a number of machine guns buried in the back of the truck. She believes that she and her fellow travelers may have been used as decoys. A truck appearing to carry tourists would less likely be stopped and searched for weapons.