Travel guides
The traditional Pu’uc route, ancient Mayan architecture.
If your tastes are based on pre-Hispanic architecture, Puuc style or simply the history of Mayan culture, this route is for you!
In the south of Yucatan the Mayan cities are concentrated that in the antiquity developed an abundant style in decorations, their buildings were full of masks and figures that form patterns.
These ancient cities are: Uxmal, Labna, Sayil, Kabah, Xlapak; same that you will visit when making this route.
Normally it is called “puuc” route that derives from the Mayan word “PU’UK” interpreted as: hill, mountain range of low hills or mountain; they are in the highest territory.
This route has become famous due to the proximity of the cities and the variation of pu’uk style buildings.
NOTICE OF DIFFICULTY:
This route must be done with a car, those who try to go backpacking will take a long time; Most cities are on a very narrow and little traveled road.
The archaeological sites close between 4 and 5pm, remember to allocate the appropriate time to your sites of greatest interest to visit them all.
HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE:
The puuc (pu’uk) architecture marks a period in the Mayan culture of transition between the Classic period and the post-classical period, since most of these cities were built at the end of the classical period.
Travel Route:
This route is planned to start in the city of Mérida, from here you will have to head south to reach Uxmal and then to the other Mayan cities that you will visit.
From the center of Mérida, drive south on Avenida Itzáes towards Campeche; follow the signs to Uman and when you get to this town you will follow the new signs to another town called Muna, be careful because you can easily get diverted by another road that leads to Campeche and if so you will have to return to Uman to return to the right path.
After the Muna village you will find the archaeological site of Uxmal, along the road there are signs.
We recommend you start the trip at 7am, to get to the archaeological site just when they open, remember that you only have from 8am to 4pm to visit 5 places.
UXMAL
It is the first destination on the road, it is one of the largest cities in size and number of restored buildings in the pu’uk region, visiting the whole area requires approximately 02:30 hours due to size.
Among the most important buildings is the pyramid of the fortune teller located at the beginning of the route, this structure does not have external corners for its peculiar oval contour.
KABAH
It is the second city on the route, when leaving Uxmal, drive south on the same road where you will find the archaeological zone on the left.
The place is small, but it keeps a great beauty in its decoration; the pu’uk region lacked wells (cenotes) and the obtaining of water was very difficult, therefore they had as a fundamental deity Chaac (god of rain) to provide water.
Discover what are the cenotes in Yucatan
Yucatan Travel Guide
SAYIL
On the same road keep driving south, until you find the signs of the puuc route and turn left to get to Sayil.
The representative of this small area that covers 3 square kilometers is the main palace with three levels and small structures like the viewpoint.
XLAPAK
This smaller site is very similar in architecture, its development happened at the end of the classic (800d.C to 1000d.C.) And was very important point of trade thanks to the high agricultural production in the area.
This is the smallest place on the whole route *
LABNÁ
This is the last puuc-style Mayan city of this route, it is also famous for an arch structure, which is preserved in good condition. It was also very productive in agriculture because it is located a few kilometers from Xlapak.
Labna is the end of this route, to return to Merida you have two options: the first is to return by the same road, and the second option is to continue on the road to the Oxkutzcab village to take a road with better conditions and wider to return to Merida.
Tip:
Very close to Labna are the “grottos de Loltún” that you can walk.
Where to eat:
Muna is the last town, where you can find a store or food stall in the market before arriving in Uxmal; after this you will only find very small ejidos in which we do not observe food stalls or restaurants.
Where to sleep:
Right in front of the archaeological zone of Uxmal, crossing the highway is the hotel “Hacienda Uxmal” with rooms from $ 1,500.00. Another cheaper option is to drive to the town “Santa Elena” located after Uxmal a few minutes and before Kabah, rent rooms and houses type “cabin”.
Stuff you will need:
- Backpack
(Half of the time on this route will be walking, therefore carry a backpack to store what you need most, for example: water.) - Sunscreen.
- Long clothes to cover the sun.
- Water to drink.
Costs and Prices:
- Acces Mayan Sites
$50.00 Labná
$00.00 Xlapak
$50.00 Kabah
$50.00 Sayil
$207.00 Uxmal
