LAS CIUDADES DE DIOSES

Day 1: Arrival to Mexico City.

Transfer from Mexico City airport to the hotel (30-40 min).

Day 2: Mexico City Tour – Teotihuacan – National Museum of Anthropology (10 hours)

Impressive megapolis showcasing Mexico’s unique combination of Indians, Mestizos, Creoles and Europeans. The capital is a city of mixed emotions, splendid colors and spicy tastes. You will see: “Zocalo”, the main national square, ruins of the ancient Aztec city Tenochtitlan, and the National Palace. See murals by Mexico’s greatest artist, Diego Rivera. These colorful murals depict Mexico’s pre-Columbian Indian history, the colonial period and the Revolution.

Visit Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec Park. See archaeological treasures of pre-Hispanic civilizations, including the Toltec, Mexica, Aztec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Olmec and Maya. Cast your eyes on the immense Aztec Calendar Stone.

Then visit Mexico’s grandest archaeological site, ancient Teotihuacán (80km from Mexico City) Sixth largest city in the world in 400 A.D., Teotihuacán was mysteriously abandoned 300 years later, centuries before the Aztec occupation. Visit the Jaguar Palace and Temple of the Plumed Conch Shells. Wander around Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. Stroll along Avenue of the Dead, flanked by temples and palaces. Return to hotel.

Day 3: Mexico City – 125 km – Puebla – 308 km – Veracruz.

Your journey towards the Caribbean coast begins. Morning: drive to visit the historic center of colonial Puebla, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Puebla enjoys clean air and good quality of life, a city legendary for it’s chocolate sauce “mole”. Arrive to Veracruz, check-in at hotel.

Day 4: Veracruz – 480 km – Villahermosa – 140 km – Palenque.

Departure for Villahermosa. Visit to La Venta Museum, cultural predecessor of all Mesoamerican cultures. Try to fathom one of the most mysterious facts of ancient civilization – gigantic stone heads with Negroid features. Arrival to Palenque, check-in at hotel.

Day 5: Palenque – Yaxchilan – Palenque.

Early departure. Yaxchilan is literally lost in the jungles of Chiapas, reached only from the Usumacinta River along the Mexico/ Guatemala border. You’ll hear howler monkeys and an endless variety of birds in these untouched, pristine jungles. Yaxchilan is the sacred city for Lacandon Indians, an ethnic group who preserve their pagan past; many continue to live the jungle. Fantastic nature, mystical past, archeological center more than 2000 years old. Return to the hotel in Palenque.

Day 6: Palenque – 365 km – Campeche.

Visit the archeological center of Palenque, one of the most magnificent sites of Mayan civilization. This City-Gallery contains stone portraits of priests and of the emperor Pakal II, as well as a dynastic chronicle, the temple of the Sun and the Cross, ‘spaceman’ image on the wall of the Emperor Pakal sarcophagus, and many other wonders. This City of Mysteries is densely covered in tall jungle foliage. Crossing the Usumacinta River we arrive to Campeche, famous by its 17th century walls. Check-in to the hotel.

Day 7: Campeche – 171 km – Uxmal – 80 km – Merida.

Enjoy a completely different landscape, get to know the city-port with its boisterous pirate history. Uxmal is an incredible representative of Puuc architecture. You cannot miss the oval-shaped foundations of Pyramid of the Wizard, or the Governor’s temple adorned with 365 masks of Chaak, the rain god. Roam through Nuns’ Square, the Temple of Turtles. Arrive to Merida. Check-in at hotel.

Day 8: Merida – 107 km – Chichen Itza – 50 km – Ek Balam – 180 km – Cancun.

Travel through fields of henequen, natural fiber, the ancient currency of Yucatan. Arrive to Chichen-Itza, rightly named ‘Wonder of the New World. This temple complex beautifully represents Mayan – Tolteque culture.

Only the elite – Magicians, scientists, and ‘soccer’ players could access this special landscape of white stone and ‘eyes’ of the earth – underground lakes. Such temples, belonging to Mexico’s classical and post-classical periods, were never seen in action by the Spanish colonisers. When the Europeans came, the Temples were already abandoned. Arch-astronomy was developed here, a world-view holding Philosophy and History to be identical.

View the Pyramid of Kukulkan, ‘the feathered serpent’, the field of ball games, the observatory and much more. Swim in Ik-Kil cenote, ‘a place where the wind is born’, and the Yucatan’s most beautiful karsts lake.

Finally we visit Ek Balam, the archeological center celebrating fantastic discoveries of the last decades. Learn how recent discoveries have flipped understanding of Mayan culture upside down. Only a small area is visible, the remainder of the city is buried under thick jungle. Spot the Acropolis, Ball Game field, Twin Buildings, Observatory, and ritual saunce, the Temascal. Arrive to Cancun.

General info: