Ruta Maya – Part Seven
This is Part Seven of a series of articles about the Aztec and Mayan pyramids and ruins in Central America. Updated Sep 2022.
What is Ruta Puuc?
Ruta Puuc is a tour of the Mayan archaeological sites in northern Yucatan, Mexico. It includes the sites of Uxmal, Kabah, Labna, Sayil and Xlapak. The Ruta Puuc is part of the Ruta Maya, a grand tour of all the archaeological ruins in Central America.
Uxmal
I have already written about Uxmal in a previous post. You can read about it here. Uxmal is the highlight of the Ruta Puuc and is one of the better stops on the entire Ruta Maya. If you do not have time to tour the whole of Ruta Puuc, be sure to see Uxmal. It is about 80 km from the city of Merida, and you can do it on a day trip by bus or rented car. However, for an extensive tour of the whole of Ruta Puuc, allow three days, although some people squeeze it all into one day on a bus trip from Merida.
Kabah
Kabah consists of two large buildings; a temple and a palace. (The palace photos are above, and the temple below). The temple is covered in masks of the rain god and is the single most ornate Mayan building in the Yucatan. Across the highway from these two buildings is a pyramid that has yet to be excavated. It looks like a huge hill. A group of workers were chopping down the bushes in a circle around the base of it while I was there, so I assume there are plans to uncover it after being buried for hundreds of years.
Just past the pyramid is an arch. It was the entrance to the road to Uxmal, some 25 km away. There is another arch the same at the other end of the road in Uxmal. It is a testament to the knowledge of the Mayans that the road runs exactly on a north-south axis. Unfortunately, most of the road is now overgrown by forest.
Click photos to enlarge.
The uncovered pyramid gives one an idea of what all the Mayan ruins must have looked like when they were first discovered in the modern area. After being abandoned for hundreds of years, they were covered with dirt and plants.
Labna
In Labna, one can see the remains of a large palace. There is a lovely arch that was the entrance to the city and an elevated road from the arch to the palace. Especailly relevant, there is an observatory on a hilltop. Several Mayan cities had observatories. There is a large one at Chichen Itza (see part four of the Ruta Maya tour. )
Sayil
The third site to visit is Sayil. There is a substantial three-story palace with a grand stairway up the centre. The left side of the building is still mostly intact, but the right half and the centre are mostly rubble. It must have been a magnificent building. All these Mayan buildings were covered in stucco and painted when they were new. In addition, there were statues and other decorations around the structures. Now the building is occupied by a colony of Cave Swallows.
Xlapak
We did not visit the small archaeological site of Xlapak.
Planning your tour of Ruta Puuc
I used three days for this tour. The first day was to travel to the area and get accommodations. I spent an entire day at Uxmal and the third day touring the other, smaller sites. Uxmal is wonderful. Although not as impressive as Uxmal, the other Mayan archaeological sites are certainly worth a visit. Unfortunately, there is no bus service to the ruins. However, you can hire a driver for the day for 500 pesos (a little more than $40) in the village of Santa Elena. A placed called “the Pickled Onion” has little replica Mayan huts for rent. I stayed there and highly recommend it. The owner will help you arrange transportation. In addition, it also has a great restaurant.
Click here for a complete list of the ruins and pyramids of the Ruta Maya.