Exploring Mayan Ruins in Belize

One of the things I was most excited to see in Belize was the Mayan ruins. Most people are familiar with Chichén Itzá, a Mayan site southwest of Cancun, Mexico – but fewer consider their presence in Belize.

Dylan and I would be visiting two such sites today. Of course, they wouldn’t be as grandiose as Chichén Itzá, but both have stood the test of time and were fascinating to see.

But before that, we had some breakfast at our hotel, Cahal Pech Village Resort. You can read the full review in my Belize travel budget, but it was a wonderful stay. Breakfast was not included, but was around $15 USD for a buffet at the downstairs restaurant, and I certainly ate my fill!

There were a few notable items. First off was the fry jack – a staple of Belizean cuisine and basically just fried dough. It somewhat reminded me of a wonton, and is often paired with other things like eggs and beans. Speaking of the beans, these were shockingly delicious – probably some of the best I’ve ever had, especially with the fry jacks! And of course, the fruit and guava juice was extremely fresh and tasty, with the papaya being my favorite. A great taste of local cuisine!

Around 8:15 we headed down towards the town. The hotel was at a high point above San Ignacio, so it was a fairly steep slope and a decent distance down, and we knew we’d definitely need a taxi later.

Before heading to the first Mayan site, we decided to stop at one of the local supermarkets and grab some snacks. Afterwards, we hailed a taxi and were on our way.

Something useful to note is that taxis in Belize have a green license plate with white lettering. Make sure that if you are hailing a cab, it has one of these! Keep in mind that the cars may not be in the best of shape – ours had a cracked windshield and sounded like its catalytic converter had been swiped! But hey, it got us where we needed to go.

The ride was only a few miles, and took us fairly close to the Guatemala border to the town of San Jose Succotz. Here, we boarded a small hand-cranked ferry which took us across a little river.

From here, we had to walk about a mile – mostly uphill. Most of the clouds from that morning had started to clear and it was truly becoming a gorgeous day out. It was definitely somewhat humid, but not as bad as we thought it would be.

Then we came upon our destination: Xunantunich Archaeological Reserve (and if you want to sound smart, it’s pronounced shoo-nahn-too-nich)! We paid our entry fee ($12.50 USD) and headed on up towards the complex itself.

As we walked up, we noticed a few border patrol guards – and they were strapped with rifles! We were less than a mile from the Guatemalan border, so they are there to make sure nobody crosses. I doubt they see much action though, as this is a very safe area.

Xunantunich is a fairly large Mayan site, the second-largest in Belize after Caracol – though the latter is much harder to reach, being deep in the jungle south of San Ignacio. It has several plazas, over 20 different structures, and the main building – El Castillo, the second-tallest building in the country at 130 feet. It’s amazing how this 1200 year old structure has withstood the test of time!

Something nice that we noticed was how few tourists there were here, and the ones that were seemed to be part of larger tour groups or were being led by somebody. We had seen at the entrance that you can hire a guide, but it was a ridiculous price – $50 USD! We figured we’d be better off just exploring ourselves.

One of the things we noticed is how the land had really overtaken a lot of the old structures. For example, stone buildings had become small mounds covered in grass, dirt, and trees. It made sense, of course – this site (along with most Mayan ruins) was abandoned well over 1000 years ago, and the jungle reclaimed it until it was rediscovered in the 1890s.

After walking through some of the main areas, Dylan and I decided to climb up El Castillo. It was incredible to think how many people had climbed these steps, and how they were still here after all this time. It was a massive structure, with several adjacent areas like a courtyard and even some interior areas (one of which had bats inside)!

It was a fairly tiring climb – but the view up at the top was stunning. We could see over the whole area, even above much of the tree line. The surrounding jungle was absolutely gorgeous – full of greenery, with a wide sky above dotted with clouds. We were sweaty by this point, but we stayed up at the top for a while just admiring the view.

As we made our way down, we saw what was probably my favorite part of the site: a massive series of carvings depicting some of the religious beliefs of the Maya. Another fun aspect was something we noticed the tour guides doing: you can clap at the base of El Castillo and it will echo!

We wandered around some more, checking out a few other structures and plazas before eventually heading out and walking back down to the ferry. We had to wait for 2 cars that were coming from the other side – there are grooves specifically made for them on the boat.

Dylan and I were considering just taking a taxi back, but he had the idea of trying the local chicken bus, a much cheaper form of transportation (though far less reliable). We weren’t sure how long we would need to wait, so after about 10 minutes we decided to head into town and grab a bite to eat.

San Jose Succotz is not a town on many bucket lists. And I actually really appreciated that. One of my favorite aspects of traveling is seeing what the “real” country looks like. This particular town included small yet colorful houses, a church under renovation, lots of Belizean flags, and a few restaurants – of which we chose “Benny’s Kitchen.”

I went with rice and beans, a staple dish in Belize. Now, to be clear, this is a different dish than beans and rice – our driver from the previous day had made sure to tell us that. Rice and beans means they are combined along with coconut milk, whereas in beans and rice they are kept separate. It also came with potato salad, a fried plantain, stewed chicken, and some veggies. All of this was only $6! We certainly made the right decision eating at a local restaurant.

Around 11:30, we were back at the bus stop. There was a couple who were also waiting, and they told us it would cost $1.25 to get back to San Ignacio – what a steal! The downside was we had to wait about 35 minutes for a bus to show up. Taxi drivers kept honking and pulling up asking if we needed a ride – it happened more than 10 times! But finally, we made it on!

I have to say, Dylan and I had a great time on the bus – I didn’t expect we’d get to take one. It was only a few miles’ ride, but the windows were down (as there was no AC) and music was playing – it was though we had stepped into the shoes of the locals for a brief amount of time.

After getting dropped off in San Ignacio, we decided we’d head down to the market to check it out. Eder, our driver the previous day, had recommended we go the next morning as that’s when they get fresh fruit from the local farms – but we had some time to kill.

As we were walking down, we saw a place called AJAW Chocolate, where you can make chocolate with traditional Mayan recipes and turn it into a drink. I was considering doing the tour, but Dylan said he had tried it once in Mexico and it wasn’t that great. We did get some ice cream for a couple bucks though and it was pretty good, even though I’m not generally a huge chocolate fan!

We ate our frozen snack as we walked down to the central area of town, before eventually coming across the market. Even though it wasn’t a peak day, there was still a lot to see! There were a variety of vendors, shops, and booths. Some sold food like produce or meat, while others sold clothes or toys. Considering the lack of major store chains in Belize, this made a lot of sense There were a few things catered more to tourists but that was definitely a minority of shops. We didn’t buy anything, but decided we’d look again the next day.

We walked around San Ignacio a bit more before catching a taxi up to the second Mayan site of the day, Cahal Pech. This would have been a long walk uphill, so we took a cab. We paid our entrance fee in the visitors center ($10) and looked around – it had some information about the site and a few artifacts. Then we headed up a walkway to the complex.

Honestly, while Xunantunich is more impressive in terms of scale, we really enjoyed Cahal Pech. First off, the entire time we were there (~45 minutes), we literally saw one other person. But the sheer size and complexity surprised us.

While there were fewer fully excavated areas than Xunantunich, this site had a lot more interior sections, which were awesome to be able to walk into. It almost looked like it used to be a sort of apartment complex (turns out it was a home for an elite Maya family)!

It also started raining while we were there – some people might have complained, but it was very refreshing, and honestly super cool to experience as basically the only tourists there. We had to be careful not to slip, but it was really fun to just explore around the complex and see what we could find!

There were several different plazas, as well as two ball courts. We had seen one at Xunantunich as well – these were for the Mayan ball game, sometimes associated with ritual sacrifice.

The weather alternated between rain and sun while we were there – a fairly frequent occurrence in Belize. They certainly don’t call it the rainforest for nothing!

After Cahal Pech, we headed back up to the hotel – it was only a short walk. It was only around 2:30, so Dylan and I decided to grab a drink at the bar. He had another Belikin beer, while I got a piña colada (which was delicious).

From there we decided to go swimming. The hotel had a couple pools, and it was a beautiful yet humid day – a perfect opportunity to take a dip. We chilled in the water and on some lounge chairs for a while, and took some time to just relax. We were in Belize… why not enjoy a little time to ourselves?

A little before 5:30 we went back into town to get some dinner. Eder had recommended a local place called Trin’s Restaurant and Bar, and while we had to stand and wait for a bit, we found some tables towards the back. While we waited, we noticed the TV was covered in a cage – football matches must get pretty heated sometimes!

It took us a while to get served and even longer to get our food, but we enjoyed the atmosphere. I got stuffed jalapeños and a beef fajita. I did have to assemble the fajita myself, but it ended up being incredible – despite just being meat, peppers, beans, and pico de gallo.

We decided to wander around a little more after that, and Dylan found a smoke shop – buying a couple menthol cigarettes since they’re banned in California. He wanted a cigar, but they did not have any.

We took a taxi back to the hotel again, and the driver was awesome for our short ride, playing Linkin Park on the radio!

When we got back, Dylan decided he would hang out down at the hotel bar, and he later said he met some cool people like an American expat who moved down since it is comparably so cheap. Meanwhile, I just relaxed, and savored the nighttime air and view.

We had greatly enjoyed our time here. Tomorrow, we’d be leaving San Ignacio, going from the jungle and Mayan ruins to a true tropical paradise: the island of Caye Caulker.