Maya Explorer

With Explorer’s Guides, expert authors and helpful icons make it easy to locate places of extra value, family-friendly activities, and excellent restaurants and lodgings. Regional and city maps help you get around and What’s Where provides a quick reference on everything from tourist attractions to off-the-beaten-track sites. Tour the heartland of the Aztec and Maya empires, ancient Mexico’s greatest civilizations, including Mexico City, the Yucata´n Peninsula, Chiapas, and Campeche. Through their astounding ruins, the institutions that have chronicled their legacies, and the visible traces of their culture today, this guide shows you the glory of ancient and mighty civilizations.

The best guide to Mexico’s finest vacation destination Joshua Hinsdale’s insider knowledge and selective recommendations make this book a must- have for your sojourn on the Yucatán Peninsula. Let it help you make the most of your time in this beautiful place: delve deep into fascinating Mayan ruins, explore the pedestrian boardwalk in Playa del Carmen, or fish for elusive bonefish along the famous Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve in Punta Allen. This new edition features gorgeous new photography; detailed maps; rich history; a glossary of English to Spanish phrases; a rundown of the best local swimming lagoons, hidden beaches, and taco bars; events calendars; and much more. Regions include: • Puerto Aventuras • Cozumel • Cancún • Isla Mujeres

Completely updated, this insider's guide veers off the tourist trail for intrepid travelers to experience the local color, intrigue and charm of the Riviera Maya. For travelers in the know, Playa del Carmen is the little gem with all the beauty of white sand beaches that has drawn crowds from around the world to Cancun, with none of the high-rise overdevelopment. Playa remains a wonderful, sleepy town on a human scale, yet its discovery has resulted in a wide range of lodging and dining options. For families and adventurous travelers alike, there's something for everyone in this Mexican Riviera, known as the “Riviera Maya.” You can explore the fascinating Mayan ruins on the beach at Tulum, shop and have a fabulous lunch on the pedestrian area in Playa, stay in a full-service resort along Playacar, and go for some of the best fishing in the world near the famous Sian Ka'an biosphere in Punta Allen. The Riviera Maya is one of the true travel hot spots in the world today. Includes detailed info for eco-travelers, Maya culture buffs, anglers, foodies, and anyone needing respite on a sleepy beach. This is the definitive guidebook on Playa del Carmen. Distinctive for their accuracy, simplicity, and conversational tone, the diverse travel guides in our Explorer's Great Destinations series meet the conflicting demands of the modern traveler. They're packed full of up-to-date information to help plan the perfect getaway. And they're compact and light enough to come along for the ride. A tool you'll turn to before, during, and after your trip, these guides include chapters on lodging, dining, transportation, history, shopping, recreation, and more; a section packed with practical information, such as lists of banks, hospitals, post offices, laundromats, numbers for police, fire, and rescue, and other relevant information; maps of regions and locales, and more.

Hidden beaches, great taco bars, secret fishing holes, and buzzing nightspots await . . . Explorer's Guides show you how to visit great places like a local, getting under the touristy surface with insights into the area's history, culture, economy, and more. Explorer's Guides Playa del Carmen, Tulum & the Riviera Maya: A Great Destination is no exception. The author’s insider knowledge and selective recommendations make this book a must-have for your sojourn in Mexico. Let it help you make the most of your time in this beautiful place: delve deep into fascinating Mayan ruins; explore the pedestrian boardwalk in Playa del Carmen; or fish for elusive bonefish along the famous Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve in Punta Allen. This fully revised and updated fourth edition features color photography; detailed maps; rich history; a glossary of English to Spanish phrases; a rundown of the best local swimming lagoons, hidden beaches, and great taco bars; events calendars; and much more. It's all you need to help you plan your best vacation yet.

This compelling volume is enriched with Stephens' own anecdotal accounts of his discoveries and is accompanied by the superb illustrations of Frederick Catherwood, the artist who escorted "the father of American archaeology" on his expeditions.

Steve Glassman retraces John Lloyd Stephens' 1839 route, visiting the same archaeological sites, towns, markets, and churches and meeting along the way the descendants of those people Stephens described, from mestizo en route to the cornfields to town elders welcoming the Norte Americanos. Glassman's work interlaces discussion of the history, natural environment, and architecture of the region with descriptions of the people who live and work there. Glassman compares his 20th-century experience with Stephens's 19th-century exploration, gazing in awe at the same monumental pyramids, eating similar foods, and avoiding the political clashes that disrupt the governments and economies of the area.