Calakmul

Calakmul is one of the Yucatan's largest and most intriguing Maya Archaeological sites. Covering more than 60 square miles and containing some 6,500 buildings (though the vast majority of those still remain covered by the tropical forest) Calakmul was once the seat of a nearly unrivaled superpower

Just north of the Guatemalan border and not far (as the crow flies) from the great city of Tikal Calakmul was the leading city between 250 and 695 A.D. in a vast region known as the kingdom of the Serpents Head.

Calakmul also lies in the middle of a Unesco designated Biosphere Reserve and visitors to the site get the experience of walking among well preserved ruins amid a pristine jungle setting. Several hundred bird species can be seen here as well as a menagerie of other wild animals including Jaguars, Pumas, Spider Monkeys, Ocelots, and White Lipped Peccaries.

The turn off to Calakmul is 59km west of the town of Xpujil and the site is another 59km south on a narrow but paved road. It is certainly one of the most removed sites in the mayan world but it's isolation gives it a unique and untrammeled feeling.