Lacandona Jungle, Yaxchilan and Bonampak Day Trip from Palenque

Long tour with experienced driver. Magic to visit two Mayan sites. Good guide. Well organized. Pickup from hotel. Breakfast and lunch good quality.

Muy linda experiencia, increibles relatos del guia ,por suerte la locomoción buena ya que los caminos son muy difíciles el desayuno y almuerzo muy bueno .Muy recomendable

La veille je n'avais aucun contact pour le lieu de prise en charge et l'agence ecoexperiencas était fermée. Heureusement l'hotelier a pu par mail renouer contact. Etait-ce ce qui était prévu? Car pour le prix, bus rempli, siège sur roue sans cesse secoué (long parcours) et ce n'était pas le nom de l'agence affiché sur le minibus. Je suppose qu'elle m'avait oublié et soustraité au dernier moment suite à ma relance. Je pense que c'était les excursions qui pouvaient être prise aux hotels à coût nettement moindre. Guide trés moyen. Dommage les sites valent la visite.

We loved our tour. They were on time, the driver was wonderful. And our guide was informative and funny. It was a long day. I would consider staying overnight with the Lacandona I believe the experience would be even better spread over two days.

This tour includes a lot and, as you'd expect, means it's a long day. Very early morning pick up times from Palenque, swapping buses part way through which meant my wife was stuck at the front of the bus for the first few hours while I was stuck at the very back. Luckily, when we stopped at a roadside cafe for 'breakfast' the family at the back of the bus took pity on us as it was our honeymoon and swapped places so my wife could join me at the back. The ride in the back was painful, the road surfaces are dreadful but at least we were together. The breakfast cafe place has a good thing going with the tour groups and runs very smoothly. There's not much selection and, being vegetarian, we weren't terribly impressed but others seemed fine with it. A few painful hours on board the bus finally got us to the river. Here you walk across wooden planks (makeshift bridges) to your waiting long boats. The journey along the river between Mexico and Guatamala was beautiful. We saw locals washing their clothes and fishing, then further up the river we saw a crocodile! The scenery was just fantastic. We paid extra to have an English speaking guide who took us around Yaxchilan and then, later, Bonampak ruins. He was eccentric and very knowledgable. At Yaxchilan, as well as climbing and walking amongst the ruins, we saw howler monkeys shouting over each other's territories. The ruins are fascinating and one has even been claimed by some gorgeous fruit bats. Bonampak saw us head back down the beautiful river, back on the bus for another painful journey. A brief stop at another roadside eatery for a three course meal (soup, cheese wrap for us vegetarians and a lemon cake/ tart for desert) which was pleasant before arriving at a settlement owned by the Laconda people. Only the Laconda people can take people into the sacred site of Bonampak so we had to swap to their bus for the even bumpier ride through the jungle to Bonampak. Bonampak is well preserved and has some of the best art work of its kind that still exists. If not for the muggy conditions and the swarms of mosquitos and numerous other bitey bugs, it would have been a fascinating end to the days ruins. The insects just wouldn't leave everyone alone, regardless of what insect repellent we wore. Such a shame but something that can't be helped. Some of our group had opted to stay with local Laconda family's for the night so we dropped them off and headed back to Palenque, making a stop at the roadside cafe again for 'supplies' and to pick up rowdy tourists heading in the same direction as us. We arrived back at our hotel in darkness, absolutely knackered and very grateful to get off the awfully uncomfortable minibus! All in all, a very mixed day. Yaxchilan and the boat ride were fantastic. Our English speaking guide was helpful. Bonampak would have been fascinating if we could have relaxed and absorbed the information. The food was mixed. The transport was dreadfully uncomfortable, painful even if you're near the back, and seemed to last forever. We are glad we did it but wouldn't rush to do it again!

The sites were great, the history informative, events confirming, and scenes beautiful. The guide was knowledgable, helpful, and good, but took us 2 hours out of our schedule and tour for his personal and next day tour advantage, ending our trip with very unpleasant and negative experiences and chain of events.

Its several hours drive from Palenque to this site and then must leave vehicle to then go with the Lacondonia people who oversees this area. The paintings are wonderful but its a rough drive in places, 3 seperate fees apply, and the people care taking this place are offered zero info....they also were not on time with our vehicle transfer and seemed to care less. Someother Mexican government entity needs to supervise this place