The Puuc Route is another of the designated driving trails south of Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula that takes in a dense concentration of Mayan sites in a somewhat elevated area, the most important of which is Uxmal. Along the way are several towns with colonial churches and the Grutas Loltun, a cave system with an important history.

It was amazing to me how little visited this area of the country is . The four smaller Mayan sites along the route – Labna, Xlapak, Sayil, and Kabah – all have quite significant ruins that put anything built by pre-Columbian people who lived in the bounds of what's now the United States to shame. But compared to the big sites, these are pretty minor. I had them virtually to myself with possibly two or three other people at the sites at the same time. They’re kind of spread out with a lot of walking between the different edifices. On the one hand the quiet walks on trails through the dry forest were very appealing. On the other hand, though, by late morning and early afternoon they were just baking in brilliant sunshine and temperatures between 95* and 100*F. The redeeming factors were very dry air and a strong breeze that reminded me of the Indian country of the southwestern U.S. Even dry air saps your strength, though, and by the time I finished with the four I was in need of a big lunch and then a return to Ticul for an afternoon siesta.

I started out the morning with a visit to the Grutas Loltun cave system . For some reason I was incorrectly led to believe they only did tours in the morning. Otherwise I’d have planned out my day to take them in during the hot afternoon since it’s always the same temperature underground. The guidebook descriptions of the caves weren’t too extensive, so I honestly wasn’t expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. It turned out that I was the only visitor for the 9:30 A.M. tour so got assigned a guide who spoke English very well. Although guides are mandatory, their fee isn’t included in the entrance ticket, so I had to negotiate what I’d pay him.

The caves turned out to be very impressive, part of a cenote type system in the limestone rock, but in this elevated country what might be a water-filled cenote system elsewhere is just a cavern with some occasional running water during the rainy season. First of all, I was impressed by the size of the chambers. They’re huge! I secondly enjoyed the rather rough nature of the nearly 2 kilometer walk through the caves over more than an hour; it’s mostly on watch-your-step stony surfaced, not the nice paved trails they make in American national parks. And thirdly I was impressed by the signs of inhabitation deep in the caves, including lots of pottery shards. Some hand prints on the walls surrounded by charcoal dust have been carbon-dated back to 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, indicated prehistoric use of the caves. Holes from the surface that fall deep into the caves are believed to have been used during prehistoric times as a way of hunting, where some hunters on the surface would chase animals to fall into the hole while others inside the cave would gather up those that fell in and died or finish off any wounded animals that might still be alive. The guide said remains even of Mammoths have even been found in the caves. Mammoths lived in the Yucatan?

Then there’s signs of them being used ceremonially during pre-Colombian Mayan times. Finally, the caves were used as a place of refuge during the 1840s by Mayans escaping Mexican forces during the Caste War, during which they resided in the caves and built walls as fortifications at the entrances. Overall the caves were really interesting and well worth a visit as something very different from what else I’ve seen in the Yucatan.