While in Naples, Italy, in September ’13, my husband, Peter, and I had the privilege of having Dr. Piña Esposito (phone +39 366 6228217 or +39 338 7634224 or email annamariaesposito1@virgilio.it) as our guide. We got her name from Rick Steves’ Italy guide and contacted her two weeks before our trip.
Dr. Esposito, who has degrees in Archaeology and Art History, can be hired for a period of two, three or five hours. We decided on five hours, paying €270 (near $365).
My husband, Jerry, and I took a 7-week trip to Mexico and Guatemala, April 23-June 8, 2013, that focused on the Mayan world and also took in nine Spanish-colonial cities.
Starting in the Yucatán Peninsula in MEXICO, we decided to spend five days first on the Mayan Riviera at Esencia. This fabulous resort is a bit out of our usual price range, but we were glad that we splurged. It is a small resort, with personalized service and extremely comfortable beach cabanas on a quiet beach. I heartily recommend it.
8 days/7 nights, July 12-19 and Aug. 16-23, 2014. Activities modified for younger children (minimum age, 7). Highlights: From Lima, fly to Cusco/Inca ruins of Tambomachay water shrine, Kenko ceremonial center/in Sacred Valley, meet teachers at local school in Willoq, visit villages on horseback, visit a family, Pisaq market for native crafts/in Chinchero, carved boulders on Inca terraces, 17th-century murals in local church, handwoven textiles at plaza market/Machu Picchu, Lost City of the Incas.
Magnificent Chichén Itzá is the most visited set of Mayan ruins in Yucatán, Mexico. It’s certainly the most famous. Busloads of visitors descend upon Chichén Itzá’s pyramid El Castillo daily. Meanwhile, equally impressive but underrated Uxmal slumbers less than a 200-kilometer drive away.
17 days/15 nights, Oct. 17-Nov. 2, 2012. Highlights: In Jerusalem, City of David excavation, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, lectures from scholars, Dead Sea Scrolls/Masada/Jericho/Tiberias/Capernaum/Golan Archaeological Museum/Bronze Age Megiddo/Tel Aviv. Land, $5,985. Single supp., $1,670. Archaeological Tours (New York, NY; 866/740-5130).
11-day / 10-night tour. Highlights: In Copán, HONDURAS, Hieroglyphic Stairway, sculpture museum / in Quiriguá, GUATEMALA, texts and portraits on stelae / pyramids in Tikal / bas-reliefs and hieroglyphs in Palenque, MÉXICO / Temple de los Frescos in Bonampak / market in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Land, $2,900. Single supp., $400. Domestic air, about $125. Mayatour (Doral, FL; 888 / 349-6292).
11-day / 10-night tour in HONDURAS, GUATEMALA and MÉXICO. Highlights: 1,250 glyphs on the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copán, Honduras / 65-ton stele in Quiriguá, Guatemala / Mayan archaeological sites at Tikal, Yaxha, Topoxté / frescoes at Palenque, Mexico / jaguar and crocodile statues in Yaxchilan / Antigua, Guatemala / Chichicastanango handicraft market. Land, $2,900. Single supp., $400. Internal air, about $125. Mayatour (Doral, FL; 888 / 349-6292).
I took a tour of El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and (mostly) Guatemala called “Route of the Maya” with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/955-1925), Jan. 2-18, 2012.
Our in-country guide was Ivania Sibrian. She was extraordinary, the best guide I have experienced in my travels — knowledgeable and not shy to talk about the problems facing the countries we visited.
9 days/8 nights. Highlights: Sunrise at Angkor Wat/Banteay Srei temple/Siem Reap/boat on Tonle Sap Lake/Mechrey ecotourism community/Angkor Thom/pre-Angkor-era temples/Phnom Penh/Toul Sleng prison museum/Killing Fields Museum/limestone caves at Kampong Trach/in Kep, jungle trek through Bokor National Park. Land, from $2,555. Horizon & Co. (Wilmington, DE; 800/387-2977).
In the hotel district of Cancún, Mexico, the Maya Museum (Kukulkan Blvd., phone 01 998 885 3842, [website in Spanish only]) opened Nov. 1, 2012. Its three 4,400-square-foot exhibition halls, with sections of architecture, include more than 350 artifacts (pottery, everyday objects, etc.) plus 14,000-year-old Maya skeletons discovered in underwater caves. Open 10 a.m.- 7p.m. Tues.-Sun.; closes 10 p.m. Thurs. Admission near $5 but in pesos; adults over 60 and children under 13, free.
Next door, the San Miguelito archaeological site also is open.