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Altun Ha Review

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Altun Ha

Fodor's Review:

If you've never experienced an ancient Mayan city, make a trip to Altun Ha, which is a modern translation in Mayan of the name "Rockstone Pond," a nearby village. It's not Belize's most dramatic site -- Caracol and Lamanai vie for that award -- but it's one of the most accessible and most thoroughly excavated. The first inhabitants settled before 300 BC, and their descendants finally abandoned the site after AD 1000. At its height during the Classic period the city was home to 10,000 people.

A team from the Royal Ontario Museum first excavated the site in the mid-1960s and found 250 structures spread over more than 1,000 square yards. At Plaza B, in the Temple of the Masonry Altars, archaeologists unearthed the grandest and most valuable piece of Mayan art ever discovered -- the head of the sun god Kinich Ahau. Weighing nearly 10 pounds, it was carved from a solid block of green jade. The head is kept in a solid steel vault in the Central Bank of Belize. If this temple looks familiar to you, it's because an illustration of the Masonry Altars structure appears on Belikin beer bottles.

Altun Ha is easily visited on your own -- if you have a car. From Belize City, drive north on the Northern Highway to Mile 18.9 and turn right on the Old Northern Highway and go 10 1/2 mi (17 km). The Old Northern Highway was once paved, but it's now a mix of gravel areas and sections with broken pavement (a few sections are fully paved). The turnoff from the Old Northern Highway to Altun Ha, on the left, is well-marked and the 2 mi (3 km) of roadsite is paved. If coming from Corozal or Orange Walk, you can also enter the Old Northern Highway at Carmelita Village, Mile 49 of the Northern Highway. Because the site is small, it's not necessary to have a tour guide, but licensed guides may offer their services when you arrive.

Tours from Belize City also are an option. Altun Ha is a regular stop on cruise ship excursions, and on days when several ships are in port in Belize City, typically midweek, Altun Ha may be overrun with cruise passengers. Cruise Calendar Web site (www.cruisecal.com) provides information on days when cruise ships are in port. There's limited bus service from Belize City to Maskall Village on the Old Northern Highway, but buses are infrequent and only drop you at the entrance road, so it's a long hike to the ruins.

Several tour operators in San Pedro also offer day trips to Altun Ha, often combined with lunch at Maruba Jungle Resort Jungle Spa. Most of these tours are by boat, landing at Bomba Village. From here, a van makes the short ride to Altun Ha.

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