Calakmul is one of those places that take people directly into one those famous American adventure movies. Hidden in the middle of a huge forest, it offers a great experience, combining culture and nature, to the brave souls willing to see it. Reaching Calakmul is not an easy thing.

There is only one road leading to the site. This road, if we can call it a road or a path, is already an adventure in itself. Full of holes, surrounded by forest, you can easily meet animals while driving, especially considering that you cannot speed anyway. Among the animals we saw in the site and on the way, we can mention many monkey, a coral snake, many ocellated turkeys, few wide pigs, few lizards and of course many birds.

To access the path leading to Calakmul, people must take the road linking Villahermosa. via Escarcega, to Chetumal. If you come from Escarcega, you have to drive on this road until the small village of Conhuas. Cross the village and few hundred meters after the end, you will find, on your right, the entry to the Calakmul path, with a guard to which you have to pay an entrance fee. This entrance is badly indicated so be careful. There must be a checkpoint at the very beginning. If there is none, you are probably on the wrong road.

Once on the Calakmul path, there is a 60 km trip to reach the ruins. Considering the state of the road, it may fairly take 1,5 to 2 hours to reach the small parking of the site. You will also see one or two additional checkpoints with guards to which fees have to be paid. An important tip, if you drive your own car, is to have enough fuel, given that from Escarcega to Chetumal, there are very few gas stations, mostly located in Xpuhil town.

The ruins are in a less good state than the ones people can see in Chichen Itza, Uxmal or Palenque, but offer this unique sensation of being untouched since their discovery. Nature is playing a key role is this experience. Finally, climbing on some of the highest pyramids offers a great view on the forest. From there, you see nothing but trees, no human presence.