Many centuries ago, the dense jungles of what is now Southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, as well as the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador witnessed the rise of a sophisticated civilization that would later produce among the finest and most impressive monuments in the Western Hemisphere. Known today as the Maya, they erected towering pyramids, ornately-decorated palaces, and vast ceremonial ballcourts that would outlast this ancient civilization, leaving us with majestic ruins that are both intriguing and inspiring. However, these great builders were never unified under one central ruler. Instead, they belonged to different city-states that were as busy waging war against each other as they were constructing grand edifices.

Palenque was one of the most consequential Maya polities that emerged from these lush forests, a region blessed with abundant water that witnessed the rise and fall of different city-states for millennia. However, far from these rivers, a subset of the ancient Maya civilization settled in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula due to a combination of factors. In this less hospitable land, they not only managed to survive, but also thrive. Here, the dry season was long, and despite the ample amount of rainfall this region received annually during the wetter months, the porous limestone of this land prevented rivers from forming. There was no aboveground body of water back then, and there is still none today. But the ancient Maya of this area knew where to look.

Below the surface, a dark and mysterious world – known today as cenotes – was believed to be the gateway to the afterlife, as well as a source of life for the living. These are natural pits created when the limestone bedrock of the Yucatán collapsed, revealing the clean groundwater underneath. Think of them like cisterns or massive wells that sustained large populations around them. And these were instrumental to the expansion of Maya settlements in this region to eventually become great city-states in their own right, like Chichén Itzá and Uxmal – the latter being the Maya ruins I most wanted to see.

From the lushness of Palenque, we had a change of scenery when we arrived in Uxmal. When we went in early April, some of the trees at the site had shed most of their leaves, and the grass began to look parched. The air was noticeably drier too, but the skies were marvelously blue.

Barely a few minutes after we entered the compound, we were already presented with a magnificent pyramid that is unique in the Maya world. The Pyramid of the Magician (or La Pirámide del Adivino in Spanish) is visually distinguishable from other Maya pyramids thanks to its smooth curved edges. Being the tallest structure in the archaeological zone, it actually consists of five layers of temples, built on top of each other with the oldest estimated to date back to the 6^th century CE. Such superimposition was a common practice among the ancient Maya who did it for different reasons, including to symbolize the transformation a new ruler brought upon his subjects, or to mark societal shifts. In fact, the name Uxmal itself means “three times built”, denoting the multiple layers of history of this place throughout the centuries.

We followed the pathway that goes behind the Pyramid of the Magician and arrived at the Nunnery Quadrangle (El Cuadrángulo de las Monjas), a name given by 16^th-century Spanish surveyors who thought this compound reminded them of convents back home. Constructed in the 10^th century, it was our first of many in-situ encounters with one of the most ubiquitous sculptures in the Yucatán: the image of Chaac, the Maya god of rain, thunder, and lightning. While different interpretations of this deity existed in Mesoamerica with various names (including Tlaloc and Cocijo), the ancient Maya of the Yucatán took his depiction to a whole new level. We were greeted by multiple faces of Chaac, stacked on top of each other, as we drew closer to the Nunnery. A plausible explanation for this can be linked to the lack of aboveground water in this region, prompting the local populace to turn to this particular god and venerate him fervently.

We explored this compound and marveled at the fine carvings while noticing something we didn’t see in Palenque. All the buildings that make up the Nunnery seemed to have lower walls that were plain, with the profusion of decorative elements concentrated on the upper sections of the structures. This is apparently the Puuc architectural style, prevalent in the southwestern parts of the Yucatán Peninsula where a large range of karst hills dominated the landscape. (Puuc itself means “hill” in the local Maya language.) Apart from Chaac, I observed another deity prominently depicted at the Nunnery: Kukulkan, also known as the Plumed Serpent. Closely related to Quetzalcoatl (a similar god in the Nahuatl-speaking people’s mythology as portrayed at Teotihuacan’s Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent), the Kukulkan at the Nunnery takes the form of a rattlesnake with a human figure emerging from its open mouth. I was utterly fascinated, for the themes and characters of these carvings were a world away, both literally and figuratively, from those adorning ancient temples back home in Southeast Asia.

Our exploration of Uxmal continued as we scanned the ballcourt – a rectangular field for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame – from the portal arch of the south building at the Nunnery. In the far background was the stately Governor’s Palace (El Palacio del Gobernador), built on higher ground compared to the rest of the site. But before going there, we had to figure out how to get past a beast looking at us with its rather inquisitive gaze. It was our first introduction to the black spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura similis), a lizard species native to this part of Mexico. Luckily, after exchanging stares with me, it budged, making just enough space for us to amble safely through without having to worry about inadvertently stepping on its spiky tail.

We walked through the ballcourt, with my mind imagining how lively this place must have been when different opposing teams who tried to hit the ball (made of natural rubber) using only their hips played against each other in the past. But before my imagination started to take me to scenes of what might have happened to the losing team, we were already at the base of the hill upon which the longest structure in Uxmal stands: the Governor’s Palace itself. Next to it and directly above us was the House of the Turtles (La Casa de las Tortugas), a name attributed to the turtle carvings decorating the structure’s upper section. To access this higher complex, however, we had to circumambulate the foot of the hill to find the steps that take visitors to the open court in front of the palace. Constructed on top of a large multi-tiered platform, this grand monument is often dubbed as one of the greatest architectural achievements of the ancient Maya.

K’ahk’ Pulaj Chan Chaahk, also known by his regnal name Chan Chak K’ak’nal Ajaw, was the ajaw (Maya ruler) who was responsible for commissioning the Governor’s Palace as well as the Nunnery Quadrangle. Ascending the throne at the end of the 9^th century, he would commence a construction spree that further cemented Uxmal’s status as an important Maya city-state. However, unlike the plethora of hieroglyphic inscriptions found in places like Palenque, in this part of the Yucatán they are a lot scarcer, leaving us more questions than answers about him (he was also called Lord Chac) and other rulers of Uxmal.

The Governor’s Palace is not only richly embellished with faces of Chaac, but it also bears suggestions about the ancient Maya’s Venus cult. Each visage of the rain god have decorative patterns underneath the eyes that indicate reverence for this planet, upon which predictions of rains and agricultural cycles were made. Even the edifice’s alignment was intentional so that at its completion the person standing at its central doorway could view the top of a pyramid about 5 kilometers away, which Venus rose above as the morning star at its southernmost declination.

Simply put, the Governor’s Palace was incredible. However, as we were taking photos of the Pyramid of the Magician from this higher location, I spotted yet another pyramid at the back of the palace which looked just as tall. We descended the hill and followed the pathway before arriving at the foot of the so-called Great Pyramid (La Gran Pirámide). Only one side of this colossal structure has been restored, while the other three were still in a rather ruined state. It was still a sight to behold nonetheless, making me wonder if one day we would see the entire structure brought back to its original appearance. One can certainly dream!

We kept walking to the west of the pyramid, past another iguana that was lazing in the shade next to what seemed to be a fragment of an ancient stone pillar, and reached another awe-inspiring structure called the House of the Doves (La Casa de las Palomas). The collapsed front portion of the long edifice exposed the remaining half of the building with the striking decorative roof comb right above it. Quite a dramatic sight, really. A sign suggested that there was yet another pyramid directly behind this compound, but all we could see was dense, albeit dry, vegetation.

We were pleasantly surprised to see only a trickle of tourists at Uxmal. But around the House of the Doves, the number of visitors thinned out even further, which made exploring this part of the archaeological zone even more enjoyable. However, as we made our way to the final site, we saw just two others who went in the same direction.

The Cemetery Group (El Grupo del Cementerio) was indeed a little off the main track, but could its moniker have deterred most people from seeing it? When we arrived, it immediately dawned upon me that the name might have been attributed to the presence of skull-like carvings at some of the structures at this site. The lone staff member who manned this part of Uxmal raised his head when he saw us, before looking back at his smartphone seconds later. It was hot, but quiet, and it was really nice to have the place to ourselves once the other two visitors left.

As we were ready to wrap up our visit to Uxmal and head toward the exit, I made sure to check other signboards within the archaeological zone to see whether we missed something or not. And sure enough, there was one pathway that seemed to skirt the eastern perimeter of the hill where the Governor’s Palace stood. “Let’s check this last place out!” I convinced James that whatever was at the end of this track was probably worth seeing.

A few minutes’ walk under a contiguous canopy of trees eventually brought us to los falos, “the phalli”. These large stone penises were in fact gargoyles mounted on ancient structures to carry rainwater away from the buildings’ walls and foundations. And with that came the end of our two-hour exploration of Uxmal, arguably one of the most awe-inspiring ancient sites not only in the Yucatán Peninsula, but also in Mexico. It was a great introduction to the Puuc architectural style, and this visit prepared us to embark on a journey hopping between Maya sites along the Ruta Puuc (the “Puuc Route”) where other awe-inspiring structures built in this particular style were waiting to be explored.