In Depth

Barely 35 years ago, the only people visiting the Yucatán were archaeologists headed to the ruins and scuba divers bound for Cozumel. Miles and miles of Caribbean coast sat ignored, except for the occasional fisherman. The changes wrought on the Yucatán Peninsula and even distant Chiapas by Cancún's creation and growth have transformed the region from a forgotten backwater to a major international destination within the span of a single generation.

Tourism, once an afterthought, is now the big enchilada. The change is most visible on the coast, where fishing villages and coconut plantations gave way to modern developments marching in lock step all the way south to Tulum and inching beyond. For the young Maya of the interior villages, growth means new work opportunities, an end to isolation, and their first close contact with the modern world -- specifically the modern world in vacation mode. The shift from village society to vacation paradise is the very definition of culture shock, which the implacable Maya meet with equanimity.

Tourism also made its way inland, first to the splendid Yucatán capital of Mérida and the major ruins -- Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Palenque -- and then, over time, to the barely uncovered ancient cities of the deep interior. The ruins are wonders to behold, and it seems that every year brings new archeological discoveries. Some Maya ruins are just as newly discovered as some of the Caribbean resorts are newly built.

Curiously, all the excavation and renovation has left small town life little changed. Coastal natives not swept up in the tourism boom were relocated inland, where they continue their ancestors' ways. Families of workers in the tourist palaces remain in the tropical forest, living in round thatch houses with no electricity, indoor plumbing, or paved roads, gathering plants for food and medicine, cooling off in hidden cenotes, and appealing to the gods for successful crops. To explore an older world where the Mayan tongue's distinct intonations fill the air and traditions carry on as they have for untold centuries, you have only to drive inland from the Caribbean coast, venture to Campeche on the Gulf shore, or cross over into Chiapas.

The turquoise waters and tropical climate may beckon first, but what will ultimately draw you back, again and again, is the unique character of this land and its people. There is simply no other place like it.