The Mayan City of Edzná, First House of the Itzás

by Richard Quinn | Mar 26, 2023 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

Edzná (Edz-nah, pronounced just like it’s spelled) is one of the best kept secrets in the Yucatan. The average tourist has never heard of this particular Mayan ruin, so you would think, based on its lack of notoriety, that there’s nothing special about it. In reality,...

Uxmal: Architectural Perfection in the Land of the Maya

by Richard Quinn | Mar 9, 2023 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

Uxmal, (pronounced, oosh-mahl), is the most aesthetically spectacular of all the Mayan cities. The beautiful setting, the quality of the architecture, the state of preservation, the wonderful plazas replete with flowering trees. This place has it all, and it’s not...

The Amazing Mayan Murals of Bonampak

by Richard Quinn | Dec 25, 2021 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

DOWN BY THE GUATEMALAN BORDER, …in a remote corner of the Mexican state of Chiapas, there’s a small Mayan ruin known as Bonampak. The ancient, long abandoned city, really more of a large town, boasts an acropolis, topped  by a couple of smallish third rate...

Palenque: Mayan City in the Hills of Chiapas

by Richard Quinn | Jul 21, 2021 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

Palenque! This ruin of an ancient Mayan city, located in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, ranks among the most famous archaeological sites in the entire world. Just hearing the name conjures images of crumbling limestone pyramids rising up out of the the...

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico’s Colonial Gem

by Richard Quinn | Jan 15, 2016 | Mexico, Travel

An expatriate, or “expat”, is someone who has deliberately moved away from their native country for the specific purpose of establishing a new life in a foreign land. I’m not talking about a temporary relocation for work, or a semester abroad for...

Southern Colonials: Merida, Campeche, and San Cristobal

by Richard Quinn | Jan 15, 2016 | Mexico, Road Trips, Travel

Visiting the Spanish Colonial cities of Mexico is almost like traveling back in time. Narrow cobblestone streets wind between buildings, facades, and stately old mansions that date back three hundred years or more. There are beautiful plazas, parks, and soaring...

The Puuc Hills: Apex of Mayan Architecture

by Richard Quinn | Jan 4, 2016 | Maya, Mexico, Road Trips, Travel

Most of the Yucatan Peninsula is relentlessly flat, devoid of any geological feature much taller than a tree, but there is an area just inland from Campeche and Merida where the karstic limestone bedrock folds on itself, creating a jumbled range of low mountains known...

Becan and Chicanna: Mayan Cities in the Rio Bec Style

by Richard Quinn | Dec 19, 2015 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

The Rio Bec region includes most of the southeastern portion of the Yucatan, the area where the borders of modern-day Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala all come together. There are a number of important Maya sites in that region, and they share a common suite...

Coba and Muyil: Mayan Cities in Quintana Roo

by Richard Quinn | Dec 13, 2015 | Maya, Mexico, Travel

The historic range of the Maya was a vast expanse that encompassed fully a third of the land area of Mesoamerica:  the entire Yucatan peninsula, much of the Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco, all of modern day Guatemala and Belize, and the western sections of...

Photographer’s Assignment: Chichen Itza

by Richard Quinn | Dec 11, 2015 | Maya, Mexico, Photography, Travel

As photographers, we all have our specialties: the subjects, locations, or events that really get our creative juices flowing, and inspire our best work. For some, it’s wildlife photography. For others, landscapes. Or seascapes, sunsets, misty mornings. Sports!...