A larger and more dramatic site than Bonampak, Yaxchilán (daily 8am–4.30pm) was an important Classic-period centre. From around 680 to 760 AD, the city’s most famous kings, Escudo Jaguar (Shield Jaguar) and his son Pájaro Jaguar IV (Bird Jaguar), led a campaign of conquest that extended Yaxchilán’s sphere of influence over the other Usumacinta centres and made possible alliances with Tikal and Palenque. The buildings occupy a natural terrace above the river, with others climbing steep hills behind a superb natural setting. Not so many people make the trip to this evocative site, and you’ll often be alone in the forest with nothing but moaning howler monkeys around you. Giant trees keep the site shady, but nonetheless the jungle heat can be palpable bring plenty of water, as there are no services at the ruins.

Fifteen kilometers beyond San Javier is the turn for Frontera Corozal, the gateway to Yaxchilán, one of the most enigmatic Maya ruins in Mexico. The ancient city can only be approached by boat along the Río Usumacinta, and though Frontera is the point of embarkation there’s not much in the village itself. The turn-off to Frontera (combi drivers call this the crucero de Corozal) is marked by a comedor and shop selling basic supplies. If your combi doesn’t go further, you can pick up a taxi for the ride 15km down the road to town. On the edge of town, a kiosk collects a “conservation fee”. Visitors’ first destination is the embarcadero on the banks of the Usumacinta, where you catch the boats to Yaxchilán. There’s a Mexican immigration post 200m back along the main road coming in, and the community museum (7am–7pm) is across the road. It showcases the history of the settlement, founded only in 1976, and the relationships between the Chol, Lacandón and Tzeltal people, local archeology (there are a few large stelae) and flora and fauna. Its restaurant also has one of the only telephones in the village. The true centre of the village a couple of plazas and a market is about 400m south from the main paved road and 300m back from the river; combis usually pass this way.

From the entrance, the main path leads straight ahead to the Gran Plaza, but if you have the energy for climbing, it’s more rewarding to explore the wilder parts of the site first. Follow the branching path to the right that leads up the hillside to the Pequeña Acrópolis, a set of thirteen buildings. A lintel on the most prominent ruin, known as Edificio 42, depicts Escudo Jaguar with one of his warriors. Walk behind here to find another narrow trail down through the jungle, over several unrestored mounds, until you reach a fork: to the right, the path climbs steeply once again until it reaches, in about 10 minutes, Edificios 39–41, also called the Templos del Sur, 90m above the river level buildings that probably had some kind of astronomical significance. High above the main forest, this is also a good spot to look for canopy-dwelling birds like parrots, though the trees also obscure any view.

Retrace your steps back to the main path, and continue on until it emerges at the back of Edificio 33, the most famous building at the site, also known as El Palacio. It overlooks the main plaza from a high terrace. The lintels here are superbly preserved, and inside one of the portals is a headless statue of Pájaro Jaguar IV. In ancient times the building was a political court; more recently, it served as a religious site for the Lacandón Maya. Descending 40m down the stairs in front brings you to the long Gran Plaza. Turn back to look up at the Palacio: with the sun shining through the building’s roofcomb and tree roots cascading down the stairs, this is what you imagine a pyramid lost in the jungle should look like, especially if you’ve been brought up on Tintin. To your left, just above the level of the plaza, Edificio 23 has a few patches of coloured stucco around its doorframes just one patch of many well-preserved paintings and relief carvings on the lintels of buildings surrounding the long green lawn.

Some of the works were removed in the nineteenth century and are now in the British Museum in London, but the number and quality of the remaining panels are unequalled at any other Maya site in Mexico. Many of these depict rulers performing rituals. This can also be seen on Stele 1, right in the middle of the plaza, near the base of the staircase. It depicts Pájaro Jaguar IV in a particularly eye-watering bloodletting ceremony, ritually perforating his penis. Stele 3, originally sited at Edificio 41, has survived several attempts to remove it from the site and now lies at the west side of the plaza, where it shows the transfer of power from Escudo Jaguar to Pájaro Jaguar IV. Heading back to the entrance, be sure to pass through El Laberinto (The Labyrinth) at the plaza’s northeast corner, the most complex building on the site, where you can walk down through dim passages out onto the main path.

To reach Yaxchilán, you need a lancha a narrow riverboat with benches along the side and a tin roof for shade. A number of companies compete for business, but prices are all similar. If you’re looking to share a boat to bring down the cost, your best bet is to head to the embarcadero at the riverfront. As with all the operations, fares here vary with group size, with one or two people, three, four and so on up to the maximum of ten passengers. You could also check at Escudo Jaguar, as this is listed in many guidebooks as the main boat operator. You also need to buy your site entrance ticket at the INAH office by the museum (or your boat company will send someone to buy it for you), as cash is not kept at the isolated ruins.

You can also hire a guide here (for between one and three people), though only a few speak English; during high season (July, August, Christmas and Semana Santa), the guides wait at the site itself. The company, Siyaj Chan (in Guatemala), also leads six-hour hiking trips to Gruta Tzolkin, a cave deep in the forest. The river trip is fabulous in itself, down a broad, fast-flowing river with Mexico on one bank, Guatemala on the other; depending on the state of the river the journey downstream to Yaxchilán takes around half an hour; the return can be twice as long. To allow enough time at the site, the latest you should get on a lancha is 2pm. If you’re headed back to Palenque or Lacanjá Chansayab the same day, you’ll have to go much earlier, as the last buses and combis leave from in front of the embarcadero at 4pm. The earliest you can leave for the site in the morning is 8am, when in the INAH office opens.