Travelling around the peninsula, the changes in landscape are hard to miss. In Yucatán state, the shallow, rocky earth gives rise to stunted trees - here, underground wells known as cenotes are the only source of water. At the opposite end of the scale, Campeche boasts a huge area of tropical forest , the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, though this is steadily shrinking with the growing demand for timber and land for cattle ranching. The entire peninsular coastline is great for spotting wildlife - notably turtles at the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Quintana Roo, and the flocks of flamingos at Celestún and Río Lagartos in Yucatán - but the most spectacular, white-sand beaches line the Caribbean coast, where magnificent offshore coral reefs form part of the second-largest barrier reef system in the world.

The peninsula's modern boom is, in fact, a reawakening, for this has been the longest continuously civilized part of the country, with evidence of Maya inhabitants as early as 2500 BC, producing pottery and living in huts virtually identical to those you see in the villages today. The Maya are not a specifically Mexican culture - their greatest cities, indeed, were not in Mexico at all but in the lowlands of modern Guatemala, Belize and Honduras - but they did produce a unique style in the Yucatán and continued to flourish here long after the collapse of the "Classic" civilizations to the south. This they did in spite of natural handicaps - thin soil, heat, humidity and lack of water - and in the face of frequent invasion from central Mexico. And here the Maya peasantry still live, remarkably true to their old traditions and lifestyle, despite the hardships of the intervening years: ravaged by European diseases and forced to work on vast colonial encomiendas , or later, through the semi-slavery of debt peonage, on the henequen plantations or in the forests, hauling timber. The florescence of Maya culture, throughout their extensive domains, came in the Classic period from around 300 to 900 AD: an age in which the cities grew up and Maya science and art apparently reached their height. The Maya calendar, a complex interaction of solar, lunar, astronomical and religious dates, was far more complicated and accurate than the Gregorian one, and they also developed a sophisticated mathematical and (still largely undeciphered) hieroglyphic system and perspective in art 500 or so years before Renaissance Europe. In the early ninth century AD, growing military tensions and a prolonged drought saw the abandonment of many of the southern lowland cities (Tikal and Calakmul among them), while the cities of the northern lowlands - such as Chichén Itzá, Uxmal and the Puuc sites - began to flourish. These in turn collapsed about 1200 AD, to be succeeded by Mayapán and a confederacy of other cities that probably included Tulum and Cozumel. By the time the Spanish arrived, Mayapán's power, too, had been broken by revolt, and the Maya had splintered into tribalism - although still with coastal cities and long-distance sea trade that awed the conquistadors. It proved the hardest area of the country to pacify. Despite attempts to destroy all trace of the ancient culture, there was constant armed rebellion against the Spanish and later the Mexican authorities - the last, the Caste Wars of the nineteenth century, during which the Maya, supplied with arms from British Honduras (Belize), gained brief control of the entire peninsula. Gradually, though, they were again pushed back into the wastes of southern Quintana Roo, where the final pockets of resistance held out until the beginning of the twentieth century.

FIESTAS JANUARY The first week of January sees the festival of the Magi in Tizimín (Yucatán), an important religious and secular gathering. 6 FIESTA DE POLK KEKEN in Lerma (Campeche), near Campeche, with many traditional dances. 21 In Dzitas (Yuc), north of Chichén Itzá, an ancient festival with roots in Maya tradition. In Temax (Yuc), between Mérida and Tizimín, the last Sunday of the month is celebrated with a fiesta - the culmination of a week's religious celebration. FEBRUARY CARNIVAL (the week before Lent, variable Feb-March) is at its most riotous in Mérida , though it's celebrated, too, in Campeche and Chetumal and on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel . MARCH 20 FERIA DE LAS HAMACAS in Tecoh (Yuc), a hammock-producing village near Mérida. 21 EQUINOX Huge gathering to see the serpent shadow at Chichén Itzá . APRIL 13 The traditional festival of honey and corn in Hopelchén (Cam) lasts until the 17th. MAY 3 DÍA DE LA SANTA CRUZ is the excuse for another fiesta in Hopelchén (Cam); also celebrated in Celestún (Yuc) and Felipe Carrillo Puerto (Quintana Roo). 12-18 Fiesta in Chankán Veracruz (QR), near Felipe Carrillo Puerto, celebrating the Holy Cross which spoke to the Maya here. 20 FERIA DEL JIPI in Becal (Cam), the town where many of these hats are made. JUNE 14-16 Fiestas for the patron saint of Ciudad del Carmen (Cam). 26-30 The Festival of San Pedro and San Pablo celebrated on Cozumel and in Panaba (Yuc), north of Tizimín. JULY At Edzná (Cam, date variable) a Maya ceremony to the god Chac is held, to encourage, or celebrate, the arrival of the rains. AUGUST 10-16 Feria in Oxkutzcab (Yuc). SEPTEMBER 14 DÍA DE SAN ROMAN. In Dzan (Yuc), near Ticul, the end of a four-day festival with fireworks, bullfights, dances and processions - in Campeche (Cam) the Feria de San Roman lasts until the end of the month. 21 EQUINOX Another serpent spectacle at Chichén Itzá . 29 DÍA DE SAN MIGUEL is celebrated with a major festival in Maxcanu (Yuc), on the road from Mérida to Campeche. OCTOBER The first two weeks of October in Mérida see processions and celebrations associated with the miraculous statue of Cristo de las Ampillas. 18 A pilgrimage centred on Izamal (Yuc) starts ten days of celebration, culminating in dances on the night of the 28th. NOVEMBER 1-2 DAY OF THE DEAD celebrated almost everywhere. 8-13 Feria in Tekax (Yuc), on the road from Mérida to Felipe Carrillo Puerto, with dances and bullfights. DECEMBER 3-8 Popular fiesta with traditional dances in Kantunilkin (QR). 8 DÍA DE LA INMACULADA CONCEPCIÓN is widely celebrated, but especially in Izamal (Yuc) and Champotón (Cam), each of which has a fiesta starting several days earlier.

TRAVEL DETAILS BUSES The most useful bus services are between Mérida and Cancún and those provided by Mayab, which run at least every thirty minutes between Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Some places aren't served by first-class buses but second-class buses and combis will get you around locally and to the nearest major centre. The following frequencies and times are for both first- and second-class services. Cancún to: Campeche (2 daily; 9-10hr); Chetumal (hourly 5am-midnight; 6hr); Mérida (hourly; 4-5hr); Playa del Carmen (every 30min; 1hr); Puerto Morelos (every 30min; 30min); Tizimín (6 daily; 4hr); Tulum (10 daily; 2hr); Valladolid (hourly; 3hr); Villahermosa (1 daily; 14hr). Chetumal to: Bacalar (every 30min: 30min); Belize City via Orange Walk (hourly; 4hr); Campeche (6 daily via Escarcega and Xpujil; 7hr); Cancún (8 daily via Tulum and Playa del Carmen; 6hr); Guatemala (1 daily; 12hr); Mahahual/Xcalak (2 daily; 3hr 30min-4hr 30min); Mérida (11 daily; 8-9hr); Mexico City (2 daily; 24hr); Palenque and San Cristóbal (3 daily; 7-10hr); Playa del Carmen (10 daily; 5-7hr); Villahermosa (5 daily; 9-11hr). Playa del Carmen to: Cancún (every 30min; 1hr); Chetumal (10 daily; 5-7hr); Cobá (2 daily; 2hr); Mérida (10 daily; 8hr); Mexico City (3 daily; 30hr or longer); Palenque and San Cristóbal (3 daily; 11-16hr); Tulum (frequently; 1hr); Tuxtla Gutiérrez (2 daily; 20hr); Valladolid (5 daily; 3-4hr); Villahermosa (4 daily; 13hr). Tulum to: Cancún (frequently; 1hr); Chetumal (8 daily via Bacalar; 4-5hr); Cobá (4 daily; 1hr); Mérida (6 daily; 4-7hr); Playa del Carmen (frequently; 1hr); San Cristóbal (3 daily via Palenque; 10hr;) Valladolid (5 daily; 4hr). FERRIES There are frequent ferry services to Isla Mujeres and Cozumel . Although there are car ferries to both islands, it's hardly worth taking a vehicle to Isla Mujeres as the island is so small. PASSENGER FERRIES Chiquilá to: Isla Holbox (7 daily; 30hr). Playa del Carmen to: Cozumel (hourly; 50min). Punta Juárez , Cancún to: Isla Mujeres (every 30min; 30min). CAR FERRIES Chiquilá to: Isla Holbox (2 daily; 1hr). Puerto Morelos to: Cozumel - erratic, so check (3 daily; 2hr 30min). Punta Sam to: Isla Mujeres (5 daily). FLIGHTS Cancún and Cozumel both have busy international airports with several daily flights to Mexico City and regular connections to Miami and many other cities in the southern US. Chetumal also has daily direct services to Mexico City. Around the Caribbean coast various small companies fly light planes - very frequently between Cancún and Cozumel, less often from these places to Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

QUINTANA ROO AND THE CARIBBEAN COAST The coastal state of Quintana Roo was a forgotten frontier for most of modern Mexican history - its lush tropical forests exploited for their mahogany and chicle (from which chewing gum is made), but otherwise unsettled, a haven for outlaws and pirates, and for Maya living beyond the reach of central government. In the 1970s, however, the stunning palm-fringed white-sand beaches of the Caribbean coast and its magnificent offshore coral reefs began to attract tourists : the first highways were built, new townships settled, and the place finally became a full state (as opposed to an externally administered Federal Territory) in 1974. The stretch of coast between Cancún and Tulum is the most heavily visited - and the focus of much recent, rapid hotel construction. Modern development is centred on the resorts of Cancún and Playa del Carmen , along with the islands of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel , which have become some of the world's most desirable package tour destinations and increasingly overdeveloped as a result. You'll see images of the Maya everywhere here, but while their culture is shamelessly used to promote tourism, little of this money ever reaches the Maya themselves, and where they haven't been forced out by developers, they continue to live in poverty in small communal villages in the scrub forest, growing maize and carving or weaving a few trinkets for tourists. Further south things get quieter: the beaches within the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve are nesting sites for turtles, and behind them are areas of mangrove swamp, home to numerous animals including jaguar and even manatee. The vast and beautiful Laguna de Bacalar was an important stop on the Maya's pre-Columbian trade routes and was later used as an outpost for arms shipment from Belize during the Caste Wars. Chetumal , the state capital but otherwise a dull, duty-free border town, is of chief importance as a gateway to and from Belize. The southern coast, while rewarding for naturalists and adventurers, is difficult to visit: only a couple of roads offer access, and public transport is minimal. Inland , Quintana Roo is little visited. There are some spectacular Maya sites here, though they are not as accessible or as well restored as the pristine open-air museums of Yucatán. Cobá , a lakeside Maya city just off the road to Valladolid, has some of the Maya world's tallest temples, but is only partially excavated, hidden in jungle swarming with mosquitoes. The early Classic site of Kohunlich , famous for its giant sculpted faces of the Maya sun god, lies in the heart of the Petén jungle that stretches into Guatemala and Belize; even more remote are the ruins of Kinichna, Chacchoben and Dzibanche .

CENTRAL YUCATÁN There's really only one route around the Yucatán: the variation comes in where you choose to break the journey or to make side trips off the main trail. Whether from Palenque or by road and ferry along the beautiful coast from Ciudad del Carmen , Hwy-180 heads up to Campeche , from there to Mérida , and on via Chichén Itzá to the Caribbean coast. From Mérida the best of the Maya sites - Uxmal, Chichén Itzá and a trove of smaller, less visited ruins - are in easy reach. The road that runs across the south of the peninsula, from Francisco Escárcega to Chetumal, is relatively new, passing through jungle territory rich in Maya remains, several of which have only recently been opened to the public. Though largely unexplored, these are beginning to see a trickle of visitors as access improves; you can get accommodation and arrange tours at Xpujil , a village named after the nearby archeological site, on the border between Campeche and Quintana Roo states.