Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. 2

If you have ever been or are planning a trip to the ruin sites of the Yucatan this is a must read book! written over 150 years ago it still holds up today. It is a fascinating look at the early exploration of the Ancient Mayan cities lost to the jungle. Reading this book will make your trip much more enjoyable and educational. On a lighter note, I also recommend the thriller "A Tourist in the Yucatan" set in the modern day yucatan--nothing to heavy, but a good beach read.

A must for anyone interested in learning more about the ancient mayan Culture. It is hard to belive this book was written in the 1840ies. Despite being written in the 19th century this book is still very readable. Catherwoods drawings of the ancient cities are excellent.

Stephens and Catherwood were the Yucatán's first North American tourists back when the ruins of the Maya cities were still lost to the jungle. The narrative is engrossing especially if you can put yourself in their 19th century shoes. Surprisingly, there are still ruins to be discovered today in the jungles of the same peninsula that hosts Cancún. We recently followed Stephens' and Catherwood's trail to the ruins of Uxmal and Chichen Itzá using a new guidebook called Adventure Guide to the Yucatán by Bruce & June Conord. Though they don't actually lay out the identical route, they do mention overlapping parts of it and they treat the Maya ruins and civilization with the same awe that Stephens did. We carried both books and the Adventure Guide got us to places where Stephens had been that aren't even on the map. What a blast to read this book and actually stand in Stephens' footprints in the Yucatán. Incidents of Travel is an old fashioned book that has stood the test of time.

This series of books has been in print for over 150 years! If that doesn't impress you, then Frederick Catherwood's drawings will. The writing is a little archaic by today's standards, but the tale is important history