Discovered about a century ago, visited by the first archeologists, mapped three decades ago and worked on only a few months ago, Cancuen keeps a lot of secrets that await to be whispered into the traveler's ear.

Our curiosity was awakened by a friend who wrote an article about recent discoveries on an ancient Mayan city. The tales about a magnificent palace, as big as Tikal's Acropolis, remind us of a panel of Dos Pilas that we just saw at the Museum of Archeology, where the sovereign appears accompanied by his wife, a lady from this big unpublicized city.

We left early from the capital city and we arrived at Coban between anecdotes, comments, jokes, and pranks from our hosts. They all look really formal, they are members of the Association of Tourism Operators, but together they are dynamite, laughter never stops. We traveled for more than four hours, but due to the good condition of the highway, you barely feel it. At the Hostal Do–a Victoria the travel organizer is waiting for us.

At five oÔclock the next morning a typical breakfast awaits, we will need energy for our walk. We take three four wheel drive vehicles, and accompanied by a police car, we depart for our adventure. At La Ventana hill the big cliffs are less impressive than the splendid landscape and the vegetation. We go on telling anecdotes and we talk about our different readings about Cancuen, about the project directors, Tomas Barrientos, from Universidad Del Valle, Arthur Demarest, from the Vanderbilt University, and of their research. We can see the oil pipelines from the road. When we get to La Isla the self-confident boat driver is waiting for us. Inside the canoe we feel transported to the lost times of Mayan greatness. According to the archeologists, Cancuen's richness is due to the fact that it was a natural confluence between the High and Low Lands. Its intense commerce made it a passage for many travelers. The lords of the city took profit of this advantage and turned it into a great metropolis; it was related to other great cities of the Classic Period, as an alliance to Machaquilá.

We imagine what the merchants that approached the big cities over the river would have felt, close to the seagulls that fly in front of us. After traveling for more than an hour we reach a steep bank. Using a rope we climb the slope and we start to walk in an open path that allows us to move without difficulty, until we find out that we are in the big city: the hills show us the location of the great residences where nobles and lords of Cancuen lived. Remains of the commemorative steles show us its original placement, circular altars lie on the floor, and stones from the ancient structures are all over the place.

Our impression is indescribable. We want to feel what the first explorers lived. Something like this is what Modesto Mendez saw in Tikal over a century ago. We are standing in front of the greatness of Cancuen. Before the scientists came, predators did, that is why we can see holes and logs that archeologists put to avoid collapsing. Our guide is no expert, so he takes us from one place to another without telling us where we are traveling, he only shows us a plain land and says: Òthat is the place where the Americans workedÓ, and by that he means the excavation they did in conjunction with the Guatemalans. Everything we see is magnificent; it is like discovering the place for the first time. Before leaving the site, we see a boa up in a tree, everyone wants to take a picture of it but I leave it alone, we are in its home and we were not invited. We follow the path and continue into an open plain, I imagine that this is what the plaza looked like, wide, to receive all the visitors and citizens. There are small ranches where the campers can prepare their food, and a little bit farther, are the sanitary services. We do not stop. Then we reach to the wide area, we sit on the grass, we drink water, and we wait for the boat to come and pick us up.

We board the boat and sail upstream, this makes the return slower. The sun is shining at its maximum splendor, but suddenly a cloud covers us and two minutes later, the light blue rivers overflow. It rains for about an hour, and every member of the group jokes, so it makes the downpour more bearable.

We were in contact with the lords of Cancuen and with the servants for two hours, they sang, laughed, loved, suffered, and enjoyed their days without knowing that we would benefit with their passing through life.

When you leave Coban you drive a four wheel drive vehicle through the highway that goes to Chisec, then you take a detour to Raxuha and from there to La Isla. In this place, you rent a motorboat. Generally these boats are used for transporting grains, so they are not fit for persons, and the drivers are not specialized in attending tourists, although they are very nice. Before departing for Cancuen, it is necessary to make the arrangements with those who rent the vehicles and the boats, because these are scarce. Since part of the road is under construction, precaution measures should be taken, especially in La Ventana. Tour operators are not including this site on their commodities yet, because there are no adequate services to attend the tourist.