Mayan Ruins

[Ed Richards]

Visited some Mayan ruins over the holidays. Could not bring the LF stuff, but they would have been striking subjects. Are there some LF photographers who are working on photographing the sites? Any books or WWW sites of LF work?

[Kirk Gittings]

Were there restrictions on tripods? I have heard a number of times that there were.

[highandwild]

I went to Tolum(south of Cancun) in December and yes, there were tripod restrictions. You need a $3 permit to bring a tripod into the park but you have to get the permit in Cancun. I was disappointed to have my gear and not be able to bring my tripod.

[Ted Harris]

You need to go futher South :D ... I've lugged LF gear to Machu Pichu and Iguzu Falls.

[Ed Richards]

Some of the sites did not allow tripods at all, banned professional video cameras, and required a fee for camcorders. I did not keep track of the restrictions because I only had a DSLR with me, but I did wonder what they would have thought of some handheld shots with my Technika.:-)

[Ron Marshall]

You need to go futher South :D ... I've lugged LF gear to Machu Pichu and Iguzu Falls.

Ted, any tripod fees or restrictions at MP?

[walter23]

Ted, any tripod fees or restrictions at MP?


Yeah, you have to carry the sucker up.

[Ron Marshall]

Yeah, you have to carry the sucker up.

No problem with CF!

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

It is very difficult to get the tripod permit from the INAH, the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History who run many (but not all) of the ruins in Mexico. As far as I know, there is no office you can walk into in Cancun and pay a pittance for a permit. Rather the permit has to be obtained through Mexico City and the application process is a real PITA.

[jdavis]

I'd suggest going to less traveled ruins. In 1997 I had the pleasure of visiting Copan in Honduras. I got to the ruins as they opened and was the first (and for an hour or so) the only tourist there. No tripod troubles - and one of the most enjoyable photography experiences of my life.

[Scott Davis]

Not that there's any Mayan Ruins at Iguazu Falls, but there's no tripod restrictions there either - I took my 5x7 there and got some great shots off the catwalks leading to the Garganta Del Diablo (the famous cascade there that throws a plume of mist three hundred feet in the air).

If you want some unrestricted access to Mayan sites with LF, try Belize or Honduras. I shot 35mm only when I went to Belize, but I did see folks with tripods around the ruins at Lamanai (very few folks too, which is a major plus). You can easily get to some of the sites in Belize from Mexico and Guatemala - fly into Cancun, and get a short flight down to Belize City. Get a rental 4wd (don't book with a US rental agency, since they have high prices on crappy vehicles down there) and drive from Belize City. It takes about 3 hours to get to Lamanai, but 2/3 of the distance is on a sealed-surface road to Orange Walk Town. At the T-junction in Orange Walk, hang a left and keep going past the Mennonite sugarcane farms, and you'll end up at Lamanai. Also worth a stop, in Orange Walk, is an orchid farm. I forget the exact name of the farm, but it's on the road to Lamanai, still in Orange Walk. It's easy to miss, but stop and ask a local. They have something like 100+ varieties of orchids available for viewing and purchase. Some of them would be too tiny to shoot with LF, but some could be done easily in 4x5.

[jwaddison]

I'd suggest going to less traveled ruins. In 1997 I had the pleasure of visiting Copan in Honduras. I got to the ruins as they opened and was the first (and for an hour or so) the only tourist there. No tripod troubles - and one of the most enjoyable photography experiences of my life.

I haven't been to Copan in almost 30 years, but it is awesome. Incidentally Machu Pichu was built by the Incas, not the Mayans.

[John Kasaian]

...And extremely short Incas at that.

When the first anthropologists came upon Machu Pichu they asked the locals down by the river who built the stone complex and the response was Inka Dinka Doo (immortalized, incidentally, by the late singer Jimmy "The Schnauz" Durante) which translates into: "Dinky Incas did it" :D

[davidb]

I was in Oaxaca in 2005 and went to the INAH office there. They told me the tripod permit must be applied for and purchased in Mexico City.

I went to Monte Alban with a Hasselblad and 100 rolls of APX 25. So much for depth of field.

[Leigh]

I thought I would resurrect this thread, given the current interest in the Mayan calendar.

A major exhibit on the Maya and the supposed "end" of the Mayan calendar this year opened last
Friday at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia. I had the honor of attending the
opening and the dedication dinner, which was attended by the President of Honduras and his wife,
the Vice President of Honduras, and numerous other dignitaries.

If anyone is interested in visiting a Mayan site this year, I can highly recommend Copan, Honduras.
It's one of the major sites of the Mayan culture, with extraordinary architecture and monuments,
some of which are unique, with no similar works anywhere else in the entire Mayan area.

The Honduran government is very actively promoting tourism to Copan, which I have visited previously.

It would be a great photo op and a wonderful vacation.

No, I don't work for the Honduran government. Just an interested amateur archaeologist.

- Leigh

[pbryld]

Sorry if someone else already mentioned it, but Sally Mann went to Yucatán (on invitation) and took some absolutely lovely photos (if you like her style of course).


Peter

[Chauncey Walden]

Laura Gilpin - Temples in Yucatan

[Eric Rose]

An American $10 will get you just about anything you want as far as "permits" at the gate is concerned.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

An American $10 will get you just about anything you want as far as "permits" at the gate is concerned.


That was certainly not my experience in Mexico at the Mayan Ruins in the Yucatan; nothing short of the official permit was going to convince the guards to let a tripod through the gates. I watched as a tourist tried and failed to "buy a permit" on the spot with a $100 bill at Coba.

[Scott Walker]

In my experience it realy is somewhat of a crap shoot in Mexico.
Last time I was there we shot a bunch of 3D video at Tulum.
Absolutely no problems getting in with video cameras, dslr, tripods, and a decent selection of gear.
Over the years I have noticed that the less attention you draw to yourself the better chance you have of not being harassed.
So survey the scene, meter it, compose it, and once you have it all figured out quickly set up and then pack it up just as fast.

[Brian Ellis]

When I visited the Yucatan I hired a local guide who took us to many relatively obscure sites over the course of a week or so. We were usually the only people at these sites so if there were any tripod restrictions there was nobody around to tell me about them. I don't remember the cost of hiring the guide but it was well worth whatever it cost, he was a great guy and very knowledgeable about the Mayan culture and many of the sites we visited. This was about 10-12 years ago so unfortunately I don't remember the names of all the sites we visited (and today some of them perhaps aren't obscure anyhow). At the famous sites in the Yucatan that we visited there were so many people everywhere that making a photograph, tripod or no tripod, without masses of people in it would have been impossible. If the cost isn't prohibitive I'd highly recommend using a guide in the Yucatan, apart from photography it's a more comfortable way to get around than a tourist bus or driving your own car.

[Scott Walker]

When I visited the Yucatan I hired a local guide who took us to many relatively obscure sites over the course of a week or so.

We did this as well on a trip a few years ago. We hired a Prof from the University in Mérida.
It was pretty spendy, $2,500.00 MXN per day plus lunch & tip but worth every penny/peso. :)