Go beyond the Cancun coast for a deep dive into Mayan culture, past and present

For millennia, the Yucatan Peninsula in southeastern Mexico has been home to the Maya, indigenous people who built magnificent cities centuries before Columbus.

Cancun, on the coast, draws the tourists - about 5 million last year. But the interior of the peninsula offers richer opportunities for going deeper and experiencing more about the life - ancient and modern - of the Maya, who still live in Yucatan, speak the language of their pre-Columbian ancestors and maintain many of the old ways.

Tulum and Chichen Itza are probably the peninsula's best-known archaeological sites. Both are easy rides from coastal resorts, and