DETAILS

Mexico's Southern Border Highway

GETTING THERE: The Southern Border Highway is not a loop, so you'll end far from where you started. Instead of backtracking, consider incorporating the road into a larger swing through Mexico and Central America. But if time's tight, start in Palenque.

Unfortunately, the closest airport is at Villahermosa, Tabasco, about 2 1/2 hours away by bus. Continental and United are among the airlines that offer connecting service to Villahermosa from Washington; round-trip flights start at about $650, with restrictions. To save on airfare, fly to Cancun (round-trip fares from about $350); from there, it's about 13 hours by bus (about $45) to Palenque.

A bus from Villahermosa to Palenque costs about $8. Check fares and schedules at Mexico's bus clearinghouse, Ticket Bus ( http://www.ticketbus.com.mx/). You could also rent a car from Europcar (877-940-6900, http://www.europcar.com/).

ACTIVITIES: The ruins at Palenque, Bonampak and Yaxchilan don't have addresses, but everyone knows how to find them. At Palenque, admission is about $4, while admission at Bonampak is $3. In addition to the boat ride, admission to Yaxchilan is about $3.50. Admission is free on Sundays.

Jungle hikes from Lacanja Chansayab to waterfalls, lakes and ruins cost about $9 to $18 per person. Your lodging facility can arrange a guide.

WHERE TO STAY: Accommodations and campgrounds dot the five-mile road between the modern town of Palenque and the ancient Palenque ruins. Unfortunately, phone numbers in Chiapas tend to be unreliable. If there's not a Web site, your best bet is to just show up, see if there are rooms and plan to be flexible.

I stayed in the bohemian complex of El Panchan ( http://www.palenquemx.com/elpanchan), where several businesses offer rooms, cabins and/or campsites. At Rakshita, I paid about $2.75 per person to camp on an elevated, roofed platform called "The Temple." Rooms with a fan and hot water cost about $17. For a nicer option, try the spotless rooms at Margarita and Ed Cabins; doubles start at about $15.

Modern Palenque also has options, including Hotel Maya Palenque (corner of Merle Green and Juarez Avenue, 800-528-1234, http://www.bestwestern.com/). Rates at the hotel, which has a pool, start at about $54.

At Lacanja Chansayab, most lodging is strung along the main road. (Just look for the signs.) The nicest options are past "downtown," a wide spot in the road where the pavement turns to gravel. Campamento Vicente Paniagua, at the end of the road, is decent and popular with Palenque package tours; for about $6.50 per person, you get a concrete floor and beds separated by wooden dividers. Nicer, larger rooms with a fan and private bath cost about $14 per person. More rustic is Campamento Tucan Verde ( http://www.tucanverde.com/), where the cabins have dirt floors and bamboo or plank walls for about $4.50 per person.

In Frontera Corozal, the best-known option is Escudo Jaguar Ecotourism Center (at the end of the main road by the river, http://mx.geocities.com/hotel_escudojaguar/es/index.htm). Its clean rooms have thatched roofs and tile floors, though many have a funk; rates from about $13.50. I preferred the warm, wood-floored and wood-walled rooms at Tsol K'in/Nueva Alianza (on Periferico Norte, http://www.ecoturlacandona.com/). It's on a side road near a museum. Doubles with shared bath and a fan start at about $9.25 per person.

Most of the lodging around Lagos de Montebello National Park is along the main road, just outside park boundaries. I stayed at Cabanas Bosque Azul (Km. 34 of Lagos de Montebello Highway), which has rustic but lovely wooden cabins for about $10 per person beside the roadway, just a few miles west of park boundaries.

WHERE TO EAT: The Mexico/Guatemala border is not known for its food, and few restaurants merit a recommendation. Particularly in more rural areas, you'll eat in tiny comedores (roughly, diners) whose options are limited. Staples include refried beans, eggs, tough pieces of beef, chicken and sometimes fried fish. Expect to pay about $3 to $6 for a basic meal.

Palenque and Frontera Corozal have better options. Located in the El Panchan complex (see Where to Stay), Cafe Restaurante Don Muchos is probably the most popular restaurant on this route. With huge open-air patios (they do have roofs) surrounded by jungle, it often has live music. The menu mainly mixes Mexican and Italian basics; entrees start at about $3.70. The town of Palenque also has some decent options, including Restaurante Las Tinajas (corner of 20 de Noviembre and Abasolo). It features Mexican standards plus seafood and beef in a variety of styles; entrees from about $3.70.

In Frontera Corozal, the best restaurants are in the best lodging options, Escudo Jaguar and T'sol Kin/Nueva Alianza (see Where to Stay). Escudo Jaguar's large, open-air restaurant has sandwiches, salads and chicken dishes from $2.30. Tsol K'in's restaurant has beef, chicken and fish from $3.70.

INFORMATION: Mexico Tourism Board,800-44-MEXICO, http://www.visitmexico.com/. Other helpful sites are http://www.mostlymaya.com/ (a great site by a Maya region enthusiast) and http://www.turismochiapas.gob.mx/ (Chiapas Tourist Ministry).

-- Ben Brazil