Progreso: newest Mexican Yucatan port is the gateway to the best Mayan sites

Cruise Travel, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Max Hunn, Bea Hunn

A slightly different site is Dzibilchaltun, which means "the place with writing on stones." It is one of the major centers of the Mayan culture in the Yucatan, containing about 8,400 structures, and was discovered some years after Chichen Itza and Uxmal. However, the first construction dates back to around 500 B.C.

Progreso has excellent arrangements for visiting not only the important Mayan sites but also Merida, capital of Yucatan state, which is also well worth exploring. The city was founded in January 1542 and played an active role in history. During the French attempt to put Maximilian on a throne in Mexico, Merida was involved in a 55-day siege and savage street-by-street battles that left more than a thousand dead. Later, Merida's "green gold age" stretched between 1870 and 1910, when the world offered a rapidly growing market for sisal rope made from henequen grown on the plantations.

Undoubtedly you'll do some shopping. The local currency is the Mexican peso, but U.S. dollars are widely and eagerly accepted. Don't carry large bills or you might find yourself an ex-officio Mexican banker with an overabundance of pesos and centavos. Your ship's purser cannot exchange Mexican money for American.

A visit to Progreso is different and interesting in many ways. You can focus on only one or two daring a port call. So plan on returning several times!

Among the lines calling at Progreso are Carnival. Costa, Crystal, Radisson Seven Seas, and Royal Caribbean. For more information contact your travel agent or the Mexican Government Tourist Office (Cruise Travel Magazine) 1911 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 2006; call 800-44-MEXICO; or log on to www.visitmexico.com or www.puertoprogreso.com.