A.T.M Cave (Actun Tunichil Muknal) from Hopkins

Description

 Actun Tunichil Muknal (Cave of the Stone Sepulchre) dubbed by National Geography as the
top sacred cave to explore in the world; should be on your bucket list! Your
journey starts from Hopkins with a 2.5 hr- drive in air-conditioned comfort
until your arrival at the ranger outpost. Here, our guides will provide you
with a helmet, headlamp, and life jacket if needed. When geared up, it’s now
time to hike, wade and swim the sacrificial Mayan underworld of the ATM.
There’s 3 river crossing and a 30-minute hike, which will bring you to an
hourglass entrance. From here, the cave system spans approximately 3 miles with
stalactites, stalagmites, jarring boulders and freshwater streams from ankle to
waist deep.  

After an hour of spelunking, you’ll arrive at the ceremonial area,
and squeeze through an
orifice which opens up into a large football field cavern. Here you’ll remove
your shoes. Walking bare feet, deeper into the underground surrender will
unearth untainted Mayan history dating back 1-1000 AD. Pottery, ranging from
intact to completely shattered; tools, ceremonial items, and the skeletal
remains of 14 bodies on display, from finger bones to skulls, among other
skeletal remains, fused to the bare ground within a few feet steps.  

The cavern ends with the main
chamber where the calcified to sparkling crystalized remains of the “Crystal
Maiden” lays, believed to be the skeleton frame of a young woman who was
sacrificed in a bloodletting ceremony to the “gods”. It is here you’ll turn
around and retrace your steps to the cave’s entrance with only one question in
mind: How do they allow you to do this?