Uxmal

Tourists bound for the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal arrive at Maxcanú station, a 40-minute private taxi ride from the ruins.

Home collection kits appeal to Uxmal Caldera, 27, of Miami Beach, Florida, who prefers to test in the privacy of his home.

A few days after the fire ceremony in Guatemala, at the other end of the Maya world in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Maya elder Marèa Ávila Vera, 84, shuffles with a cane along a path through Uxmal, an ancient city turned tourist magnet.

At Uxmal, Isabel Hawkins walks by Ávila Vera’s side, proffering a steady arm.

At 4:30 a.m. in Uxmal, the stars are shining through a thin mist, the Moon is a few days removed from full, and place, nature, and scholarship collide.