Xcalak Mexico

For years travelers trying to escape the tourist hordes in Cancun needed a four-wheel-drive vehicle to survive the sandy, rutted road leading south to this town. First-timers found the place as difficult to reach as it is to pronounce. Xcalak is pronounced "schka-lak" or "ish-ka-lak," depending on how you twist your tongue. It's more than 200 miles from Cancun at the southernmost tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and has been known as much for its isolation and lost-in-time ambience as anything else.

For years travelers trying to escape the tourist hordes in Cancun needed a four-wheel-drive vehicle to survive the sandy, rutted road leading south to this town. First-timers found the place as difficult to reach as it is to pronounce. Xcalak is pronounced "schka-lak" or "ish-ka-lak," depending on how you twist your tongue. It's more than 200 miles from Cancun at the southernmost tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and has been known as much for its isolation and lost-in-time ambience as anything else.