A quiet eeriness pervades the ruins of Yaxhá. The hard lines and right angles of the stone temples have been smudged into gentle hills blanketed in green.

As we stand here alone -- two tourists and a guide -- it seems the jungle has sneaked up and silently swallowed the city.

But the forest hasn't completely wiped out Yaxhá's cosmopolitan atmosphere. It's easy to imagine people going about their daily lives here more than 1,000 years ago: Traders bartering food, priests calling prayers to the heavens, craftsmen building in stone to raise the city ever higher against invaders.

Where did the Maya go? The emptiness seems to shout the unanswered question.

Little-visited Yaxhá was the heart of our visit to the ruins of northern Guatemala, a three-day adventure involving a short flight from Guatemala City, boat ride and jouncing four-wheel drive through the jungle.

Few tourists make the trek to these ruins, which served as set for Survivor: Guatemala. While better-known sites like nearby Tikal and Mexico's Chichén Itzá draw visitors by the thousands, we were nearly alone in the 140 square mile park.

The sci-fi film crew we met was quiet, and so were we, whispering as we spoke. Even at the end of our tour, when we toasted a drizzle-soaked sunset from the top of a temple, we were muted and contemplative.

The toast, with wine and cheese, was part of the tour offered by Bernie Mittelstaedt, owner of the Ni'tun ecolodge at Lake Petén and an amateur archeologist who has studied Yaxhá for decades.

THE ECOLODGE

Ni'tun is rustic, yet slightly luxurious -- an oasis in a protected corner of Guatemala on the edge of Lake Petén. With just four cabins, peace is guaranteed.

This is the type of ecolodge where the bed is comfortable, the sheets soft, the food good and the wine flowing. Still, the owners do their part to meld with nature. Floors are discs cut from trees that had to be removed to build the lodge and thatched cabins. Though each cabin features a wall-to-wall window with views of the shimmering lake, privacy is ensured by sheltering trees.

Unlike others in the area, Ni'tun's owners don't serve wild animals, a common ''delicacy'' that endangers the already depleted rain forest fauna. And unlike larger resorts, Ni'tun strives for a personal Guatemalan experience. Mittelstaedt cooked our dinners in his open-air kitchen, then sat down to eat with us. We discussed politics, culture and his beloved Guatemala as we dipped into his wine collection while listening to the jungle in the dark.

It was the jungle's day sounds that woke us the next morning. As the dawn brightened, we were seeped in nature's music -- the gentle whir and cheeps of hummingbirds; the grackles trumpeting like the jazz greats. How far we felt from home.

After a hearty lunch, we headed out on the two-hour journey to Yaxhá. An open motorboat putted us across Lake Petén to Flores, a colorful little island reminiscent of Italy with its crooked pastel buildings. At the pier Mittelstaedt met us in a Toyota Land Cruiser -- crucial for handling the joint-jouncing ruts in the unpaved portion of the coming road-trip.

Along the way, he pointed out other ruins in the distance and talked about ways the region has changed since he's been living here. There are more tourists, fewer undisturbed places. But the culture of the area is evolving, he said, with more concern for preserving its unique heritage.

BURIED TREASURES

While many Maya cities have been largely excavated, clearing at Yaxhá is still in early days, and nature isn't surrendering it without a struggle. Towering trees grow from the sides of temples. Howler monkeys scream from the treetops, while laughing falcons seem to make fun of you from just beyond your view. Wild turkeys dressed in iridescent purple and blues clamber over temples still wearing their soft swath of green.

From 600 B.C. to 900 A.D., Yaxhá was a commercial center -- the Istanbul of its time and region, home to as many as 40,000 people at its busiest. The grandest structures were temples and palaces, sometimes built atop one another, the newest and tallest covered in ornate frescoes.

Like Istanbul, Yaxhá thrived because of its strategic location, high above a wide lagoon. It was a powerhouse city -- and a trophy for whoever might manage to claim it.

Despite its enviable status, like other Maya cities, Yaxhá became a ghost town, and then a ruin. And briefly, a Survivor.

Why, and how, are secrets yet. The jungle, it seems, isn't quite ready to give them up.

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