5th December, Palenque, San Cristobal Del Las Casas – Mexico

Up early again to beat the crowds to Palenque. We said goodbye to our hotel with its lush foliage and cool huts. Another place we could have stayed just a little bit longer.

The Palenque (pronounced Pal-en-kay) ruins are quite unique in that they are still ssurrounded by the massive forests in which they were found under. We started off our trip with a walk through the dense jungle to see our first ruin from high up. This is where I discovered that thongs don’t really cut it in the jungle. Oh well.

Palenque itself only has two percent of its ruins uncovered and many of the other building which remain almost unseen under the dense jungles are simply numbered as temple, 19, temple 20 etc. The ruins were first occupied in 100BC and its prime around 7^th century AD, which centred around the reign of Pakal, who’s grave was finally uncovered in 1952. We went to the Temple of Inscriptions which was where his tomb was uncovered including a Jade mask which has been stolen, but since returned and now resides in Mexico City.

The El Palacio, directly opposite is a maze of small rooms and corridors with the arch’s themselves resembling an upside down bottle for support. There are also stone beds where the royals slept (did not look too comfortable!!)

We were allowed to climb most of the temples, although they were steep and slippery and our guide kindly showed me the dent on a lawn where a man had fallen to his death just last month. We took it very easy both going up and coming down. The ruins had an almost mystical feel and we both agreed that we enjoyed them more than Chichen Itza.

We then visited the nearby museum which housed some of the many artifacts including a replica of Pakal’s tomb but many jade masks that had been found amongst other things.

We then hit the road again to head off to some waterfalls. First up with Misol-Ha. It had a big pool below a 35m drop and we could swim there (although a little too cold so we didn’t). However, the beauty of this waterfall is that you could walk behind it and watch the water cascade over before your eyes.

Dan elected to enter into a cave behind the water falls with a guide a few of the group to have a closer look. He said the cave was pretty amazing but had bats (eww).

Off then to the next waterfall, Aqua Azul, for some lunch and a look. Lunch was traditional Mexican. A young boy came up and asked if he could have some chicken off his plate (he had finished but had leftovers) and he said no, then promply threw it to a nearby dog. Ooops. Dog wins over boy for the chicken!! We bought some what we thought were dried banana’s but tasted more like a potato chip off some very cute young children.

We then walked up to the top of the falls, which are a beautiful blue colour. Again, we all elected not to swim. The falls themselves were lovely though.

Onwards on the road again towards San Cristobal Del Las Casas. We arrived in late and could immediately feel how much cooler it was in the highlands of Mexico. Our hotel is beautiful albeit bright in oranges and blues. We had a very quick orientation around the town. The town is brightly coloured buildings with cobble stoned streets. Many of the lights are up for Christmas also. We headed into a bar with a traditional band playing for dinner and a few drinks and then off to bed.