Going With the Flow

The shock of the humid and hot weather after San Cristobal had us craving a swim. So we looked up a good place for one in the Lonely Planet book and set off in the direction the front desk waved us in to look for a collectivo to take us there. Two things were a bit unexpected firstly no one was going to where we wanted to go but apparently to another waterfall that was better so we ended up there. Secondly our collectivo was not the regular white vans we’d become used to but rather a truck, or if you’re an Australian a ute. Some people sat in the truck but we got to sit in the back. It had seats and a cage that you sat it. It was open at the front above the trucks cabin and that’s where people put a lot of their stuff. They also stored it under the seats. But we shrugged it off and just went with the flow of the day. Sure we’ll go to somewhere we don’t know in an interesting looking vehicle, why not?

So we endured the half hour bumpy ride with a horde of locals and two Germans in the back of the truck with us. When we got to the waterfalls it was just us and the Germans who got out. We had to pay $20 pesos to get into the waterfalls and somehow we ended up with a guided tour. Which was cool as he showed us where it was safe to jump in from as high as you can get, and where caves were hidden under the waterfalls. It was a series of waterfalls that ran into pools of beautiful blue water that slipped down into another waterfall ending in another pool and repeat. There’s not really much to report about the day. We’d had a lazy morning so it was the afternoon by the time we’d gotten there. We spent the few hours there with the guide and the Germans who had been on the collectivo. Thankfully they spoke English and some Spanish, and the guide spoke a little English so we made it through alive and unscathed. It was an awesome afternoon, and I finally got to test out the GoPro’s waterproof claim which was thankfully good.

Once we finished at the falls we wound back up in town and ended up having a lovely dinner with our two new German friends who were unfortunately leaving that night. So after dinner we walked them to the bus station saw them off and went back to our hostel. Queue the photos!

The view from the back of the collectivo heading back to Palenque

Jungle Ruins

Palenque was our next stop after San Cristobal. We also took our longest bus ride thus far to get there. It was roughly an 8 hour bus ride which wasn’t too unpleasant, but I was definitely happy to get off. Although I did get off and was immediately welcomed to Palenque by a giant ant attack. I thought it was the zipper of the jacket I was holding pinching at me until I lifted the jacket and found a giant ant attacking my arm. Blood was even drawn, welcome to Palenque indeed. When we got out of the bus station we also seemed to enter into the middle of some kind of very loud Christmas themed parade, I think? Was definitely an unexpected welcome.

San Cristobal had a chilly nip to the air and cold nights. Palenque was the opposite. It was hot, sweaty, and humid. Not the worst humidity but you felt sticky after being outside for more then half a minute. In the Lonely Planet book we have it suggests staying in a number of bungalows on the outskirts of town. Despite our best attempts we couldn’t contact the more budget end bungalows that were suggested. I think they’ve either gone out of business or have just given up on the internet (which is fair, the service and internet in Palenque is terrible). So we ended up getting somewhere “in town”. Or rather on the edge of town amongst little drips of the jungle and other hotels.

We were staying at a hostel called Taxkin Hostel but it was a hostel that wanted very much to be a hotel – which they basically were. It was the most expensive place we’d stayed and one that sadly didn’t have free breakfast, and the free wifi was only in the reception. And just a heads up to fellow travellers the prices on their website are in US dollars. I have to admit I was kind of upset over the lack of a free breakfast. The assortment of fruit that’s usually served had been my nod at health. But whatever we made do (they did have a restaurant and bar attached so it’s not like it was a struggle to find food).

On our first full day we decided to head out to the Palenque Ruins. We were determined to do it ourselves sans-tour and sans-guide. Many people offered, as soon as we had gotten off of the bus the night before two flyers from two different tour companies had been given to us. We went into town found one of the Collectivos to take us (another ubiquitous white van) that had ruinas scrawled on the front. We originally thought the collectivos would have some kind of HQ where we bought passage but nope. You just get into the van that’s going to the ruins (or somewhere along the way as they drop off) and then you pay when you get there.

So after that mini adventure we were dropped off by the ruins. We paid for a little wrist band entrance thing into the wildlife park that the ruins were situated in. Then we had to pay for entrance into the ruins themselves. The wristbands were around $32 pesos, and the ticket to get into the ruins was $35 pesos. So not too bad but annoying you have to pay for both. We then started making our way through the hawkers to the entrance for the ruins when Callum heard someone yelling about maps. So we made a small detour to buy a map and somehow ended up with a guide.

So there went the plan of DIY-ing the ruins. But to be honest the guide was good, I would’ve had no idea what we were looking if he hadn’t been there to explain. Now Palenque has a huge amount of ruins in its national park of which only 2% had been cleaned. The rest were buried amongst the jungle, unexcavated for jungle conservation purposes. The 2% that had been cleaned away consisted of a palace, three tombs, three temples, and a few other walls that used to be buildings that we didn’t look at so I don’t know what they were for. The ruins we were at were 100% Mayan ruins, and didn’t you know Mayan apparently is taken from maze, which means corn. The Mayans were all vegetarian their diet mostly consisting of corn, beans, and other vegetarian deliciousness. They also didn’t have a very long life expectancy (not related to their diet) but the pyramid tomb that had been uncovered was the resting place for a great king who had ruled for 69 years. Each step in the pyramid was for how many years he’d ruled, so It was quite tall with 69 steps. The inside was also hollow, although we couldn’t go inside, or climb up.

We also saw the palace which, for those art and architecture nerds out there, has Islamic arches in it. Which basically means that the arches were pointed at the top meaning they could be built higher then other arches. The same kind of arch that is used in Gothic cathedrals in Europe, one that (from my rusty art history memory) I’m pretty sure only came to Europe after they’d discovered the arch in Islam during the crusades. So interesting to find it here in a Mayan palace. Mostly though the arches consisted of the classic Mayan arch, which was two walls, a sloped ceiling bringing them together then it was flat across the top and apparently had wooden beams to keep it all stable and lasting.

What is also really cool about the whole thing is that pack animals and wheels were introduced to Mexico by the Spanish. So all these towering buildings I’ve been talking about and showing pictures of have been put together by hand. The rocks brought from sometimes hours and hours away on the backs of people (usually slaves). Which is crazy to think about how much manpower that would’ve taken. Speaking of slaves as I said earlier there were three tombs. One for the king, the second for the Red Queen, and the third for all their slaves, who were all killed when the royalty died so they could serve them in the afterlife. Which, from a modern 21^st century view is rather depressing. The slaves couldn’t even escape in death.

The other positive to the guide is that we spent an hour at the ruins and then an hour doing a small walk (trek? It felt more like a trek) through the jungle. A trek which was cordoned off to the public so I guess the guide was worth it. The trek took us past so many crumbling temples that were half hidden under the jungle. Ones we wouldn’t notice until the guide would stop (let us catch up) and say “and now you’re standing in a temple” and we’d look around and suddenly see the dilapidated walls and windows hidden under the vines and leaves. We also saw a number of trees and plants that he told us the properties of. Ones to help with upset tummies, ones to keep away mosquitos. Vines we could (and did) swing off like we were Tarzan. He showed us parts of the aqueducts that the Mayans had built for their city that had housed 60,000 people at its peak. A city that they’d abandoned and whose ruins we were walking through. All up it was an awesome experience and one I would definitely recommend.

After our tour we wandered around the ruins a bit more then made our way down the slope their on following a waterfall and a winding path to the museum that sat at the bottom of the hill. By now we were both hot and sweaty so we didn’t go into the museum we just caught a collectivo back to the main area of Palenque. We ended up heading back to the hostel where we had dinner and went to sleep. Another end to an interesting day of adventuring.

That’s All Folks!

Rachel