Palenque- Mayan Ruins

Palenque, Chiapas 22-25 April, 2009

We traversed the mountains of Chiapas, northward from San Cristobal, passing through the Zapatista heartland along the way. We passed the sites of battles and massacres that we had seen the night before during the movie. Many of the villages we passed through had large billboards announcing that they were autonomous townships and proudly supportive of the EZLN (Zapatista Liberation Army). This is one of the major tactics of the Zapatista movement- unhappy with the governance of the central power in Mexico City, the ejidos (villages which farm the land communally) have undertaken to govern themselves. They set up local schools, healthcare centres and other social agencies to help look after themselves. If you don't owe anything to the man, he can't keep you indentured as a slave, which is a process that has a long history in Mexico.

Most of the drive was downhill as we lost altitude to gain the Mayan Plain. After a long day's drive, we found ourselves inside the Palenque National Park, installed at the Maya Belle Campground.

This facility was great. It offered accommodation of every description, from tenting through hammocks in palapas to full service hotel rooms. As a consequence there were people of every description, from well-heeled holiday travelers to the most dreadlocked of hippies. Most importantly, there was a pool, which in the humid jungle clime was a life-saver.

We bucked up the cash (M$850, or 85 bucks) for a guide and set out to tour the ruins. Edgar, our guide, spoke excellent English and animated the ruins for us. A very small portion of the city that  has been exposed from under the jungle covering. It is hard to believe that at one time, the city housed 25,000 people and covered hundreds of hectares of paved land carved from the jungle. Our tour included a walk through the jungle and exploration of a ruin  that has been re-claimed by the jungle. Just like something from an Indiana Jones movie, we dropped through a hole in the jungle floor into the hallway of a building that is now inhabited only by bats. We walked through what was probably somebody's house 1000 years ago and out the front door. It was eerie to be in a 1000 year old ghost town.

After our sticky tour through the jungle, it was a relief to go to the waterfalls suggested by our guide. We spent a couple of hours hiking to it and frolicking in the cool water in the midst of the jungle before heading to the museum and back to the Maya Belle for a much deserved swim.

The final day in Palenque was spent riding our bikes into town, the modern Palenque. There is a brick-paved pathway that connects the campground to the town, a distance of about 12 kilometers. Like so many things in Mexico, it is something that is brilliant in its conception, but seriously lacks follow-up. It was likely opened up to much fanfare when it was built, but has subsequently been soundly ignored. In some places, it consists of only a single track through waist high grass, and in places is so decrepit that it is nearly impassable on a bike. The last photo shows a pit about 8 feet deep and 12 feet across that had been eroded out from beneath the bike path. It is apparent from the overgrowth that this is not the first season that this hole has been in place. Just another reason why one should not travel in Mexico at night!

On the way home, we were finally treated to the sight of a howler monkey at the side of the road. We had heard these creatures in the jungle ever since arriving in Palenque, but never blessed with a face to face encounter. The individual we saw was carrying on a conversation with another howler somewhere in the jungle kilometers away. It is amazing, the volume of sound that these relatively small creatures can generate! They emit howls, growls and shrieks that sound quite terrifying, and really make it hard to sleep at night. We will never complain about the boys' talking in their sleep again!

-Remy