Mision Palenque Hotel

... Upon entering the site you are immediately faced with a number of impressive looking pyramids, most of which you can climb to the top of. As we arrived early the pyramids were still shrouded in mist, giving them an even greater air of mystery. The largest and best preserved buildings are in open clearings, but the smaller ruins amidst the forest were far more exciting to explore. Wandering off the main path onto the smaller forest trails revealed real ...

... the jungle and on arrival at sunrise a few days ago, whilst being bitten to **** waiting for Rebecca to find a room, i bumped into an aussie guy...potential problem 1... after spending the day chilling out (or infact warming up, ive never been so cold as i was on the A/C bus from Merida) we decided to venture to the local restaurant, where of course, it seemed only right and proper to celebrate....arriving in the jungle.... being alive...eating ...

... Eventually we found our way back. <br><br>Friday, 28 August, Day 217 <br><br>El Panchan, Mexico<br><br> In the morning we walked down the main road for about an hour to reach the Palanque Ruins. They were not Aztec this time, I think they were Mayn. On the way we passed council workers who were trimming the roadside, but rather than one bloke using a wippernsnipper, there were five blokes using machetes. Slash slash slash on the ground. Every ...

... br> At around 4am the first morning I was staying there I was startled awake by this strange sound. It began as a growling and I thought, ¨That couldn´t possibly be a Jaguar¨ and I was right. The sound then grew into a barking noise and then finally long howls. By then I had figured out that it was two Howler monkeys talking to each other. An eerie sound if you´ve never heard it before.<br> Also in this area are several spectacular ...

... The two had been backpacking for 3 years, selling handcrafted jewelry to support their travels. Habien spoke as much English as I spoke Spanish, but Patricia was able to speak fairly descent English. Both Christina and I were sort of nervous to add the extra weight into Wesley&#8230; but it turned out to be fine, just slow as usual.<br><br>We had planned on staying the night near the Tonina ruins and since it was getting late in the day, Habien and Patricia ...

... mosquito spray as in this heat as those little *******s are never far behind. We had flown down from Mexico city exchanging a the 14 hour plus bus ride for a 1.30 minute flight. Something that i was regretting a little as we got in the plane, with now everyone, including stewards and the pilot adopting the Micheal Jackson look and also the size of the plane was definitely fun sized. They were not able to put us together when we checked in and so we were placed separately in the ...

... everything looked. It really was quite amazing to be in a place like that, especially one I was mildly obsessed with when planning the trip. Its impossible to write how good the ruins looked, and how cool it was walking through the rainforest hearing monkeys and all sorts of birds and insects. Amazing! Next stop was Misol Ha waterfall, which was one fall that must have been 80-100m high into a deep pool of water. Brendan and I stripped off pretty quickly and started swimming under the falls ...

... so twisty/windy. uppy/downy and narrow that it took over 5 hours. When we arrived I parked Jon in the nearest cafe to the bus stop and went and found a room with aircon, TV, en suite and wifi for M$250. I left him resting and went and searched for a deal to Flores, Guatemala for Saturday and a restaurant - found both. Persuaded Jon that he had sunstroke/dehydration rather than anything more ...

... true what they say, that Mexican food in Mexico is different than what you get back home in Australia. For a start, there's no sour cream or cheese and tacos are dished up in small round soft flat bread, much like miniature Old El Paso fajita wraps. There's this thing called mole, a kind of thick brown paste made from chocolate that is usually served as a ...

... began to look distinctly suspicious after a while. Michelle, not having read the book, didn't care in the least and fell asleep on top of her rucksack. Why on earth had we arrived so early?<br><br><br>I sat and waited for two hours, propping my eyelids up, whilst Michelle slept and the various muggers, pickpockets, cut-throats, footpads, vagabonds, rapists and assassins either got on long distance buses or warmly greeted their wives and children as they emerged from the arrivals door ...