Plaza Palenque

... questa cosa particolare c'e' anche a San Cristobal, qui era piu' divertente perche' l'orchestra doveva sovrastare il casino fatto da mille volatili locali che soggiornano negli aberi.<br>Ci siamo organizzati l'escursione per il giorno dopo: le rovine di Palenque e le cascate di Misol-ha e Agua Azul.<br>Non ci resta che rinfrescarci e andare a dormire!

... all shapes and sizes and peeked in some dark corners and saw some bats (you´d have loved it Sherri!).<br><br>Was due to visit some waterfalls, but got stuck in a road block for over and hour as there were a load of demonstraters with machetes blocking the road and getting fairly violent! I think they were part of the Zapatista movement which seeks to improve the lot of peasants: Me and some of the others decided to ...

... but it was obvious there was real affection underneath the jibes. The evening ended with us convincing the kiwi to down a tequila (he made a rapid retreat back to his hut after that) whilst the aussie, who had consumed a fair amount of beer and a couple of tequilas made a hasty retreat to the baños after being sick in his mouth (we think). He returned as we were leaving and, we assume, tried to have a crack at pulling a French chick who had also been on the same bus as us ...

... Mayan ruins of Palenque. They are distinctly different than the ruins I saw in the Yucatan. Here there are fewer carvings (or maybe they`ve just been removed) and the temples not quite so grand. I found it fascinating that the Mayans highly respected the Ceiba tree because they believed it supported and symbolized the entire universe. The branches are the heavens, the roots are the underworld and the tree is earth. The Mayans ...

... ruins and about 10km from the city.  Our campsite was very interesting as it was located in a touristy village community with a mix of eclectic foreign residents and backpackers from around the world. Where we parked was right next to a fellow by the name of Steve, an ex-military Vet. He introduced himself right away offering his tandem bike he had built and his home for us to hang out in (both we didn't take his offer on). A very interesting and intelligent ...

... en ja Jan...we begrijpen helemaal waarom je het ons aangeraden hebt. Het heeft zelfs iets indisch. Na een paar spelletjes regenwormen met een heerlijke Planters Punch of Mojito gaat de avond weer snel voorbij. De nacht werd ruw verstoord door het enorme lawaai van brulapen in onze jungle.....wel gaaf!! Morgen gaan we de oude meuk, volgens Mies, van Palenque bekijken..

... and went back to the room to do our blogs. I got pretty bored, so I decided to head back out to the hotel to check if Alice was there, and so she was, sitting in reception having just arrive, trying to message me on facebook from her i-pod. We went into the zocalo area of Palenque, there was absolutely nothing there, but we found a place to eat and had a few drinks before deciding to call it a night. We set up to meet for tea again the following night also before we left for Campache and ...

It was a crack of dawn start for the day trip to Palenque and once we were all ready to go by 6am, our bus was late by almost an hour! We took the shuttle 2 hours into the mountains, stopped for breaky, chundled on for another 2 where we reached Agua Azul. The photos had been amazing in the Hostel when we booked the tickets, the waterfalls were famous for being an amazing vibrant blue, when we ...

... the experience rattled us. Having taken 20 flights in the past 12 months, we'd never succumbed to a proper fear of flying past the usual uneasiness during particularly bad turbulence or a rough landing, but we've agreed that the next take-off - probably the one that takes us from Central America to our new temporary home in Canada - might have us on edge ...

... as early as the 1950s. We didn't get to see much of it though as we buzzed through it in the strangest taxi I've ever ridden in - a type of turbo-charged convertible golf buggy with an engine that sounded distinctly like a VW Beetle. I suddenly remembered that we had just crossed the Tropic of Cancer, although we were a bit too tired for much celebration.<br>With a bit of luck we were relayed almost immediately onto our direct bus to Mexico City - a journey that should take ...