The Jungle and Temples
Trip Start
Mar 24, 2008
1
5
Trip End
Apr 18, 2008
Palenque,
Mexico
Saturday, April 12, 2008
We arrived at Villahermosa Airport and stepped out into 40 degree heat and about 80% humidity - imagine very very hot and sticky and double it, whew.
We went straight into a tour of the archaeological museum which was a mixture of outdoor zoo, interspersed with ancient artefacts recovered from the various temples hereabouts. It was a lovely setting and all very interesting but we were all melting in the heat and glad to stop at a riverside restaurant for drinks and a snack. This area was badly flooded back in November last year and there is evidence of it all around. Here in Mexico, as most places in the world, the talk is of weather anomalies and how things are changing
Iguana at anthropology park - Palenque
. At this time of year is should be at least 6-8 degrees cooler and they would normally only reach these temperatures in July / August.It was a two hour drive to our hotel at Palenque - Derek and Peter were dreading what it would be like as it looked very rustic on the internet, after Creel, Jenny and I were not in for any more "rustic" It didn't look too promising at first, but it turned out to be ok - bungalow style rooms set in very lush tropical grounds.
Next day, the trip was to temples not far from Palenque - they were impressive and in a lovely setting but I have to say I didn't think they had the same impact as Ankor Wat and it's surrounding temples which I found absolutely awe inspiring. We climbed loads of steps to some of them and the palace complex was interesting but as with all these tours it gets a bit seen one, the others look the same! We then set off for an hour and a half journey to a waterfall. The terrain changed almost immediately and what had been flat quite ordinary countryside changed to steep dramatic jungle. The road wound up and up, snaking around steep bends - we were beginning to think we were never going to get there! We had lunch then walked alongside a series of cascades which were a beautiful turquoise blue. Unfortunately, for Jenny and I, the heat and humidity at this time of day got just a bit too much, and we chickened out about halfway and left the men to finish the climb to the top,
I have to mention at this point that all through the holiday we have all been on tender hooks waiting for the arrival of Julie's baby which by this point was two weeks overdue
Mayan sculpture
. Jenny had news that she was going in to be induced that day but as with the majority of this holiday we were out of telephone contact again. We set of for the journey back from the waterfall, as we got nearer Palenque and picked up a signal again, the text messages started rolling in - It was a little boy, Leo, 8lbs 11oz! He had been born about 3 hours before but of course no one had been able to get through on the phone. Mother and baby were both fine and Peter and Jenny had their granddaughter sandwich! There were a few glasses of wine drunk that night to wet the baby's head!"CONGRATULATIONS JULIE & DAVE, A LITTLE BROTHER FOR POPPY"
With much relief we continued our tours the next day with a visit to Bonampack a temple complex about 2½ hours drive away. We had a different guide today - Ignacio - he was just a little bit on the effeminate side, mincing around with a lovely blue umbrella to protect him from the shade, but very knowledgeable and quite passionate about his subject. He was prone to suddenly standing in silence to absorb the karma! We were very lucky as it's not really tourist season yet and most of the places we visited, we had almost, or totally to ourselves which of course helped the "karma" enormously!
Palenque
The next visit, to Yaxchilan, was another 1½ hour trip by minibus then along the river that forms the border between Mexico and Guatemala. It's deep in the jungle and can only be reached by boat. This was similar to the others and very impressive, but why did they always build these temples at the top of enormous flights of steps? The heat and humidity were completely draining and we were not sorry to get back on the boat and cool off for the hour trip back up river. Then it was a late lunch and another 2½ hour trip home. It had been a long day; we were up at 5am and returned just before 7pm.
All day the rain had been threatening and that evening it started - in earnest! As you would expect in these parts it was torrential tropical rain that just doesn't let up and as I am sitting here typing this, while waiting for the taxi back to the airport, 15 hours later, it is still raining as hard. Everywhere is dripping and steamy - I don't think the jungle is for me!
