Palenque,
Mexico
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Ray was well enough, just, to travel here to Palenque on thursday. However, I had to go to the ruins by myself, a shame. They were another amazing experience. You just donīt realise the scale, grandeur and power of these Meso-american civilisations until you see it first hand. At least, I didnīt and Iīve even studied them, briefly, at university. Palenque was first occupied around 100BC and grew to be the capital of the Mayan Empire from 600-900AD (before the Aztecs rose to power). Their city is in the middle of the jungle (now, then was cornfields for miles) and the view from the pyramids is breathtaking Not to mention the scale and complexity of the the buildings themselves. I spent three hours walking around and only saw half of the excavated sites. And they estimate that only 5% of the city has been excavated! Get your head around that. I couldnīt. The fact that all these buildings are fighting not to be swallowed back by the jungle that enclosed them for a thousand years just adds to the magic and mystery of the place. Wow.
So weīre going to try again to go to Guatemala tomorrow. We were supposed to leave at 6 this morning for a 3 hour bus ride, then 30 mins up the river to the border and then on by bus to Flores and the famous Mayan site of Tikal. However, Ray was pretty bad last night and when he saw that the bus was only a 14 seater without a toilet, he decided to go back to bed.
Cést la vie! I know, itīs not Spanish, but seemed appropriate.
