Palenque township has grown up around tourism forged by visitors to the important Mayan city of Palenque, a centuries old and enormous city that is all but covered by jungle now. The trouble with tourism was evidenced by the absolutely enormous meals we were served on our first night, all of us unable to finish, making for a very wasteful outcome since we couldn’t package the leftovers up to take home – we had no fridges in the rooms. We were also startled by a covered ute tearing up the street narrowly missing cross traffic after it had offloaded a bundle of human being seemingly completely off his chops on drink or drugs, likely the latter. He crumpled to the group outside a shop and must have made his presence known by smell as highlighted by the fact the assistants sprayed him with perfume several times. He was breathing and no one called an ambulance, it’s a common enough occurrence apparently.
We hired a private van and driver for our day to visit the ruins of Palenque with a guide, Chief, who sounded like he’d learned English from a NY cop. The jungle covers most of the city and only a small percentage has been uncovered and is maintained. Without money to fund restoration and maintenance, it is not financially viable to uncover all the buildings. A map shows what exists through thermal imaging or similar technology but it may never see the light of day again. In the time when the city was alive, around 600AD, the trees were cleared, jungle kept back and stucco plazas were the norm. It’s speculated that one reason it collapsed was due to drought caused by the land clearing. It would have to have been something drastic to take down such a large city.
We entered tombs, climbed steep, high steps up to the top of temples and took in the views across the mountains and valleys surrounding the city. Pakal was the main ruler, starting when he was around 12 and dying at about 80. His tomb has been excavated and is in the nearby museum, over 23 tonnes in weight it’s impressive to say the least. The museum also features jade funerary masks, jewelry, estelas, stone and stucco carved furniture and panels of glyphs which was what has made Palenque so important. Through deciphering the glyphs, archaeologists have been able to translate several sites, compile the phonetic alphabet and attach dates and names to events in Mayan history.
Next stop was Mirasol falls, a deep pool catching the plunging waterfall with a pathway behind the falls and a cave. Instead of swimming I took the path behind and succeeded in not slipping over on the moss to make it up to the cave. For 10 pesos the enterprising chap handed out torches so we could talk through the cave to an area with a cascade into a pool, stalactites and an occasional spooked bat.
Agua Azul waterfalls are a series of pools and giant boulders making up a 700+ metre stepped drop for the turquoise water and white wash to tumble furiously down. Widespread and lined with food and craft stalls (we’ll never escape them I fear), they are frequented by locals and tourists alike, looking for a refreshing and beautiful dip as respite from the heat.
A long day sapped energy to a new low, and after all the historical stimulation and glorious water wallowing, I slept very well.