Palenque

Palenque is the site of a city of 15 square kilometres, but archeologists have only uncovered part of it from the jungle. Some of the ruins are really well preserved and a lot of work has been done on them. Other sections have been partly uncovered and still have huge trees growing out of them, other sections are still covered in jungle. This is certainly the most open of the ruins, you pratically have free reign to climb and explore, so we did. We would slowly crawl up, sit for 10 minutes or so and survey the magnificence, quickly plop down the steps and onto the next edifice.

We went into sections that were only partly uncovered and there was nobody bar us. It was eerie. This part of Mexico has the highest rainfall, so the jungle grows quickly. I think if you stood still and stared you really could see it growing. We sat really quietly in one part and brilliant gold and black lizards emerged from the leaf litter. As soon as the city of Palenque was abandoned, the jungle took it back. It is humid and wild.


At night we could hear howler monkeys and wierd animals calling to each other. I did sleep pretty well, but I woke a few times and was glad that we had shut the door firmly. Indeed our hostel is called The Jaguar and you can just imagine the whole place coming to life with animals.

In fact, the whole place does come to life with animals, ferals to be exact. We don't have tattoos, piercings, dreadlocks, fisherman's pants, equipment for fire juggling or bare feet, so we are just a little bit passe. At night, in the middle of all the jungle hostels, all manner of counter cultural types gather. The food is good, the booze is cheap, the music is live and the company is friendly. Do I really have to come home?