Palenque

Mexico

November 2006
2 days

Palenque (The Jungle)
15th to 17th November 2006

The drive to Palenque was almost torturous..... being flung from left to right around the relentless bends and those damn speed bumps every few yards... why why why!!! Let people choose to speed and kill themselves, why should we suffer!

We stopped for lunch and all gasped as we through open the van doors as we hadn´t expected the increase in heat and humidity, being spoilt by the on board air con. We were getting in to jungle territory so everyone reach for their mozzie spray and headed to lunch.

We followed the path down the garden area to the Banos (toilets) and as I sat on a toilet with no seat or flushing mechanism and in semi darkness I scanned the walls for bugs. I tried not to move or breath as I spotted hundreds of silent assassins clinging to the walls like mini vampires hiding from the daylight waiting for dusk when they can feed.
Each holding its own little belly full of blood and god knows what diseases I was keen to finish my business and get out of there unnoticed.

We ate bananas and tea and all dived back in the cool bus, thankful for the shelter but at the same time wishing we were already at our destination.

We perked up when we arrived at the first of two waterfalls that we were promised en route. This waterfall was not steep but made up of a wide stretch of river with gradual steps down and great sprays and clear blue water. Some swam in the water to cool off and this is when the snake incident happened.

We only saw half of it but a guy in our group (Paul) saw it all and got some great shots. A green snake a few foot long was seen swimming across the water to land where it wriggled on its belly along the dirt.

The snake then somehow catches a frog that was happily hopping along and swallows it whole head first. (See the amazing photos of the frogs legs hanging out the snakes mouth!)

The crazy thing is a few seconds later some local kids grab the snake, squeeze it from the tail upwards and the frog pops out again unharmed and hops away....

Imagine what went through this frogs mind.... one minute everything is ok... then it all goes dark.... and thinks its game over.. Then he sees light at the end of the tunnel and weeehey hes back out.... I bet he went home and said to his family... geez you wont believe what just happened to me.... what a day!

Back in the bus and soon arrive at the second waterfall. This time is was a very high waterfall with hundreds of gallons of water gushing over the top every second. It was cool as we could walk right behind the waterfall and look directly through it. We got really wet but was worth it to experience its power.

We arrived at our jungle lodge before dark and all didn't seem so bad. It basically was a bar and restaurant area with a thatched roof but no walls.... and then a long path leading to the huts we would be sleeping in. We were lucky to be given the first hut along the path and it was modern with a flat plastered ceiling with Tudor style beams and a ceiling fan.... we checked the room for bugs but all seemed secure and clean.

When we went for dinner we found out that some were not so lucky... A girl in our group (Sophie!!) was feeling very uneasy about their room as it has no flat ceiling but instead a pitched thatched roof which seemed to be the perfect nesting place for every bug that could get in. We told here of our luxury apartment and we watched as a tear welled up in her eye! lol. Poor Sophie had to stay up late and drink just to get through the night.

Others had a ten minute walk to their huts and in the dark with the sounds of the jungle chasing you that´s a long walk.

That night it rained so hard it sounded like we were back under that waterfall but watching the lightening was amazing. We set our alarms for 6am as we had a tour the next day.... Sarah and I slept through the whole thing as the rain muffled its noise and so when we woke at 7am we were alone and without a group. The rain continued to pour down so we stayed in bed and read all day surviving on chocolate. One of the annoying things about the jungle is that everything gets wet...... even inside.... the humidity here means that if you leave a perfectly dry Tshirt on the bed in the morning, when you get back later it´ll be damped and smelly where like a sponge its soaked up the moisture in the air! By the time we left here nothing smelt fresh.

Sophie was sure the reason why we weren't on the tour was because spiders had got us in the night, but was relieved to see us at dinner that night. During the day you started to feel more confident in these surroundings but as darkness fell again that cockiness was washed away and everyone reached for their torches and hard liquor!

Kate, a great lady from New Zealand told us how she had found a scorpion in her room and wasted no time in pounding it in to the floor with her boot! Good job!

We had an assistant tour guide with us called Matt and he said his good nights and tottered off to his room alone. Five minutes later he was back saying a spider the size of his hand was in his room and he refused to go back there until the army had been sent to destroy it.

There was no more delaying the inevitable so we left for our rooms..... with both our torches trained on the path ahead we made it to our veranda and as part of our routine we put the lights all over the door to ensure nothing slipped in when we opened it. Right above our door was a spider just like Matt had described and just seeing it in the flashlight made us jump. Refusing to go in with it so close to our door i searched for a long stick with which to scare the spider off. Sarah was in charge of lighting the situation (a big thank you to Trevor and Adele for the really bright reading torch, it made life a lot easier!) whilst I moved the stick towards the spider.... Not quite the intended outcome as instead of running the beast attacked the stick... and I almost dropped it. dammit. A new approach was needed.... This time we scraped the stick along the wall so it could feel the vibrations and scurried off but not in any kind of hurry. We ducked in quick and slammed the door behind us.... sounds pathetic now, but you should have been there in the dark jungle. Yeah!
The next day was great.... we all woke up on time and visited the ruins at Palenque. Probably the best we saw in Mexico as they were not so bare and uncovered but were still half nestled in to the hills and trees.

We were privileged to have a great and fanatical tour guide Alonso for the day who lived and breathed this site. He told us how the Mayans had built this with amazing details ensuring that everything lined up together just perfectly and that on those two special days of the year the summer and winter solstice the sunrise or sunset would shine through existing holes or windows to light up their leader so it looked like he was glowing and was all powerful.

The Mayans were amazing people and studied the stars intently and could predict the seasons and rain allowing them to grow crops with success.

After the ruins we were taken in to the jungle by our tour guide Jungle Jim who all the ladies seemed to find attractive with his long hair and lack of fear of the jungle. He showed us how only a small portion of the site had been uncovered and we saw section of structures in the undergrowth that may not ever be excavated.

We were then all told to remove our shoes as we slipped in to the river for a couple of hours walk down mild waterfalls. It bloody hurt your feet at times as there were different levels of petrified shells underfoot, but it was a great adventure and a real privilege to walk across the top of un-excavated temples and houses that formed part of the waterfalls. I think one person from our trip fell into the water (Patrice!!!) but no matter as this was a great experience and one to savour always.

That night Jungle Jim invited us for a sauna/steam/sweat room at his pad, which was just beyond our huts. 13 of us squeezed in to his pitch dark sauna in the jungle and instantly started sweating. The room had a small skylight to let in some moonlight and a pool in the middle for sticking your legs in to cool off. We all sat dripping whilst he played tunes on his didgeridoo and also on some large sea shells which he managed to get a tune out of. During an hour in there I almost had three silent panic attacks when you feel you just can´t breath and almost scramble for the door. I don´t think I´ve ever been so hot or ever sweated as much in my life..... When you do finally get out you feel the cold air and relief.

It was an amazing day but we were sort of relieved to be leaving the creepies behind the next day as we boarded the bus to Merida...