"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

April 20:   Palenque!!! Maya-Belle Campground, Chiapas

Hello all,

This morning was the morning for ruins hiking in Palenque, Maya ruins site par excellence.

I attempted to leave early but it took a while to get everything packed up and put into a locker. After that PeaceForce One and I meandered past the rows of parked cars to the entrance of the ruins.

All the anticipation I felt transformed into "I'm here! I'm really here" and I bounced up the stairs .

But I quickly slowed as the heat, even at ten in the morning, was stifling. One had to climb slowly so as not to overheat.

I was walking around by myself but then came up to small group with a guide. The guide looked like he was actually enjoying the trip himself and I decided I would break my 'no-guide' habit and asked if I could join.

The group I joined was a fun one. We came from the US, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico City. The guide explained each feature once in Spanish and then in English which was perfect for me, to get it twice.

We passed through the Palacio, into the underground chambers, and then up to the Temple of the Cross. We had fun juggling cameras back and forth and I enjoyed making new connections with the people from Israel, and with the others (la arcitecta).

Palenque still has many structures that are being uncovered such as a Palace of Public Business that should be ready in about 3 years.

As we walked around in the jungle we could hear the howler monkeys, which at first we thought were tourist-eating jaguars.

That afternoon (being finally out of food) I headed in toward town. As I was waiting for a combi I met (or remet from San Cristobal) Trevor and Elisa from Washington. We ended up eating together at a vegitarian restaurant and having a great talk about India, bio-dynamic farming, rainbow gatherings, and much more. It was fun to hang with them before they hopped on a bus to D.F. (Distrito Federal-Mexico City).

I continued on my own to Palenque, the city, and found a cybercafe, a cebolla, a few chayotes, pasta, sopa de crema de elote, fresas, uvas, una pina, and even thought I would try some apple Tang (now that I am entering the water-world of iodine). I grabbed a 2 liter of Coke for some camping neighbors and thought I would hop on a bus.

No luck. All buses stopped running to the ruins two hours earlier. I wandered and wondered and then asked a combi driver what a good price for a taxi was. He said 30 pesos. I made it down for 7 by combi so I was reluctant but my options were narrowing. He told me he would take me for 30 and threw in that if he picked up any more the price would drop. I decided to gamble and jumped in with my groceries. Luck was mine as one block later two Spanish fellows stoppped the combi and asked to be taken to the same campground! Yes, in one block my price dropped from 30 to 10 pesos!

That night was a fun feast of pasta with cream of corn soup, onions and chayote (some answers to the above Spanish quiz).

A night around the candle lantern drinking tea with Jon, a fellow from Germany, and a gal from Brazil finished the day off nicely.

That's all for now.

Still pedaling,

TAD