8. La Ruta Maya 1 (Craig, 6/8/07)

Palenque ruins, The Palacio and Temple of Inscriptions

Tonina ruins

Tonina is a ruin near the town of Ocosingo, half way between San Cristobal and Palenque. We read that very few people visit the ruins. Man, they were not kidding. We took a colectivo out to the ruins when it opened at 9am. From 9 to when we left at noon, we were the only folks climbing on the ruins. We had it all to ourselves, this huge place that covers a hillside. The ruins are several levels, built on a small hill about 300 feet high. On the way to the top, there are several places to explore, including some really cool labyrinths that go under the ruins. We both brought headlamps, which was a great idea of Amy´s. At the very top, is an amazing view of the valley and the last part to the very top is about 100 stairs that are VERY narrow. So Amy didn´t go clear to the top, but I did and the view was great.

We took a colectivo back to Ocosingo and just happened to have a race car driver take us back. He must have been driving 70 miles an hour over these small curvy roads. A bit harrowing, but we made it back. We then walked through the wonderful market of Ocosingo, where the local Indian ladies come to sell their produce. Even if they have just a few eggs to sell, there they are. The are all dressed beautifully with their colorful huipiles and their black hair is braided with a long line of fabric going through.

We then took the bus to Palenque, about a three hour drive from the uplands to the VERY hot jungle. From the bus station, it´s a 5 minute ride out into the jungle where there are some hotels (and I use the term quite loosely) at a place called El Panchan. Lot´s of backpackers here, camping and rooms with no A/C, some little bars and some travel agencies. We talked to a man named Soloman, who sells tours. He told us the nicest place was Chan Kah, which my friend, Will Spires, had highly recommended. But it´s a bit cher ($120 per night) and Amy was quite reluctant to splurge. But it just didn´t look all that nice at El Panchan (no pool, no A/C) , so I said let´s just go take a look. So here we were, both with a small backpack and our roller suitcases, going down the road 1 km to Chan Kah. It looked quite a sight, plus it was about 120 degrees in the fricking shade.

Chan Kah had rooms and gave us one right at the edge of the jungle, so we are looking out on a little creek with the jungle behind it. The souds of the jungle, lots of birds and loud insects, are right there. Plus, it has the HUGE swimming pool that is an absolute dream and quite a nice luxury in this heat. The only downside is that the air conditioner sounds like a 747 flying through the room, especially at 2 in the morning when every sound is magnified 1000 times. One more time when I thank goodness I always carry earplugs when I travel.

So this morning we headed out to the Palenque ruins and were there at opening time of 8am. For quite awhile, there were only about 20 tourists walking around the ruins. You can climb most of them, but unfortunately, not the Temple of Inscriptions and you can´t go into Pakal´s tomb anymore. But there are alot of other temples you can walk up and you can go through other buildings, such as the Palacio, which is a unique building in the Mayan world. There was a nice path up into the jungle, where there was a half burried temple, but you could climb into it and then down into the tomb. Very Indiana Jones...it was super neat. We stayed at the ruins for about 5 hours, climbing a lot of them and just enjoying some super views of this amazing site.

As an interesting historical note, the folks at the aforementioned Tonina had a war with Palenque and Tonina won. Brought back the Palenque king for a sacrifice. These Mayans were into war and not a nice bunch, overall.

It is so damned hot here, but what do you expect, ít´s the jungle. Been drinking a lot of Coke, which is funny, because I never drink Coke at home. But Mexican Coke is much tastier than American Coke, it´s a slightly different recipe. I hear they are now selling Mexican Coke at Costco.

Tomorrow, we head to two other Mayan ruins, Bonampak and Yaxchitlan. Going to do just a day trip, as we want to get back to our AirCon. We are becoming whimps in our old age. But sleeping on a flea ridden cot when it´s 120 degrees in the shade just won´t cut it for us.