It's All Boolchit

Palenque - Part II

When we got on the combi an elderly Mexican man immediately started talking to us...he asked us where we were from and when we answered: "Texas" he immediately went into a history lesson on how Texas used to be a part of Mexico until we fought for our independence. Yes, he is correct but it didn't keep us from getting a little nervous about where this conversation was headed. But, we were to learn that Victor knows history...lots about it. And, he also thinks most of what we all are taught in the history books is "Bool-chit". I will go into more detail on this, but Terry and I will never know for sure if Victor realized saying "bullshit" isn't a generally accepted English vocabulary word. And, he said it alot!

Victor won us over and we hired him as our guide as we toured the ruins of Palenque. We were part of a group that included 5-6 Mexicans and a couple from the UK. Victor spoke to all of us in Spanish and then would repeat it in English. We later learned he knows Korean, Dutch, and several other languages...I think 8 in all. He had been guiding in Palenque for 45 years. Hiring Victor was totally at our discretion, but after NOT having a guide in Chichen Itza we had decided we wanted a guide.

So glad we made this decision!

Victor...it's all bool chit

 

  I don't really know how to go about describing what one feels upon entering the Palenque ruins site. The ancient, but perfectly constructed buildings are so majestic set amongst the lush, green mountains. I can only speak for myself but I got emotional and teary-eyed when I first entered the site. The whole idea of a city of several hundred thousand people living in this area B.C. is hard for me to put my arms around. Although the height of the civilization was not until later on around 700 A.D.

 

This was at the time Pakal and Pakal II were in power....both of their tombs have been discovered with the tomb of Pakal and its contents moved to Mexico City, but Pakal II's tomb is on display at the museum along with the jade mask and other contents within it.

History myth #1 from Victor was Columbus and 1492...that's all boolchit. Remember the New Age backpackers I talked about previously? Well, I started feeling the whole thing --- if I was a tad younger I would want to spend a lifetime in Palenque too. Tall balsa trees are growing on the site grounds, and occasionally you hear water babbling from the waterfalls and streams that run along the edge of the site. Victor said the settlement measures 6 km. x 4km, but only a fraction of it has been excavated.

We saw hard evidence of a civilization built from a mixture of peoples....Victor talked a lot about the indications that Palenque was a melting pot of many cultures from India, Eqypt, Israel, China, and the South Pacific. He talked about the crossing of the Bering Strait to eventually make it to what is now Mexico and Central America. He went on to say the more they uncover at Palenque the more they learn...some of it contradicts earlier beliefs and hypothesis about the civilization, but nobody has the guts to rewrite history and set the record straight...and he said "that is boolchit".

We spent the biggest part of the day at the ruins then caught a combi back to El Panchan. Was a leisurely evening followed by cocktails and dinner at Don Mucho's. Pizza, pasta and fairly standard Mexican fare is the lunch/dinner menu. Live music at 8 that lasted for a while....then drums beating later in the night. Did it keep us awake? NO!
TO BE CONTINUED -