Tripping to Palenque, Chiapas

We left out of Merida at 8:30 in the morning on a First Class bus and 9 hours later we were in Palenque, Chiapas just on the edge of the mountain range. I can never sleep on the bus because I'm always scared I'll miss something....so I can tell you we made short stops in Campeche, Escarcega, Emeliano Zapata, then Palenque. We were boarded once and some of the passengers that appeared to be foreign were required to show their passports, but Terry and I didn't have to show ours. I could almost touch the Bay of Campeche as we went through Champoton (west of Campeche), and then we headed more south and were in the rolling hills and cattle country. I saw caballeros riding in the patures and lots of cattle - for Dad, Gary and Baldemar - they were mostly Brahma and Brahma cross-bred cattle. They had plenty to eat and looked very healthy and happy. We would have been in the State of Tabasco at that time, I think. Then we saw this ranchero sign I thought you may find interesting, ie, Beefmasters.

Sign at Entrance to Ranchero Don Guillermo

 

The town of Emiliano Zapata carries no real significance as far as our trip went, but it was named after the man that was instrumental in leading forces during the Mexican Revolution back in 1910. The revolutionary group was called the Zapatistas. Fast forward to 2004, and there was the uprising of the Zapatistas in Chiapas against the govt. upon the signing of NAFTA. There was blood shed in the state of Chiapas but it was short-lived. Although there are still places now in Chiapas that the Zapatistas are said to retain control.

Upon arrival in Palenque we hailed a taxi and went out to El Panchan about 5 km. out of Palenque. Let me see how to describe Palenque and El Panchan. Palenque is right on the edge of the jungle and the foothills. It is not particularly picturesque, but it does have some parts of town that are full of vegetation with some nice hotels. Did we stay there? Of course not.

Now, let me describe El Panchan....which is where we did stay. It is somewhat of a compound with a collection of 4-5 places to pitch tents or hang out in a cabana. Ed and Margarita's is by far the nicest with clean rooms and private baths...and ceiling fans! The grounds are nicely-kept and the paths leading out into the jungle to the rooms are all cement/rock and very nice. And, the price for our room was 320 pesos/night! And Margarita is a jewel who knows more about the political picture in the US than most Americans.

Arrival at Ed and Margarita's...El Panchan...Palenque, Chiapas

La oficina at Ed & Margarita's

Walkway to our room....2-story bldg. w/ 8 rooms in this section

A real deal at $320 Mxn./nt.

There is one open-air restaurant called Don Mucho's that is in the middle of it all and it is the social hub. Although we observed very little interaction amongst the dazed and confused younger folks at El Panchan. You are smack in the middle of the jungle, just outside the entrance to the ruins, and everybody is walking around with their backpacks. You hear languages from all over the world, and it's New Age clashing with 100 B.C. if you get the drift. Would we stay there again? Absolutely!

We saw a whole family of Howlers!!!!

We woke up the first morning to the sound of howler monkeys in the trees. It started out rather soft, then the noise got louder and eerier, then tapered off when the monkeys traveled farther away in the treetops. Went for coffee and breakfast at Don Mucho's after we had eaten dinner there the night before. On our way back to our room is when we spotted a whole family of howlers in the trees....probably 5-6 monkeys in all with two tiny babies playing around with each other.

Headed out to walk to the ruins. It's about a a 3 km. walk to the entrance to the ruins once you have entered the park. There are other places to stay that are actually inside the park. You see hibiscus and heliconias growing wild everywhere.

We were enjoying the walk so much we finally decided to hop on a combi when one came by or otherwise we were scared we'd never make it to the ruins. It was on the combi that we met Victor.
TO BE CONTINUED - It's all boolchit