Palenque Photography by Bill Bell

Hi guys,

We are staying in a town called Palenque which is just to the south of the Yucatan Peninsula in the state of Chiapas. We are here to basically climb and experience the ruins. The deserted ancient city is about 5 miles from this town.

Bill and I usually get up early and head out first thing in the morning. It is too much work to climb up the pyramids in the hot sun; we try to get in and out before noon.

Today was no exception. We spent about 3 hours climbing the endless stairs; up and down.

Palenque is one of our favorite sites: it has a mystical feel to it. As you know I am as plain as dirt and am not one to go off about this spiritual experience or that....but Palenque! Oh Palenque.

The site is built into a jungle. The foliage is lush and Tarzan-like with vines that are at least 6 inches in diameter and some of the leaves are 5 ft across. Yes just one leaf. It doesn't take much imagination to visualize the first explorers discovering this Mayan secret in the jungle. Every time you visit there are new things to explore as well as old friends to revisit.

As far as pyramids go, the ones here are medium sized. Today when I counted 75 stairs on one alone. Remember that each "stair" is significantly higher than the rise on our stairs back home. Also the run is much narrower. We climbed up about a dozen different pyramids; my legs began to feel like jelly - almost like they didn't have bones holding them up- and reminded me that I haven't exactly been working out lately.

One of the interesting things about Palenque is that a few of the Pyramids actually have tombs. Unlike Egyptian pyramids, Mexican ones are usually temples not crypts.

Today there were many new stucco reliefs on display as well as a few new structures. In all a day well worth it.

It is about 98 degrees today. When we returned to the hotel we took a long swim. The water was warmer than the outside air. It is like a 40 foot bath and we feel refreshed every time we "take the plunge."

The swine flu has really hurt tourism here and so therefore the bargains are unbelievable. We are staying at a five star hotel for $50 per night. It is incredibly beautiful; tastefully decorated with lots of amenities.

Tomorrow we are off and will travel 200kms or so along a highway with pyramid sites every 50 kms or so. It is not well known so there are few tourists. We are going to a site we have never been before; the remote site of Calakmul - the home of the largest Mayan Pyramids in the Mayan world.

We will travel like this and explore out of the way places for the next 5 days as we make our way to Cancun. We are meeting a friend there - Mateja- and showing her around the area for a week or so.

Dot