Day 55 - Sunday 13th November 2005

As we were staying 400m from the entrance to Palenque it was a pretty easy decision when someone asked ‘what shall we do today?’.

Palenque is an ancient Mayan city & its ruins are considered by many to be the most important and impressive ruins in all of Mexico. This probably has something to do with their location in the middle of the jungle, at the very point where the hills rise out of the plains of the Gulf Coast.

The site was originally occupied around 100BC, but it wasn’t until between 600 & 700AD that the city reached its pinnacle to be one of the most influencial cities in the Mayan empire. One of the most impressive things about the whole city is that it was built without the use of metal tools, pack animals or even the wheel. At the peak of its power, the buildings in the city were painted bright red - quite a sight against the backdrop of the surrounding jungle. Quite how the scientist people know this is beyond me, but who am I to doubt such a fact.

Palenque, like so many of the other ruins of Mexico was abandoned around 900AD. The reason the ’scientists’ give for this is the overuse of the city’s natural resources, forcing the inhabitants to abandon their homes. On this occasion I will doubt the so-called scientists for two reasons. Firstly, I think the Mayans having built this city and having a whole jungle at their disposal could have fed themselves. Secondly, I blame aliens. I don’t know the entire story, but I’m sure it involved those pesky critters.

Anyway the site consists of over 500 buildings but only a few have been restored. When the city was abandoned (for whatever reason - but I’m still blaming aliens) the jungle quickly reclaimed the land and overgrew the place. Therefore the unrestored buildings have an eerie quiet about them, in stark contrast to the beautifully restored centre of the city, which has throngs of tourists flocking about.

Although the restored ruins are amazing, I did sort of prefer the parts of the site that have been left as part of the jungle. These areas are probably close to how they looked when they were rediscovered in 1787 on an expedition led by Captain Antonio del Rio, whole subsequent report led to many further voyages to the region.

In stark contrast to the previous night where I froze my tits off, the heat and humidity ensured that by ten in the morning the shade of the trees and the buildings were very much sought after. As you can probably see from this photo I was wilting! Thus after most of the day at the ruins sweating like a chimp, I thoroughly enjoyed my pre-dusk dip in the hotel swimming pool!