2015-11 Nov -- Palenque (Chiapas, Mexico)

From atop Temple of the Cross looking down on the Temple of the Inscriptions and the Palace

From my vantage point, the palace stretched out below. Tour groups of tiny people walked around the lawns and throughout the ruins. Yet, the jungle threatened to encroach. It was only barely contained by the efforts of grounds crew to keep the area free of all consuming vegetation. Off into the distance, the view was magnificent! The jungle stretched below and into the horizon. As one tourist remarked, "The Mayans sure picked pretty places to build!"



Palenque. My Spanish teacher had told me that this was her favorite Mayan ruin. She thinks it's even better than Chichen Itza. Before arriving, I was skeptical. And, really, first you need to get past all the very friendly and persistent men and boys wanting to be your tour guide, even along the long drive up to the ruins as well as running the gauntlet from your parked car to inside the entrance. Once you've made it to the Temple of the Skull, only the most persistent will still ask if you would like a guide.

Temple of the Skull, Temple of the Red Queen and Temple of the Inscriptions (Palak the Great's Tomb)

What a dazzling site it is once you arrive from the entrance gate and pass through the jungle. Spread out on the manicured grass are three increasingly large temples with a grand Palace at the end. Although temple is a bit of a misnomer. These are probably all burial tombs. (At least the two largest had people buried inside.) While you can't climb any, in the middle temple, you can go inside. Within, you'll see the white stone sarcophagus with the lid slide back. Inside, the sarcophagus is covered in red. The red color comes from cinnabar. Inside this coffin, a woman was found. Without any further information, archaeologists have inferred that she was royalty, coining the name for this building as "The Temple of the Red Queen".

Inside the Palace

Once you've stood in awe of the three temples, it's time to climb around the Palace complex. What a joy to be able to walk in and around the rooms where Mayan royalty lived so long ago. Unfortunately, almost all of the paint and most of the carvings have long since gone. However, for those still in situ, the view is impressive. Plus, after walking through all the Palenque ruins, a few of artifacts in very good condition can be viewed at the Museum near the entrance (price included in park entrance). The only place we couldn't go into was the tower in the Palace. To this day, it is still under speculation what the tower was used for -- watch tower or astronomical purposes. However, we could marvel at the indoor squat toilet (complete with drainage channels), the royal rooms set below ground level (and therefore a much cooler temperature) and the views in 360 directions.

Temple of the Cross to the left.
Temple of the Foliated Cross to the right.

Past the Palace is the Crosses group. All of these buildings are open for tourists to summit and peer into the roped off interiors. Inside each is a three part bas-relief carvings depicting Pakal the Great (who lived to be 80+ during the 7th century!) transferring power to his son Kan Bhalum. Kan Bhalum built all of these temples. The largest is the Temple of the Cross. But, for me, the Temple of the Foliated Cross was the most unique. It is reached by a path of rocks winding up toward it, surrounded by jungle. From this vantage point, you can see the other temples of the cross and the Palace stretching below.

The jungle beyond

There are several other structures at the site; but, the ones above are the most well-known and impressive. Although, from some of the others behind the Palace, you have a splendid of the jungle beyond.

Life size sculpture with original traces of paint

Before leaving Palenque, make sure to check out the Museum. In my opinion, while smaller than Museo Maya de Cancun, I believe that it's much better. All of the artifacts are from Palenque. One spectacular life size carving still has vestiges of the red and blue color paint. In the back, there is a well done representation of how Pakal the Great's tomb was found within the Temple of Inscriptions (the largest of the three temples when you first enter the site). According to the museum docent, Pakal was subsequently reburied within the Temple of Inscriptions, where he remains today.

Tips:
Zona Arqeologica de Palenque: Free on Sundays for Mexican nationals and residents. Includes entrance to museum. Also, I wasn't charged anything to park (a fluke?). Open 8-4:30 everyday. Museum open 9-4:30 Tues-Sun. 51 MXN.

Breakfast at Cafe Jade

Cafe Jade: quick and filling breakfast stop pre-ruins visit. I paid 71 MXN + 7 MXN tip (included in bill) for the Jade breakfast, which included juice, tea or coffee, fruit, bread, eggs a la mexicana (think migas), tortillas, refried beans and platanos duros. (And, I ate everything!) They are obviously used to American tourists, as they rushed over as soon as I sat down and my food came out piece by piece as quickly as I could finish it. No need to wave over a waiter here -- they'll come to you.
Posada Aguila Real: little hotel near Palenque town center. Booked on booking.com for $25.20; with taxes at hotel, paid 558 MXN in cash. Bring earplugs. There is no quiet place in this town (not even in the area "La Canada" where above Cafe Jade is located). Secure, free parking for car. Not far from town plaza and surrounded by restaurants, bars, pharmacies, OXXOs, etc. Clean. Not much shower water pressure. Air conditioned. Can also sell you day trips to the sites (or, you can walk to the Kichan Bajlum tour office a few blocks away and save a few pesos).