Palenque ruins

After two full days of just hanging out in the Jungle at El Panchán, I finally made it to the ancient ruins of Palenque this morning. Tara, Dan, Alan, and myself hopped on a colectivo (shared taxi / minibus) after breakfast (which we had at Don Muchos, of course), and gave ourselves a nice little tour of what I suspect is Mexico's best and most magnificent archaeological site.

One of the grand temples at Palenque.

I was expecting something really good, because everyone I've met who's been to Palenque has told me amazing things about it. Everyone's right: Palenque is amazing. But unfortunately, having such high expectations diminished the experience somewhat, as is always inevitable in such cases.

Ruins nestled in hills and jungle.

There are, in my opinion, there things that make Palenque stand out from the other ruins I've seen in Mexico. First, the colour of all the stones is a really rich, textured greenish-grey, which makes all the structures come alive and seem really grand. Second, most of the buildings are very well-preserved, and there are enough of them there for you to actually look around and to imagine what the ancient city must have been like. And finally, there is lush, dense jungle surrounding the entire place, giving the ancient city a quality that can only be described as magical.

The Palenque ruins are more-or-less 1,400 years old, with the city believed to have been at its height in around 640 AD. In this time, Palenque was no doubt one of the vibrant centres of the Maya world; and who knows what cruel and brutal sacrifices took place there. It is also believed to have been abandoned by about 900 AD.

Palenque and me.

The four of us spent about two hours exploring the ruins, most of which you're allowed to climb. It was really hot this morning, so we stopped and rested a few times at the top of some of the structures, admiring the dazzling views below and around us.

Looking down on one ruined temple, from the top of another.

At the end, we pressed on to the back of the ruins, where you can take a sort of jungle walk down the hillside. This was nice and shady and cool, and we took it all the way down to the back exit of the ruins. There's a river and a beautiful waterfall that goes down this hillside; unfortunately, you're not allowed to swim in either.

Waterfall at the back of the ruins.

Believe me, if we could have jumped in, we would have.