Palenque

Well, the worst part of the Bad Time came to a conclusion just in time because it was time to visit Palenque. Palenque is an ancient Mayan city that was active between 100 b.c. and 800 a.d. Palenque disappeared into the jungle after that but is now being excavated, although, to date, archaeologists estimate that only about five percent of the site has been unearthed.

We hired a local guide at the gate to give us some insight to the site and he was pretty helpful. When you first enter the site, you come upon the Palace and the Temple of the Inscriptions. The buildings sit in a complex with other temples that are in greater states of disrepair. The Palace and Temple of Inscriptions, however, are breathtaking. Palenque is perhaps most notable in that it was the first Mayan site in which archaeologists were able to locate the remains of Mayan rulers. In 1952, Alberto Ruz Lhuillier found a passageway to the sarcophagus of Pakal the Great, who ruled Palenque for 68 years during the seventh century. The sarcophagus was found in the Temple of the Inscriptions and is currently housed in the Palenque museum, which is on-site.

We climbed up to the top of the Palace and continued on our way through the site, past the aqueduct. The other impressive area at Palenque is the Temple of the Cross complex, which includes the Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Foliated Cross. We climbed to the top of each one. I’m not sure exactly why. Nice views, I guess. There were remnants of art in each of the buildings but not enough to justify climbing to the top of a temple in a rainforest in order to see them. Nevertheless, the Bad Time was over and I was enjoying myself.

After visiting a few other structures at Palenque, we made our way over to the museum. It’s not a large museum and there aren’t a lot of pieces in it. The prize piece has to be the sarcophagus of Pakal the Great, which is housed in its own air-conditioned room. There are also various pieces of jewelry, masks, pottery and other items that have been recovered from the site. The museum as a whole is nothing spectacular in its own right, but it’s worth a visit if you’re already there.

After Mayan ruins, it was time for some fútbol. It was Tuesday and the Champions League was in action so a Canadian Chelsea supporter and I went looking for a television on which to watch the match. First, we stopped for the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. Then, I got to use my mad Spanish skills to find a restaurant that had a television and would allow us to watch whatever match was on. It turned out to be Real Madrid and Lyon, which finished 1-1.

That evening, we boarded another overnight bus, this time from Palenque to Merida. Unlike the overnight bus a few nights before, I took my sleeping tablets before the ride. I also took another sleeping tablet that my French Canadian roommate had given me. He is my new hero. I have to say that even though the seats barely reclined on this overnight bus, I had the best sleep I’ve had the entire time I’ve been in Mexico. Thank you, modern science!!!