Palenque

We spent a couple of days relaxing in San Cristobal de las Casas before moving on to Palenque. Palenque is a small, modern town surrounded by the Mexican jungle.

This area of Mexico is called Chiapas and has quite a different feel from the rest of the country. There are a lot more indigeneous people and quite a few of the women wear traditional dress. Strangely this includes a furry skirt, which seems ok for San Cristobal but not so useful in Palenque which is hot and humid.

Chiapas is also home to the Zapatistas, a left wing guerilla movement that wants more rights for indigeneous people. They briefly took over San Cristobal in the 1990s before being removed by the Mexican army.

The Zapatistas have now renounced violence and their leader Sub Commandante Marcos has just started a tour of Mexico, due in Palenque the day after we left, according to our bus driver. We spotted a truck full of Zapatistas while taking a taxi ride in San Cristobal. The black balaclavas that they wear dont make them look very friendly!

The main thing to see in Palenque are the ruins just outside of town. Lots of pyramids again but this time many have existing buildings on top. The big difference though, from the other ruins that we have seen in Mexico, is the beautiful setting. The surrounding forest and waterfalls make it a beautiful and relaxing place to be.

On New Years day we went to the Misol-Ha waterfall and then Agua Azul, a stretch or waterfalls and river about an hour from Palanque. Its a brilliant place for swimming and I stayed in for ages. You have to be careful not to go near the rapids though, crosses on the bank mark the places where unfortunate people took their last dip.

We have now reached Merida on the Yucatan penisular which is going to be our last stop in Mexico.