Time to move on. Made the long walk to the bus station...and it was a long walk. Booked my tickets, glad I didn’t have long to wait. Insidious. Very confused at the departure/arrival time of my bus? Didn’t understand, then happened to look at the clock...and it said an hour earlier than my watch? I knew I couldn’t have not noticed crossing a time zone several days ago...and then it dawned on me, that the clocks must have gone back. So had a little longer wait than anticipated.Eventually got on the bus...another luxury bus...probably the last. Sat under the TV and had to endure movie after movie in Spanish. Did get one in English about native Indians...very odd choice but quite good. The road was twisty and the bus seemed unable to stop - as very glad to get off on reaching Palenque. Scenery was quite cool....lots of little houses...with the usual chicken and other farm animals wandering the streets.
Had no idea where to get a bus to El Panchan - wandering the streets aimlessly when a bus pulled over and asked if I wanted a lift - righty-oh! The type of bus - a clinking, clanking school bus from the ‘50’s, or so it seemed - was what they call a collective...a minibus in fact! Threw my bag on the roof, only to stop just down the road and take it off again cause it started down pouring!
Arrived at El Panchan, was now dark, and I couldn’t seem to see anywhere to check in! Ended up at a bar - where they offered me a cabana - a small shack, basically, but the price was reasonable, so why not…wouldn‘t you? Dumped my stuff and headed to the bar for food.
Was really cool place, in the middle of the jungle...an outside bar with thatched (I say thatched but it actually made with palm leaves), and good food. Had pizzas made in a real wood oven....damn good and a few beers, and even got treated to cool Latin American music for free. Looks like a cool place to hang out…
The next day it was time to explore the ruins. Had breakfast in the same bar...more good food. Then decided to walk to the ruins which were only supposed to be about 1 mile away. Entered the park, had to pay, and got a groovy wristband from the man with his gun. But then the walking got tough, it was all uphill and sooo damn hot. Had to rest when we got there.
Then went exploring. The place was dead, no real surprise there - loads of cool temples - and nicely cut grass. Very impressive structures, many of which still had temples on top unlike those of the last place. I had to climb them all, I soon got bored it was so damn hot!!!! There were loads of people selling amazingly colorful painting of the local art on bits of suede. Decided had to have one, and got down to some serious bargaining. Wasn’t easy but kinda fun and I got a good deal in the end!
That done, we explored the palace with its hundreds of tiny rooms and cool carvings, then I climbed the remaining buildings, just in case there was some amazing carvings up there - which there weren’t. I climbed the last one, which had amazing views of the whole site...and I sat and chilled for a while taking it all in. That’s when I first heard the monkeys, I mistook them for dinosaurs at first, but since that possibility was pretty unlikely even in the mostly undiscovered jungle - I decided they must be howler monkeys. Man are they loud. Pretty scary to be honest...still not sure how something that small can make that much noise! Couldn’t see them though.
Took a collectivo back to town.
For the rest of the day just chilled. I hung up my hammock outside the cabana, then I realized I had no money so had to go to Palenque to get some...when I returned from a mad attempt at locating an ATM, I chilled in the hammock.
Then ate lunch, it was more like dinner though as it was so late. Saw some actual howler monkeys in the trees at the entrance to my place. They were tiny!! Even saw a baby! Who needs jungle tours when they are on your doorstep? Chilled some more, then deciding there was nothing else to do - did what comes naturally - went to the bar. Spent some time thinking about money, got a bottle of wine, then decided I should get some food, still wasn’t that hungry since I had eaten so late, but it wasn‘t that filling. Had amazing pasta...but couldn’t eat it all. Had more music, and then got kicked out of the bar at about 11, after they had packed away the whole bar, literally around me!
Next day decided to take a tour to some local waterfalls that sounded cool. Had breakfast before I left...yes more food. Then waited for my lift. Got picked up in a mini bus...picked more people up, then had to change to another minibus cause there were too many people - was quite cozy. The smells of indigenous locals…ahhhhh. Wasn’t long till I arrived at the first stop, a really cute waterfall. Had no idea what was going on cause our driver didn’t speak English, but just followed the others.
Checked out the falls, which were really cool, cause you could actually walk behind them, where you got soaked - which was a Godsend it being so hot and humid. Then it was onto the next place.Was a reasonable drive, not too bad - it was a nature reserve. A pretty little lake, with an amazing looking wooden bridge. Again had no idea what I were supposed to do, so went off walking. Crossed the bridge, which was pretty damn scary. It was basically 3 bits of wire with wooden slats, most of which were missing or broken. And man did it sway. Was kinda cool though. Walked a little way further, and then cause I had no idea how long I had, headed back. A pretty pointless stop, but also kind cool.
Then it was more bus trekking. Basically heading back the way we had come from San Cristobal, the falls being somewhere between the two, so had to endure the twisty road again, was a little bumpier in the minibus, too.Finally arrived at out third and final stop - more waterfalls! These were a series of falls that went on for like 8 or 9 miles! All uphill too!!The first part was the most impressive, not that I saw them all, was far too hot to walk 8 miles. It was wide and rocky, and the water was all white - not clear and/foamy but a whitish hue. Odd. Walk more up, but the heat started taking it’s toll.
Chilled back at the bottom, where you could swim. Water looked so tempting, so in I went. So refreshing - and was kinda fun trying to swim against the strong currents. God knows how powerful it must have been at the base of the actual falls. Sunbathed for a while, got a snack and watched all the local people selling mini bananas.Was a long drive back, everyone fell asleep.Back at El Panchan I were so tired. Relaxed in my hammock, then headed to my fav restaurant again for more food. Really gotta start conserving my funds. But, there really isn’t much to do after the ruins and falls except eat and drink.
Took a collectivo back to town.
For the rest of the day just chilled. I hung up my hammock outside the cabana, then I realized I had no money so had to go to Palenque to get some...when I returned from a mad attempt at locating an ATM, I chilled in the hammock.
Then ate lunch, it was more like dinner though as it was so late. Saw some actual howler monkeys in the trees at the entrance to my place. They were tiny!! Even saw a baby! Who needs jungle tours when they are on your doorstep? Chilled some more, then deciding there was nothing else to do - did what comes naturally - went to the bar. Spent some time thinking about money, got a bottle of wine, then decided I should get some food, still wasn’t that hungry since I had eaten so late, but it wasn‘t that filling. Had amazing pasta...but couldn’t eat it all. Had more music, and then got kicked out of the bar at about 11, after they had packed away the whole bar, literally around me!
Next day decided to take a tour to some local waterfalls that sounded cool. Had breakfast before I left...yes more food. Then waited for my lift. Got picked up in a mini bus...picked more people up, then had to change to another minibus cause there were too many people - was quite cozy. The smells of indigenous locals…ahhhhh. Wasn’t long till I arrived at the first stop, a really cute waterfall. Had no idea what was going on cause our driver didn’t speak English, but just followed the others.
Checked out the falls, which were really cool, cause you could actually walk behind them, where you got soaked - which was a Godsend it being so hot and humid. Then it was onto the next place.Was a reasonable drive, not too bad - it was a nature reserve. A pretty little lake, with an amazing looking wooden bridge. Again had no idea what I were supposed to do, so went off walking. Crossed the bridge, which was pretty damn scary. It was basically 3 bits of wire with wooden slats, most of which were missing or broken. And man did it sway. Was kinda cool though. Walked a little way further, and then cause I had no idea how long I had, headed back. A pretty pointless stop, but also kind cool.
Then it was more bus trekking. Basically heading back the way we had come from San Cristobal, the falls being somewhere between the two, so had to endure the twisty road again, was a little bumpier in the minibus, too.Finally arrived at out third and final stop - more waterfalls! These were a series of falls that went on for like 8 or 9 miles! All uphill too!!The first part was the most impressive, not that I saw them all, was far too hot to walk 8 miles. It was wide and rocky, and the water was all white - not clear and/foamy but a whitish hue. Odd. Walk more up, but the heat started taking it’s toll.
Chilled back at the bottom, where you could swim. Water looked so tempting, so in I went. So refreshing - and was kinda fun trying to swim against the strong currents. God knows how powerful it must have been at the base of the actual falls. Sunbathed for a while, got a snack and watched all the local people selling mini bananas.Was a long drive back, everyone fell asleep.Back at El Panchan I were so tired. Relaxed in my hammock, then headed to my fav restaurant again for more food. Really gotta start conserving my funds. But, there really isn’t much to do after the ruins and falls except eat and drink.
Decided to have Mexican food as it was my last night in Mexico (boo hoo). Were just about to order, when some Australians asked me to join them for dinner, cause they wanted some people to talk to. Was kinda fun discussing America with them. Enjoyed some amazing enchiladas and fajitas, listened to more cool Latin American music - and some even cooler Peruvian music ( a whole orchestra, with an amazing array of instruments, then headed off to bed, as I have a ridiculously early get up in the morning. Went to sleep to the sound of music and howler monkeys - being in the jungle is cool.
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