During our two days in Palenque, Mexico, we got to enjoy some tasty food. On our first night, we just wanted a simple dinner. We needed to find an ATM to get some cash beforehand and ended up walking a long way looking for a Scotiabank ATM. We never did find one so had to backtrack to another ATM, then re-backtrack to Pizzeria Palenque. I was more than hungry (and fussy!) by the time we got there, but it was worth all the trekking. The pizza was delicious, and the cervesas were very cold. Great prices too! Our pizza had fresh tomatoes, spicy chorizo, jalepenos, and avocado. Delish! Both mornings we had the continental breakfast at the Hotel Xibalba, which was included in our room rate. The breakfast consisted of fresh fruit, bread and butter, and really good coffee (but only one cup -- free refills are not typically given in Mexico, or Belize for that matter). We sat outside in handmade chairs constructed from thick wood rounds, sanded and polished to a smooth shine. We didn't eat any lunches out as we were at the Palenque Archaeological site the entire full day we were in town and ate only snacks, but we had an excellent dinner that night after climbing lots and lots of stairs all day long. We ate at El Huachinango Feliz (The Happy Snapper) right next to our hotel. We'd noticed a good mix of locals and tourists the night before and that it was FULL -- a good sign. They first brought out a complimentary shrimp and vegetable salad with our beers and chips. Wow! What restaurant gives away shrimp salad? It was absolutely full of shrimp and delicious, similar to ceviche but not swimming in lime juice. For his entree, Barry ordered the shrimp au gratin, and I went out on a limb and tried the octopus au gratin. It was tender, well-seasoned, and absolutely delicious! We ate every bite and rolled out of there full to the brim. Stay tuned as we travel farther west to San Cristobal next!
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In addition to Maya temples and other structures, there were plenty of other interesting sights at the Palenque Archaeological Site in Chiapas, Mexico. We saw one of our favorite tropical birds, the Blue-Crowned Mot Mot. These birds must like hanging out at the ruins as the first one we saw was in Cahal Pech in San Ignacio. I love the way they just sit still on a branch for so long, allowing us to take multiple shots. Wish more birds would behave that way! And this tree, on a closer look, revealed a fascinating fruit (reputed as a possible cancer cure), soursop. Here's a pretty tree -- no idea what it is, though. Anyone? It was interesting to me that vendors were allowed inside the park; we hadn't seen that at any parks in Belize. We bought a refrigerator magnet with a hand-painted image of a Resplendent Quetzal. Big spenders, I tell ya! I didn't know exactly what this was until I did a little research. Turns out that the Palenque site included an extensive system of aqueducts and channels used for water management by the Maya. In addition to engineered waterways, there was a lovely river running through the site. The stairs to access the river, which was much lower than the rest of the site, were extensive, but worth all the sore quads. The jungle in this area was impossibly beautiful! There was a very cool swing bridge over the river. After enjoying the beautiful river walk, it was time to head back up. By this time my quads were screaming. It was not only the structures that had steep stairs, it was the park itself. I was definitely "undertrained" for this site! We got very lucky and got to see a troop of Howler Monkeys very close up at the site. I always get very excited by a monkey sighting! Before we leave the ruins, here are a couple of my favorite shots of multiple structures from up on high. After a great day at the site, it was finally time to leave. But not before a little shopping! I bought a beautiful embroidered Mexican blouse from one of the many stalls in the parking area. Little did I know, I'd later see the exact same thing available in San Cristobal for half the price. Oh well, it was still quite inexpensive (approximately $14 US). We then caught a collectivo back to town. We were the only gringos in the van, as usual. Similar to taxis in San Pedro, Belize, the collectivo vans are old US mini-vans, and not in very good condition. Rattle-traps! And where's the license plate? Hmmmmm.... Stay tuned...the Palenque food post is coming up next!
A note to our readers: I thought it was odd that we hadn't gotten any blog comments in about a month. I now realize why. For some reason, Weebly has stopped sending me the email notifications of comments. When I finally thought to poke around and see if I had any in a pending status, I found 50! So, if you've commented on the blog in the past month, my apologies that you were ignored. I am going to try to get these posted (and responded to, where warranted) as soon as I can. Your patience and understanding is much appreciated! Here are the remaining temples and other structures we visited, photographed, and climbed up on our visit to the Palenque archaeological site in Chiapas, Mexico in December of 2012. (Here's Part 1 if you missed it.) Temple of the Count.Group 1 and 2It was so incredibly peaceful in this wooded part of the site, with few other tourists around.... Group B.North Group.Murcielagos Group.Temple of the Inscriptions.This was one of the very few structures that we were not allowed to climb up. Just as well, my quads were absolutely SCREAMING by about 3/4 through this day, and would be sore for days after. And I thought riding my bike everywhere would be enough "training". Nope! Barry was smart and trained by doing multiple stair climbs in our condo building prior to the trip and thus did not suffer like I did. There was actually a lot more to see at the site than ruins, so stay tuned for one more Palenque site post (hint: howler monkeys!)
Our main purpose in visiting the Mexican city of Palenque in the Chiapas state was to visit the Palenque Archaeological Site (Maya ruins). This site is medium in size compared to huge sites like Tikal, but is one of the most widely studied, written about, and well-known Maya sites. After breakfast we walked out onto the main highway to catch one of many collectivos to the site. These are inexpensive vans that run back and forth all day long. There are no set stops, you stand by the side of the road, and before too long, one will stop for you. In addition to tourists, they also transport vendors carrying their wares to sell at the site. There were a few vendors in the collectivo that we caught. Entering the site.After paying our entrance fee, we entered the site. Unfortunately we did not have a printed map and did not see any available there. If you're going, you may want to print a map before you go, because it's easy to get disoriented -- this is a large place! Another tip: there is plenty for sale to eat and drink right outside the entrance for very reasonable prices, so you don't need to buy bottled water or anything to eat in town to bring along if you don't want to. We bought some water and a couple of snacks to supplement what we'd brought along. I wish it had been a sunnier day for photographs, but it was hazy and overcast for most of the day. That did help keep temperatures down. Here are just a small (?) selection of the many, many photos Barry took of the various structures at the site, in no particular order. The Palace.The Ball Court.Temple of the Cross.Temple of the Foliated Cross.Temple of the Sun.Temple 13.Temple of the Skull.Please stay tuned for Part 2 of the Palenque ruins and much more!
I was all set to write about the Palenque ruins today, but that's a big post with a lot of photos, and time kind of got away from me on a busy day, so this will be a shorter, simpler post with a potpourri of photos from around town during our stay. Palenque was unlike the cities we'd been too so far -- no brightly colored colonial buildings in a centro historico district and a bit grittier. But even though it was not as beautiful, we always felt safe walking around (including at night). This was a normal city where folks were just out and about living their lives. If the ruins were not so close by, they'd probably never even see a tourist. Stay tuned for more on Palenque!
After visiting the Old City Wall in Campeche, it was time to check out of the Hotel Castlemar, leave the colorful centro historico district behind, and begin the long hike to the ADO bus station to catch our bus to Palenque, in Mexico's Chiapas state. It was again a warm day, so we got quite a workout carrying our packs. Now you see how we eat so much on these trips without putting on tons of weight! The bus to Palenque stopped at a couple of different towns along the way. These stops gave us a chance to stretch our legs and get a snack if needed. Escarcega was one of the stops. Along the way we went over the Usumacinta River, an important trade route for the ancient Maya before roads existed in this area. We also witnessed (after the fact) a very serious accident involving a couple of tractor trailers. Hopefully everyone involved was okay. On the way to Palenque, we briefly went through the fourth Mexican state of our trip, Tabasco. There we stopped at another town, Emiliano Zapata. I stayed inside the bus this time, but Barry had a look inside the station, finding it much different from the typically modern, chrome and glass ADO terminals we had become accustomed to. Until he showed me the photos, I didn't understand exactly what he meant when he said that the station was "very Mexican" inside. Once I saw the photos, I understood immediately. This station takes first place in the categories of "most festive" and "most colorful" along our route! Looks like a great place for a kid's birthday party. After passing through two state border crossing checkpoints, we finally arrived in Palenque, in the Chiapas state, in the late afternoon. There was construction in the center of town, requiring the bus to go way around the block on some tiny, dusty roads to get to the terminal. Fortunately the walk to our hotel was a short one. The city was dusty from the construction and it being dry season and not all that attractive until we got to the street where the main tourist hotels are located. We found out later that this is called the "La Canada" area of town. Although there was some construction going on here as well, there were lots of trees and jungly shade, and it was very attractive. Hilly too! Quite a change from the flat island of Ambergris Caye where we live. When we checked in at the Hotel Xibalba, above, we had a stressful experience (one of the very few of the entire trip, looking back now). I had reserved the two nights' lodging online and had written on my sheet that I had already paid for one night on my credit card. However, when I went to check in, the woman working at the front desk charged me for both nights. She didn't speak English, so I tried, in halting Spanish, to explain that I had already paid for one night. She kept telling me "no, no, no". I wanted to check my credit card online, so went outside to a table to try to use their wi-fi to do so. But not only did I not know their wi-fi password, I realize that I had neglected to bring my credit card website password -- something I meant to do. I was sweating and getting a bit panicked. About this time, they sent an English-speaking manager out to talk to me. He assured me that they do not charge a deposit when booking online. He gave me the wi-fi password, but since I couldn't check my credit card, I ended up going ahead and paying the entire amount, figuring I could dispute the charges after the trip if it turned out I'd been double charged. Fortunately, the place was not very expensive, just $44 US nightly, which included continental breakfast. As it turned out after we got home, I was mistaken. A couple of the hotels I'd reserved online before the trip did charge one night's deposit, but the Hotel Xibalba was not one of them. I somehow got confused and wrote down the wrong information on my sheet. This was one time that I was very glad to be wrong! The room was small and basic, but a good deal for the price, especially since breakfast was included. It had air-conditioning and a TV, though reception was poor, so we didn't use it. And there were Scarlet Macaws on the wall. Love them! As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, today, December 12, was the La Virgen de Guadalupe fiesta. We had seen more pilgrims on their bikes during today's travels, and they were celebrating in Palenque today. When we first arrived, we thought we were hearing construction noise, but we finally realized it was fireworks. And they continued to go off with a BOOM-BOOM-BOOM all through the wee hours, and even with ear plugs, sleep was fleeting on this night. These things were seriously LOUD and booming, not the quieter pop-pop-pop of some firecrackers. We hoped this would be the last day/night of festivities, but it actually went on for a couple days and nights! Who knew?! We certainly didn't read about this celebration when planning this trip, but I guess it was all part of the experience of traveling in a foreign land.
Stay tuned for our next post about the Palenque ruins. They were amazing! Before we leave Campeche and move on to the next city on our Mexico trip, we need to backtrack just a bit to share an interesting bit of Mexican culture that we knew nothing about but witnessed up close and personal during our travels. As we were on the bus from Merida to Campeche, we started noticing both individual and groups of cyclists along the shoulders of the road. Some of them carried flags, posters, lights, and lots of other gear. We had no idea what this was all about at the time, but knew it had to be something other than random chance. They were riding in pretty poor conditions in some places, like in this construction zone as we approached the city, which was hilly and had gravely shoulders and large vehicles passing by. Gotta give them lots of credit for this difficult journey! As we took our walk in Campeche after checking into the hotel, we continued to see more of these groups of men on bikes as well as some in trucks. And on the long walk to the ADO bus station the next day, we continued seeing more of them, riding in the midst of very busy city traffic. The mystery deepened. Some of these guys had huge burdens -- I don't know how they managed to ride their bikes with these loads. When we finally had a chance to do a little research online, we discovered that December 12 marks La Virgen de Guadalupe (Our lady of Guadalupe, i.e., the Virgin Mary) fiesta. This date is widely celebrated throughout Mexico's predominantly Catholic community. Many of the faithful make pilgrimages to Mexico City, where the Basílica of Guadalupe is kept; while others travel, primarily by bicycle, to other churches throughout Mexico for the celebration. According to this site almost everywhere there is an altar to the Virgin Mary, a celebration occurs on December 12, which is "one of the most important dates on the Mexican calendar." The photos above were taken on December 10 and 11th as the faithful headed to Campeche's churches for the celebration. Here are two of the beautiful churches we saw in Campeche. I suspect that the second one, the large cathedral, was where the pilgrims were headed for the fiesta. Another fact we gleaned from our internet research is that firecrackers mark the night of the celebration. Little did we know how much that would affect us later. (Stay tuned!)
We didn't have time for a great deal of sightseeing during our brief stopover in Campeche, Mexico, but one thing we did do was visit a portion of the old city wall that is open to tourists. The entire centro area of the city was walled in the past, but today only a few portions of the wall remain. This was where we passed through on our way from the bus stop when walking to our hotel the day before. The largest gate is called "Puerta de Tierra", and an attendant collects a small fee to allow you to go up the stairs to the top, where excellent views of the city can be found. He tells you to ring the bell when you want to come back out as he locks the gate during your self-guided tour. There was only one other man and his son who were on the wall when we went up. It was fascinating seeing the tops of the colonial buildings. The hotel across the street had a lovely rooftop deck, and a huge tree growing from the courtyard. Walking along the top of the wall, there was a big contrast between centro historico to the right and the modern city to the left. Something that was fascinating to us was the discovery that some of the buildings in centro were truly just facades with ruins, trees, and foliage behind -- not actually habitable spaces in their current states. They look pretty from street level, but it's a bit deceptive! These are a little more well-maintained... I loved this technique of using small rocks to shore up the mortar...or is it only decorative? I'm not sure, but I liked it! Looking out to the "modern" part of the city from the wall, we could see the local buses (not the ADO buses we've been taking on our travels from city to city) lining up to take people on their way to different parts of the city. The ADO station was quite a long walk from here. We'd be heading there a little later on this day. Once we'd seen it all, it was time to ring the bell. Fun! The following display was built into the wall, as were the restrooms. A bit mysterious!
Although we only had three meals in Campeche on our way through, we made the most of our time and had some really delicious food. Walking from the bus stop into the centro historico, we came upon the #1 place in Tripadvisor, Chocol Ha. We planned to come back to try some goodies later as this dessert and treat place doesn't open until 5:30 pm. At the moment, however, we were in need of lunch. We walked by a place called Chef Color in one of the lovely colonial buildings and decided to stop in. There was a mix of locals and tourists dining, which is usually a good sign. Barry ordered his new favorite Mexican dish, Panuchos, while I decided on some fresh seafood ceviche. Both were delicious! For dinner that night, we walked around for awhile looking for a place that appealed to us. We ended up at Luz de Luna. This place was decorated with vibrant colors that beckoned us right in from the street. The proprietor of this place is a lovely Mexican lady who speaks excellent English, and the menus were in both English and Spanish, which was very helpful. I ordered vegetarian burritos, and Barry tried the chicken flautas. Both were delicious. If you go, be advised that the restaurant does not serve alcohol. We had the "water of the day", which was a limeade and very tasty. The glassware and tableware here was so beautiful as it so often is in Mexico. The check (la cuenta) came in this adorable little bag where you could place your payment. Charming! After dinner, it was time to hit Chocol Ha for a bit of dessert. What fun! I indulged in a chocolate frappe, while Barry tried the decadent chocolate crepes. A wonderful way to top off a meal. Believe it or not, the sweet decadence of the crepes only whetted Barry's appetite for dessert, and he had to have some ice cream too! The following morning brought us back to the irresistible Luz de Luna for breakfast. Anticipating a fairly long travel day with only a couple of snacks for lunch, we wanted to make sure to eat heartily enough to hold ourselves for awhile, and we succeeded. They start you out with some delicious coffeecake-like bread. It would be really hard to eat low-carb here, so no need to try. I had delicious French toast, and Barry had a great-looking omelet. We also shared a fruit plate but somehow didn't get a photo of that. After all that feasting, we were well-stoked for another day of travel. But before we leave Campeche, stay tuned for more photos: there's even more to see!
Although there's no sandy beach, one of the unexpectedly delightful features of Campeche, Mexico is its gulf-front pedestrian and bike path. This path was only a couple of quick blocks from the Hotel Castlemar, where we were staying. It borders the Gulf of Mexico, providing a beautiful sunset view to the west, and a safe place to walk or ride a bicycle. We didn't have any bicycles with us, of course, but we enjoyed watching a few serious cyclists (on road bikes, even!) fly by. Barry was especially impressed to see how many locals were jogging or fitness walking in the early evening and morning. The path is long, and several attractive monuments and small parks are strategically placed along its distance. I never made it the entire way (saving my tired feet for the long trek to the bus stop with my pack), but Barry was determined to see just how long it was, so he walked its entire length. He discovered that it was over three miles long, end to end. Definitely a fine place to get your fitness on! We really loved this statue of a woman contemplating the sea, her "hair" blowing in the breeze. In the morning, the fishermen bring their catch in right at this dock off the trail. Stay tuned for more from Campeche -- the food is next!
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