I feel as though I have stepped back in time. Walking into another world and living amongst the ancients. Here the pace is slow, the air is warm and fresh scents of tropical flowers fill the air. I have visited some magnificent wonders of nature and archeology these past several days that have left me in awe.
After a very long bus journey from Merida I arrived in Palenque Chiapas Mexico overnight and 8 hours later. I do not sleep well on buses and this one was no exception. For the first 6 hours a large man was sitting next to me and i just couldn't get comfortable. Finally he got off in Zapatos an hour before palenque so I had some room. A lot of bus trips are overnight trips yet on air conditioned First class buses with televisions. Not that I wanted to watch a movie that late. Anyway, I finally arrived in Palenque at 6:00a.m. I took a taxi to my hostel, a charming and quaint hostel set in the jungle called Yaxtin. They were not open yet, however a worker went and got the manager so three of us were able to check in. I was happy with my room which was large and a nice cool shower to cool off after a long ride. I had no time to sleep because a guide was picking me up to take me on an all day tour to the Palenque Ruins, Misol-ha Cascada and the Agua Azul. So here I am with no sleep and an all day tour ahead. When we arrived at the ruins we were met my several bi-lingual guides, and I was talked into a private tour. My guide Jose was Maya, and raised in the US so he was able to share a lot of information. The tour was great, and we even hiked for a bit in the jungle where some of the ruins are overgrown by jungle. Palenque was pretty amazing and I loved that I could hear the Howler Monkey's in the distance. After a few hours, the driver picked us up and we continued to the Misol-ha which is an amazing cascading waterfall that descends over 200 feet down into blue green pools. The ride there was pretty wild, our driver navigated the windy roads pretty fast and passed a lot of slow trucks and chicken buses along the way. I do not usually feel any motion in cars.. yet I have to admit this was pretty wild. We spent forty minutes at the waterfall where a refreshing spray of cool misty water cooled my sweaty body for awhile. Then we all piled back into our minibus and continued to the Agua Azul. We still had another hour on the road, and the curves were getting bigger in the road, with drops descending 1,000 feet or so. The mountainous region of Chiapas is a breathtaking jungle and the views were lovely. After our wild ride continued we arrived at a Heritage world site that I have wanted to visit for many years. The Agua Azul might be equivalent to the Niagara Falls of Mexico. Massive Cascading waterfalls descending down into aqua blue pools. The area is beautiful, although the people are not taking care as they should with trash strown about in the park. We spent three hours here, and I had time to just sit by the water soaking my feet in the pools and soaking up the rays. After a refreshing afternoon of waterfalls and aqua pools we departed for our return trip to Palenque. The ride back was long and tiring and the windy roads on the way back were giving me a headache. Finally when we arrived I was beat, yet feeling a bit sick... Despite all the water I drank I was also trying to detox from coffee so I had a detox sinus headache.. I took a long shower, yet still felt ill so I did have a bit of an after effect lets say.. However, after a good night sleep I recovered. Once again a long day laid ahead of me. The driver to take us to the border at Bethel to get to Guatemala picked me up at 6:00 a.m. This trip however was not a windy, and the driver took more caution and was not a speed driver. I do not see how they can be with all the speed bumps on the road. We stopped for breakfast at a little roadside restruante where wild "Loros" aka Yucatan Parrots stole peoples tortillas. Nice to have some wild friends around even if they were opportunistic food bandits.
After a fulfilling breakfast of Huevos, arroz and Frijoles we continued. Two hours later we arrived at the border town near Bethel. There is where we had our exit check with the Mexican Border Patrol and a stamp in my passport. We walked a bit and climbed down a hill to La Barcas, the little dugout looking canoe like boats with a canopy for a thirty minute crossing down the river to Guatemala. This was an adventure in itself and I was anticipating to see a Crocodile in La rio yet not so. When we arrived at the border, we climbed another hill then boarded our Guatemalan bus to the Border Patrol a few minutes away. The entire place had their feet up on tables and were watching some soap opera. We all went through the process pretty quickly. My Bus companions were three Israeli young woman, traveling for several months after their army stints, 2 woman from Barcelona and a Canadian guy and a German guy. After the processing we continued for over two hours on a dirt road. The road seem to never end and finally we came into a village and the road turned to paved. Finally eight hours later from my departure in Palenque I arrived in Isla De Flores on Lake Peten in Guatemala. A new country and the adventure continues.
Stay tune for part two Isla De Flores to Tikal.
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