Palenque Town: Steamy, a bit Dodgy, but not without Charms
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008The decent from san cristobal to the palenque area is beautiful. Chiapas continued to enchant me. One can see a change of style in the woman’s dress – still square necked tops and belted skirts, but the skirts are of a lighter-weight fabric and decorated with ribbons. Patterns on the woven belts specify a region but I see no remnants of regional/mayan attire in the men. Deforestation is obvious but farming is clearly subsistence.
The mayan ruins of palenque lie in the “foothills” of the mountains. Palenque town is about 7km from the ruins and is not known for its charm. I arrived on Sunday, a day when the local bachelors get their drink on. Despite the “health fair” the Adventists were having in the square, the focus of many locals was clearly on less-healthy pursuits. My natural condition is to smile at passer-bys but some places require me to suppress this reaction. At least to men. But I found a clean room with sparkling baño privado at Posada Nacha’ n Ka’an for under $20. Even with the fan it’s pretty hot at night but I wasn’t willing to pop for the extra $20 per night a/c seemed to cost other places.
After cruising the town I found El Senor Molino restaurant (over super sanchez supermercado) with a view of the sunset past la cañada (the ravine) a leafy part of town where TONS of birds also end the day. The next 2 days I returned and remembered to bring my binoculars. Orioles made the trees look like orange trees! They dripped from the branches. The thatched-roof restaurant focuses on the tables overlooking the street – far less appealing than those at the back with a sunset view. But no worries – despite good food and reasonable prices I was always the only customer so you’re not likely to have to fight for a table no matter where you want to sit. They rarely let my beer empty so heartily recommend the place. They just haven’t realized what a gem-of-a-spot they have.
No need to go on about the ruins. You can see my pics (once I can get any uploaded) and there is plenty of info out there. But I do think if you are anywhere in the area it is worth a visit. I unexpectedly couldn’t get a seat on the bus to campeche and stayed an extra day. I did the $10 collectivo-tour to misol-ha, agua clara and agua azul: 2 waterfalls and a turquiose river. Again, my pics will have some words but I recommend it. I now say goodbye to Chiapas!
Peggy Rehm