And More Ruins!

Trip Start Aug 09, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Mexico  , Central Mexico and Gulf Coast,
Saturday, January 24, 2009

The ruins at Palenque were fascinating!  It is really funny how different the experience at each site has been.  Palenque is amazing due to it volume of ruins discovered.  Some 500 excavated of the 1,453 that have been discovered.  You can see from the pictures that the Palace and temples are really beautiful.  Many carvings still exist around the temples as well.  Some say this site shows an Asian influence in architecture.  I thought overall its structures were different than the other sites we have seen even though they mostly date from the same period.

Palenque (Spanish for Palisade) was believed to have been called Baak.  First occupied around 100 BC  with its peak around 600 AD and abandoned, like the others, about 900 AD.  A fascinating on-site museum contains many sculptures and items found during excavation including the sarcophagus of King Pakal thought to have raised the city to its greatest height. 

We continue to be amazed by the sophistication of the Maya.  Wondering often how correct the conclusions and assumptions we have made about their culture are.  Disappointed that the conquistadors destroyed so much of their history and records.  Angry that since the beginning of time people have tried to rule over others and force them to abandon their ways of life for the ones they believe are correct.
Palenque hotels Slideshow

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