Palenque y Aguas Azul
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2006
1
18
21
Trip End
Aug 01, 2006
Palenque, Mexico
Friday, July 28, 2006
Back in the van. We stopped first at Agua Azul, a series of waterfalls and tourists. I climbed the stone stairs to the top, pausing at vista points to wait while people had their pictures taken. I found my way up a small dirt path to a secluded area where I ate my lunch. It was so tranquil there in the middle of the jungle. I was soon joined by Juan, a local who lives there. He showed me a place where I would have taken a dip had I the chance.
Every tourist place I have seen in Chiapas has hundreds of people all selling the same Mexican handicrafts. There were also about twenty restaurants, some with sattelite dishes out back so they could get better reception for their TVs.
On we went for another hour, when we stopped to look at a huge waterfall. Again, I didnt swim. I guess I'm spoiled from the warm water down south.
We reached Palenque a couple of hours later. The ruins reminded me of Tikal, but with more people selling stuff. It was hot as hell, which was nice after the cool relief of San Cristobal. I went into the jungle for a bit to listen to the birds and monkeys and to let the mosquitos sample my blood. Look at the pictures of ruins and be amazed!
The ride back was five long hours. Two women on the bus were very car sick. They both sat up front, as still as stone. At one point we followed a truck with a family in the back. A small boy got sick onto the road. That must have been tempting for the sick ones.
Back in SC, I went to dinner at a great Italian place. There was a large Mexican woman there with her family and she kept shooting me looks of horror. Her expression was so exaggerated it was cartoonish. I asked for a small plate to put some olive oil on so I could dunk some bread. This sent the woman off the edge! She gasped out loud and glared at my plate and then back up at me. I admit I was irritated for a while but her expression was so hilarious that I started to laugh. At that point her meek husband tried to tell her discreetly not to watch me. Her daughter told her that I was laughing. I smirked as I enjoyed my fresh pasta with four cheeses. I think I will return tonight for the lasagne. I hope she's there again.
