CHIAPAS 1: Welcome to the Jungle

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Without a doubt, Chiapas is my favorite state in mexico. It is diverse, it has interesting politics and struggles, it has the most biodiversity of all of mexico, it has steamy jungles and high pine forests, ancient ruins, waterfalls, caves, canyons, mountains, cocoa and coffee plantations, and beaches. It lies at the southern isthmus where mexico bends easterward towards the Yucatan. If you ever come to mexico and have to decide between places, don´t skip Chiapas! My main bases were Palenque and San Cristobal del Las Casas.

I arrived in Palenque from Villahermosa, going ever deeper in the rainforest. This east side of the Chiapas is flat, humid, hot. Modern Palenque itself is a small, decent, but unimpressive town whose main attraction are the ruins in the jungle outside of town. I´m staying in a 50 pesos/night posada, which is like a small dorm room with just enough room for a cheap bed. The bathroom is tiny with the sink, toilet, and shower within a few cubic feet and no hot water. But trust me, that is the last thing you want in this climate. In fact, there really is not much use for clothes because it is sticky and sweaty. It is basic, but clean, and the room has a good fan that provides just enough circulation to alleviate most of the oppressive air.

The next day I visit the Mayan ruins outside of town, which is why people come here. And the trek has been worth it. The day is the fall equinox...one of the few holidays I observe with intent, properly pagan, so I am especially excited. I sit on a bench covered with a thatched roof as a stream gurgles past throught the thick growth of the rainforest. It seems I have the jungle to myself as I have come early in the day and it is off-season. A gaggle of Chinese tourists are being led by a guide and a few mexican families and germans are scattered about, but I have much space to explore on my own.

I am amazed at the ruins as I walk through the twisting pathways between ancient buildings where people lived and died. I am even more awestruck by the flora and fauna: giant ferns and giant trees, twisting vines, toucans and reptiles, everything damp and the light creeping down through the canopy. From Conrad's Heart of Darkness...¨the great wall of vegetation, an exuberant and entangled mass of trunks, branches, leaves, boughs, festoons, motionless in the moonlight was like a rioting invasion of soundless life, a rolling wave of plants, piled up, crested, ready to topple over a creek, to sweep every little man of us out of his little existence.¨ Conrad was describing the Congo which I am sure is much more of a jungle than this, but its the first I´ve experienced. In the shade the heat is quite tolerable and as of yet I haven´t been eaten by mosquitos.

Not an unpleasant way to spend a day!

Palenque is only one of dozens of sites scattered throughout southern mexico, guatemala, and honduras. To think these ancient mayans settled here 2000 years ago or more and built these cities in the middle of the 1st millennium without the benefit of mechanized bulldozers, cranes, dynamite, jackhammers, etc. Impressive! Most of the buildings here are either tombs of rulers, ceremonial sites, or administrative centers. To me it is more impressive and interesting than the Teotihuacan pyramids just because of the jungle setting. One building has a depiction of the ruler having attained immortality in the afterlife (of course!), one becoming or being identifed with the Maize God.

For now I will comment on the ancient mayans, what little I know. (I will have more to say about the modern descendents of the Maya in my next log) We know more about the Mayas that some other prehispanic cultures because of the sophisticaed glyph system that they left and has been translated. They subsisted off of rainforest materials and traded widely with other cultures throughout mexico and central america. They had a complicated and accurate calendar and mathematical/astronomical knowledge. Like most cultures they had strong class divisions and were violent, seeking to dominate there neighbors. Also like many cultures, they had the belief that their rulers had divine ancestry. For example, they traced the rulers´ geneology to the first Great Mother at around 3000 BCE, who was born 6 years before the creation of the world. I think they should be teaching this along side the THEORY of evolution! Afterall, lets have equal time! Anyway, they shared with most indigenous groups past and present similar religious beliefs such as nature gods and ancestor veneration. A couple of things were interesting though. They didn´t bury their dead in cemetaries, but rather placed them under their houses and set up shrines to them. Some of them (the important ones) probably became deities in their own right, like in China and Japan. Archeologists have also uncovered many incense burners in the form of columns with elaborate carvings on them. On top they would apparently mix incense from a tree resin with blood and burn as offerings to the gods. The smoke that floated upwards to carry the petitions was in the appearance of a snake, symbolizing regeneration of life.

One of the ruins was the site of the court where the notorious ancient mayan ballgame was held. The game had political and religious significance, with the two sides representing the struggle of opposite cosmological forces, etc. Play hard fellas! Go team go! The losers were promptly beheaded!

The road back from the ruins looked so inviting that I decided to walk back rather than take a ride, even though it was some 5 miles. There was a path part of the way along the blacktop lined with wildflowers and the most diverse congregation of butterflies I had ever seen in one place. This went on for about a mile and I could hardly believe that I was walking on a country road in the rainforest of southern mexico!

Once in town and after receiving sustenance at a vegetarian-friendly restaurant I decided to head to Misol Ha, the famous waterfall a few miles outside of town. It was the site of the filming of the movie Predator. I took a ride with 2 guys from the Bordeaux wine region in France. One of them spoke decent spanish which worked fairly for us, though it was strange to hear spanish with a french accent. They dropped us off from the highway at the corner (crucero) of the turn off to the falls, from where we had to walk. About half way a police truck pulled over and motioned for to hop in the back and we cheerfully accepted. The rush of air (though not cool) was a slight relief from the oppressive sticky heat of the chiapan air. The sheriff dropped us off at the entrance and we marched a short distance, following the sounds of the cascade.

There was a picture in my guidebook of the waterfall but nothing prepared me for this experience! I was overwhelmed! It is a 100 foot drop or so into a wide dep pool ringed by mossy boulders wet from the mist being blown off the falls. I took a few moments just to take it all in and then walked on the path that led around to behind the fall. The sound here was overwhelming and the fine mist quickly soaked my clothes. This expression of the power of nature filled me with a sublime joy and a rush of energy. Wanting to take a dip I walked back around and ventured down across the slippery rocks into the chilly but refreshing water. It quickly reached a depth well over my head. Meanwhile the 2 french guys followed my lead and we swam further in. But the force of the current was strong and the closer we got to the center of the pool the more the force of the current tried to push us away.

As I approached the center, the spray was enough to impede my vision so it was easier to swim on my back, though that made it harder to reach my intended goal: smack under the torrent! It required all of my strength to push my humble human body into this massive downpour. My pulse quickened as I approached and the sound roared such that we could barely hear each other shouting. I was shot through with adrenaline. While I wasn´t unaware of the element of danger involved, I needed to feel this!

Just as I was becoming exhausted physically, but not in spirit, the moment of impact came. The cascade forced herself upon me like the weight of centuries without regard to my tiny existence....I was pushed under like a cork hit by an oceanliner upon which I closed my eyes and allowed this primordial baptismal font to carry me where it desired. I reemerged a few feet in the direction of the current and proceeded to fly to the nearest shore.

Looking up, I noticed a Mexican leading a couple of the natural rocky staircase behind and to the right of the falls, beyond which I had not ventured earlier. Looking at the French guys who were also catching their breath, I could tell they had the same idea...we hopped off our boulders and climbed up the rocks to follow the threesome. This time I had no shoes or socks so the climb was precarious with the wet and mossy rocks, but we soon caught up. At the top of a 25 foot climb and above another smaller cascade the guide disappreared!

He had ducked into the source of that water and proceeded with a flashlight into a dark cavern. The couple, who turned out to be Belgian, went in directly after, then the Frenchmen, then myself. As the guide was in front I couldn´t see anything and was groping by touch and instinct. I worried my feet my feet would step on some ancient, clawed creature of the dark underworld or get mangled by sharp rocks or the alien Predator, but nothing of the sort happened. Occasionally the light would flash back my way and I would catch glimpses of the gleaming, solid limestone walls of the cave and hollowed out path that this interior stream had carved through the mountain.

Having just finished Jules Verne´s Journey to the Center of the Earth I couldn´t help but recall the characters´ discovery of the infernal river miles beaneath the surface of the earth and the moment their lamps had failed. What utter darkness impenetrable!

Our guide stopped short and I clammored over the last boulder to sit upon and saw the purpose of this subterranean adventure. There before us was a crystal clear pool into which a smaller version of the great Misol Ha outside poured. From whence I know not. The man shone the light around the cave and it hit upon the jagged ceiling, revealing a whole colony of black creatures congregating upside down (or were we the one´s upside down?) Yes, bats (muncielagos)! Some were snoozing and some were flitting about wondering what in the world was disturbing their precious dark solitude. They were harmless of course, but to be such a foreigner in the home of 100´s of such creatures gives one a start.

This was one of the most exhilirating experiences of my life. Invigorating, refreshing, liberation in surrender!

Next up: San Cristobal and Modern Maya Indians

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