Blogs from Chiapas, Mexico, North America

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North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque August 14th 2023

After nearly a day in the airports and flying we eventually get to Palenque. We had to take a flight back to Mexico City and then transfer to a plane to take us to Val…., from which we had a minibus to Palenque. It seemed a bit odd flying back to Mexico City but I can imagine that if the tour started anywhere other than Mexico City it would be difficult to fill, so understandable. We are up early again, but not as early as the day before setting off to Monte Alban, but this time we are having a tour of a Mayan settlement, another archeological site - my grandson would love this holiday as he is only just 7 but already wants to be an archeologist and of course a gamer (designing games but ... read more
Watching over us

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » San Cristobal de las Casas November 16th 2019

After 35 hours in Palenque and the promise of heavy rain we made the executive decision to get up early and catch the 5.15am bus to San Cristóbal de las Casas; a colonial town in Chiapas approximately 9 hours by bus from where we were. When I was in Mexico back in 2005, I purposefully avoided Chiapas because at the time it was known as the bandits-with-pistols place where you could get robbed or worse if you were unlucky. When Marco went ten years ago he said that most touristy places used the revolutionary history as a way to attract tourists. It was interesting to note that very few tags, signs or mentions of the Zapatista era remained now. It was almost as though the locals wanted to keep their history to themselves and not use ... read more
The fire is on!
San Cris
Frans Blom’s House

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque November 12th 2019

Bye Bacalar, Bye Enrico e Michelle, bye Campeon. We loved you all. We enjoyed the last days in Quintana Roo but it’s time to move on, direction Chiapas. First we need to grab a bus to Chetumal and then another one to Palenque, night bus that arrive at 4:30am, at 5 we are already in bed, inside a little cabaña on the edge of the jungle. The weather is shit but luckily we didn’t get not even a drop of rain on us, it’s raining hard but we are sleeping deep and for when we woke up, at 8:30am, the sun shining on the muddy puddles. I already been to Palenque 10 years ago. I remember well how much humidity. This is the most raining part of Mexico. Still around 27 degrees. First thing after Daria’s ... read more
One of the temples
Marco going up
Good weather for us, lucky guys

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque September 29th 2019

I'm not going to go into too much detail here because, as you can see from the title, I visited more ruins and there's not much I can say which I haven't already. The ruins at Palenque (Palen-kay) are unique due to their artwork and carvings. Their location, situated on the side of a mountain also seems to be unique. The jungle scenery surrounding the former Mayan city was just as impressive as the structures, with some beautiful trees around 30M high. Coupled together with the former Mayan city this made for a very eerie atmosphere. Whilst walking around the central palace area, which seemed like a maze of different rooms and courtyards I managed to get lost. I'm not joking, it took me around ten minutes of walking down different passageways and ending up in ... read more

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Yaxchilan May 10th 2019

Last time I did this trip in 2014 it would have been nice to see these ruins near the Mexican-Guatemalan border but it would have been very difficult due to the fact that I had very little cash, only credit and debit cards. Fast forward 5 years armed with the experience of the last attempt and I made sure I would be able to see Yaxchilán this time. The name has been translated into several different meanings but eventually settled on "Green Stones" by a 19th century Mayan archaeologist. $US ≈ 19 Mexican pesos ($M) ≈ 7.6 Guatemalan quetzales (Q) Frontera Corozal Back of beyond border crossing into Mexico from the equally back of beyond in Guatemala. Did this trip in 2014 with very few pesos in my possession (traded for some on the bus with ... read more
Yaxchilán
Yaxchilán
Yaxchilán

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Chiapa de Corzo January 13th 2019

located in the southern state of Chiapas, a commercial port and a gateway to many interesting things. German immigrants introduced coffee cultivation in the mid 119th century, still mass German influence. The city of trade Tapachula, a regional center of trade between Mexico and central America. Arqueologico del Sonconusco, beautiful 5000 year old stone carvings and pre Hispanic musical instruments and ceramics from the recently excavated site of Izapa. Homemade arts, food , leather and ceramics very plentiful. Visited the mangroves which are small trees that grow in coastal saline, or blackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics 25N and 25 S of the equator worldwide. 53,190 square miles in 118 countries. The coast presents a high density of eco systems. The ... read more
Port customs
Port square
Flags of the nations

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque November 21st 2018

We don’t have anything on our agenda today. We are waiting on news as my dad is back in hospital with a suspected heart attack so we really don’t want to go far. I go to the bakery for a couple of rolls for lunch and a croissant for breakfast. I also dump another bag of laundry off. The Mexican equivalent of a ‘lollipop man’ is standing at the road junction. Seeing that I am waiting to cross, he leaps out in front of an oncoming car with his ‘HALT’ placard and beckons me across. :-) I arrive at the fruit shop. It is packed and there are no avacodos left. Pity. I purchase a yoghurt from the shop next door instead. It rained hard for most of the night leaving a much cooler start to ... read more
Roundabout
Splosh in the pool
Papaya cocktails

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque November 20th 2018

Today is the ‘Day of the Revolution’. I guess we should have known that this would be an important day since every town and city we have visited so far has had a very important street named ‘20 November’! We set off towards the town square. We can hear a brass band playing just beyond. There is a long procession of school kids marching in the road, a brass band and finally some people in traditional Mexican dress on horseback, in fact, the first we have seen wearing sombreros! After the parade has finished, we make our way to the colectivo station. We get into a mini bus bound for the ruins but get off at the EcoPark. It’s a bit of a mini zoo but it takes in animals and, where possible, reintroduces them to ... read more
Revolution Day Celebrations
Parrots
Jaguar

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque November 19th 2018

We have opted for a van tour today. In this humidity, we just don’t want the hassle of arranging things ourselves. We could easily have split these sites over two days and done it ourselves but then we would have been left hanging around for colectivos and having a 2km hike if we wanted to see the Misol-ha waterfall. We have chosen to start early at 8am to avoid some of the heat. We are the only ones foolish enough to have chosen this option, so a smart private car appears to ferry us to the ruins. We will meet up with the rest of the group on the van later. The only problem with this arrangement is where to leave my rucksack - it is stuffed with swimming gear and I wasn’t planning on lugging ... read more
Palace freizes
Ken
View from Temple of the Cross

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » Palenque November 18th 2018

This morning we are a bit late getting going. We were very tired after yesterday’s journey and then there was a lot of noise in the hotel making for a disturbed nights sleep. We drop our laundry off and buy provisions for a picnic lunch at the waterfalls. The area we are visiting today is called Roberto Barrios - a jungle area with waterfalls and swimming holes. We are told that the waterfall area is recently developed and that there will be no vendors there for food or drink, so we need to go prepared. We set off in search of picnic food, and then a colectivo to take us there. After a bit of searching we find the right place. There are several colectivo places in town but different roads serve their own particular destinations. ... read more
Roberto Barrios Waterfalls
Roberto Barrios Waterfalls
Roberto Barrios Waterfalls




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