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Published: August 24th 2008
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Palenque - Oaxaca 30th July - 6th August
The night bus to Palenque was fortunately very comfortable and we managed to get a fair amount of sleep. Our guide book told us of places we could stay in the jungle just outside of the main town so we took a taxi to El Panchan and found ourselves a Cabana at El Jaguar which was actually very nice and not like the jungle tree huts we had expected. There was however quite a lot of wildlife and Richard had to evict a large black spider from the room. Later that day we headed to another ruined site nearby, also called Palenque. Here it was much more fun than Chichen Itza as you could climb all over the temples and even go inside to see some thankfully empty tombs. The site was located on a hill in the jungle and on the way out we passed some beautiful waterfalls. Back at El Panchan, we went for dinner at Don Muchos which was the only restaurant around and so was very busy with other backpackers who were also staying in the jungle.
The next day we were booked on a tour to see some
nearby waterfalls. On the way to the first of these, the road was blocked by some Mexicans and so we couldn't pass although the driver had to pay some money before we could head to the next falls. The next stop was called Agua Clara (Clear Water) although the water wasn't very clear and we were unclear as to why we had been taken there. Thankfully the final stop made up for it all. Agua Azul (Blue Water) was an amazing collection of waterfalls and pools. The final pool was open for swimming and we thoroughly enjoyed the clear cool water as we swam beneath the falls. We were glad to get back to our room after some scary overtaking by the bus driver on the twisty mountain roads and again went for dinner at Don Muchos.
We left the Jungle to head up the mountains to San Cristobal. Our bus was due to take 5 hours but about two hours in, we came to a stop as there had been an accident up ahead. No one was quite sure what was going on but it seemed that two trucks had collided, the drivers had run off and now we
had to wait until the police turned up before anything could be moved. After 4 hours of waiting, we finally started to move and the bus driver skillfully maneuvered between the abandoned trucks and watching crowds. We arrived in San Cristobal late in the evening and after finding our first choice of hostel full, we were relieved to find a bed in another one nearby.
Up in the mountains of San Cristobal it was a lot cooler than the rest of Mexico. We took a walk around the town to get our bearings and found there was a horse riding trek which we booked for the following day. The trek turned out to be quite a tricky ride through the forest, up and down hills and through a lot of mud. The horses seemed quite keen on trotting although we weren't and so had to keep reining them so we didn't fall off. That evening we were taking a night bus to Oaxaca. This was when we found out that horse riding and night buses shouldn't be attempted on the same day!
On arrival in Oaxaca it was raining so we took a taxi to the hostel we had booked
and spent most of the day relaxing and catching up on sleep. The hostel had one of the best breakfasts we had had in Mexico with eggs, beans, pancakes, fresh fruit and even jelly! After filling up for the day, we went out to see the town and try and savour some of the local delicacies Oaxaca is known for. After seeing some of the towns' many churches, we headed to a Mescal shop for some free samples of the cactus based spirit. After that we tried some local chocolates and Richard was brave enough to try the Chapulines, tiny fried grasshoppers, although this was probably due to the Mescal kicking in. After a tasty lunch at one of the market stalls, we took a bus to the ruins of Monte Alban high on top of a mountain. The view from the top of the pyramids was spectacular although as this was now the fifth ruined site we had visited, we couldn’t help but feel that we'd seen it all before.
For our last day in Oaxaca we decided to take a tour to some of the sites in the surrounding hills. The minibus first took us to see the
world's widest tree. This is a Cypress tree in the grounds of a church that is reputedly over 2000 years old and is 17m in diameter. Certainly the biggest tree either of us had seen. After that we went to a carpet weaving workshop where they explained the processes of obtaining the natural dyes, spinning the wool and weaving the patterned carpets. They also explained how we would be able to pay for their carpets with cash or credit card. After a lunch stop, the bus climbed high into the mountains to visit the petrified waterfalls of Agua Hierve. The falls are formed by mineral springs flowing over cliffs and depositing the minerals as the water evaporates leaving behind what looks like a frozen waterfall. There were also some pools at the edge of the cliffs where you could swim while looking out over the valleys below. On the way back to town, the final stop was at a Mescal factory where we were shown how the drink was made before being allowed to try some of the many variations available. Of course we tried all of them and some of them twice just to be sure of which ones
we liked best!
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David
non-member comment
Were you brave enough to eat the worm?