Day 11 Palenque archaeological site & Campeche

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Today was a long hot day approximately 350 km passing from Chiapas province to the Yucatan province. First stop was the Palenque archaeological ruins, one of the most important sites of the Maya World. The ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. AD 799 but flourished in the 7th century before declining over the last 100 odd years and absorbed back into its jungle origins & remained undiscovered until 1952.

This peak was under the reign of King Pikel 2 for 80 years from the age of 12 & passed to K'an Balam (pronounced Cham Balom) a relative of the king as his sons had died. Pikel planned his own immortality by having his own tomb constructed while alive & now known as the Temple of the Inscriptions. The temple is huge with an internal burial chamber centered with a giant sargopheous & a 5 tonne slab on top. The slab is completely carved with the history of Pikel's reign as is the rest of the burial chamber with gliphs & carving of the whole Mayan history & beliefs.

When the burial chamber was discovered it was one of the few that had not been looted & a magnificent facemask of many pieces of jade & black obsidian eyes had fallen around the facial remains. The mask is now on prominent display in the Mexico Anthropology Museum. The tomb is no longer open to visitors so it is difficult to convey the beauty of these remains.

The rest of the ruins comprise pyramid temples & burial chambers, palaces & other structures & yet barely 10% has yet been exposed by archaeologists. Collectively it must have been an awe inspiring site and a tribute to the architectural brilliance of the Mayans.

After this visit, we headed to our overnight stop at the coastal town of Campeche, a now thriving port town due to the discovery of oil nearby.

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Photos

Observation Tower
Only the top level survived intact. Lower levels restored

Water channel
Water still pure enough to drink

Glyphs
Now able to be interpreted.

Comments

[Ruth]

I'm curious?
Are tourists allowed to just roam and ramble through these ruins? For instance are you allowed to climb up the stairs to the tomb?