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Published: June 26th 2011
As we enter the front gates and round the corner to 'the temple of skulls' with the sound of the wild monkeys in the hills it takes your breath away for a moment.
The photos just don't do it justice and fact that you can climb most of these amazing ruins, the little voice in your head is saying 'it can't be right that I am climbing all over a national treasure which is over 2000 years old' but the other side is an exhilirating feeling that I can not explain.
Everything about this site is impressive not only the ruins themselves but the encrouching jungle which adds to the Indiana Jones feeling, and we did feel like Indiana Danny and his trusty sidekick Senorita Bonny at times.
This morning was one of those experiences that you record and replay on the front porch in 20 years time.
The first section of temple you encounter as you enter from the top entrance is the Temple of the Skull (so named for a sculptured relief of a freak rabbit skull at the top), the Tomb of the Red Queen (for a scarcohagus discovered that contained a female skeleton)
an the Temple of the Inscriptions (this temple contained the most inscription reliefs at the site and was also the burial place of the emperor Pakal, who is credited with overseeing the golden era of Palenque).
The next area we visited was the north area which contained the Temple of the Count and the Ball Court. Being there early in the morning allowed us to climb and enjoy the views from these sites without any other visitors around. The ball court at Palenque is tiny compared to the one at Chichen Itza.
The area that offered the most panoramic views of the site were the area that contained the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Cross and the Temple of the Foliated Cross. We climbed the Temple of the Cross, and even though the climb is steep and quite taxing, you are rewarded with a stunning view across the entire site.
We finally head to the main site at Palenque which is the Palace. Again you could walk on the structure and not only that for the more adventurous you can descend into the dark subterranean depths. These were quite interesting as in some places
Indiana Danny at the top
This gives you a sense of how big the ruin iswe had to use the camera flash to find our way. The entire palace could take a whole day to explore with its different rooms and courtyards.
On our way out of the site you descend past the domestic residence of the site and you get a real feel of what the site was like before it was cleared. The foundations of the buildings have giant trees springing from them and vines wrapping around the support columns.
As we descended we pass some lovely little waterfalls that are so inviting but unfortunately you cannot swim here any more.
Finally, after about 3 hours of exploring this magnificent site we exit at the entrance to the museum. As the entrance fee was included in the ticket we decide to have a look. The museum is full of reliefs, decorated columns, masks and artefacts discovered throughout the site. And the most impressive item is the sarcophagus of Pakal. To put the site into perspective, the museum contains a map of the entire area of the ancient city of Palenque with a small rectangle that shows the area that is open to the public (a mere 25% of the entire
city).
With our heads spinning with the size and beauty of this wonderous site we headed back to the town of Palenque for some lunch and shopping before heading to our next destination of San Cristobal de las Casas (a mere 5 hour bus ride into the mountains).
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