Monday, April 16, 2007
4/16: Villahermosa to Palenque (Tamara posting)
* Tamara posting *
We had a bit of a hard time finding a place for breakfast this morning - there were no little cafes around, only hotel restaurants. We finally settled on a rather inexpensive-looking place, but it was still more than we like to pay for breakfast ($7.50). After some confusion on how to get back on the highway, we promptly got on our way.
It was a rather uneventful ride from Villahermosa to Palenque, but the scenery was pretty - lots of green. There was some road construction, but nothing terrible. We had picked out a hotel yesterday, so went right to it when we got into town, around 11 am.
We put the side cases in our room and then went to the ruins. I had seen some pictures in the guidebooks, but seeing the Palenque ruins in person was just spectacular. The buildings are beautifully backdropped against lush green trees and undergrowth. The light colored stones really stood out, and the ruins were not very busy, so we should have some great shots. This was a Mayan city, one of the furthest northwest in their empire. We climbed up and explored the Palace, tomb of a queen, and climbed the stairs to the top of the Temple of the Cross. It was a very inspiring place, with such breathtaking scenery, a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside, and beautiful st
onework. It was rather hot and very humid, even though it wasn't the hottest point of the day yet. I found it easier to climb the ruins here than at Teotihuacan, possibly because of the elevation difference.After exploring the ruins, we stopped an a little eatery just past the archaeological zone, and it just so happened that the older gentleman serving the food just got back from the States. He apparently has permanent residency in the U.S. and goes up to work for several months a year. We enjoyed talking with him, and he was very enthusiastic - he made sure to show us his book of the natural beauties of Chiapas, which are many. After some good food, we left for Misol-Ha waterfall.
The ride to the waterfall was really pretty, with lush greenery and rolling hills. We parked the bike and traded our boots for aqua-socks and made the short hike to the path behind the waterfall. It went right around the back side, with a great view, and then 
we had to clamber over some rocks to get to the walkway on the other side. There is a rather large cave there, with water flowing through (only ankle depth), with a guy selling the use of flashlights to explore with. We hadn't brought any money with us, as we were planning on going in the water and didn't want to get it all wet, so Ted explored some in the dark. He was able to go back far enough to discern that there was a cavern in the back, and perhaps a waterfall. We decided we needed to explore more, so Ted climbed down to the pool and swam across, then hiked back and got some money. The guy gave us a little tour, and the cavern was really cool, with a small-ish waterfall and rather deep pool about 10 feet according to the guide. Ted went in to check it out :) and admired the local wildlife - bats.
I went to pick up our laundry in town this evening, and got stuck waiting for the clothes to come back from the owner's house. I was frustrated at first, but then a young woman (about 22) showed up to man the booth and wanted to practice her English on me. She let me know that it was going to take a few more minutes, and then we got to discussing local life - with me asking lots of questions. At first she was very nervous about her English, but I was sure to let her know that it was much better than my Spanish, and I really like talking with her. She is a student at a public university in Villahermosa, studying language (she has to know 4 languages - Spanish of course, English, French, and Italian). Of those, she said Italian is the easiest for her - the pronunciation is most similar to Spanish., and French is the hardest. She pointed out that the groups on the tour buses here aren't Americans, they are French, and only come in package tours. The American tourists that come here are all the hippy types and don't stay in hotels, they camp. Her mom does the laundry at the laundromat (apparently she takes it home or something). She played hooky from school today, but usually comes home for the weekend and lives in on-campus housing during the week. As long as I communicated it correctly, all the students live in campus housing. Her tuition is just 100 pesos per year (2 semesters) which is about $10. In addition, she has a scholarship of some kind from the government for 900 pesos per month to help pay for books, supplies, etc. Most students work part-time, about 20 hours per week, but she was able to save enough over the summer to not have to work right now. The minimum wage in Mexico is 50 pesos a day ($5) - I was amazed at this, it is so low compared to the US minimum. Even compared to what we are spending in Mexico it seems like very little. For example, the simple lunch we had at an eatery with just a kitchen and outdoor seating, was 66 pesos. Now I'm not complaining that it was too much, it was very reasonable, but if you only make 50 a day, how can you afford anything? So it was a very cool experience for me to be able to ask a lot of questions of the people we met today, I only wish I were able to do this more, which means grinding down on learning Spanish.
we had to clamber over some rocks to get to the walkway on the other side. There is a rather large cave there, with water flowing through (only ankle depth), with a guy selling the use of flashlights to explore with. We hadn't brought any money with us, as we were planning on going in the water and didn't want to get it all wet, so Ted explored some in the dark. He was able to go back far enough to discern that there was a cavern in the back, and perhaps a waterfall. We decided we needed to explore more, so Ted climbed down to the pool and swam across, then hiked back and got some money. The guy gave us a little tour, and the cavern was really cool, with a small-ish waterfall and rather deep pool about 10 feet according to the guide. Ted went in to check it out :) and admired the local wildlife - bats.Back at the hotel, we enjoyed some complimentary drinks for our 'welcome' package, had some yummy nachos, and took a nice dip in the pool. Now to settle in and enjoy the A/C, nice beds.. I'm sleepy! :)
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Thanks Steve! We had a nice seafood dinner in Campeche and some birthday cake this evening, it´s a good celebration :)
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