Calakmul didn’t happen. I got to Xpujil around noon but soon found out it was highly unlikely I would find other tourists to share the expense of getting to Calakmul. The guy at the tourist kiosk at the bus station said there were maybe no tourists in town right now. The woman at the nearest hotel to the station, one which would be the choice of some of the tourists, said she had no guests at all. I decided to simply catch the next bus to a transportation hub halfway to Palenque, sleep there (where I was the only guest), and head for Palenque.
Most backpacker types stay a few kilometers outside Palenque at El Panchan, which is between the city and the ruins. This part of Chiapas is jungle, or was jungle before development. El Panchan is in a patch that is reforested. In there are about 10 places with rooms, cottages, camping sites and even a tree house. It’s hardly the deep forest, but you can get a feel for the jungle by staying there. I stayed at where the internet indicated was the most tranquil. I stay away from the party crowd these days if I can. Margarita and Ed’s was just fine that way. Margarita said they don’t take “hippies”. What a sweet gal she is! Here’s their cheapest cottage, where I stayed.
There are a few rooms in their hotel-style building.
There are a couple of palm-thatched dive bar/restaurant establishments, but almost everybody goes to the really quite nice Don Mucho’s. It’s got an extensive, fair priced menu, candle lit tables at night and nightly live music. Here it is through the trees and at night, with the candle lit tables and the music on the left. Check out the little lamps along the path so you don’t step in the muck at night while you roll your wheelie suitcase to your place. Wheelie suitcases and muck to not go well together, and muck there was, as there were a couple of ferocious thunderstorms while I was there. The rainy season is about to start.
The other places to stay are back in the trees up this path.
Some hardened travelers scoff at these kinds of places, but I think it had something for everyone. It wasn’t in the city at least, with the trees, colorful and noisy birds, cicadas and howler monkeys. It had nice stuff for the people on two week vacations from the office. The cottages would be great for couples who might prefer not to share a common wall. The food was good at Don Mucho’s, though I ate mostly cold food from town to save money.
I stayed there for three nights. One day I went on a waterfall/river/swimming hole tour. It was a steamy 104 degrees F (40 C), so that was nice, as well as it being quite pretty.
I didn’t go swimming at this place, just walked behind the falls to the other side. Most of the others swam there while I chilled out at the opening to a grotto on the other side and under the falls. It was nice and cool there. Besides, the tour only stopped there for about a half hour. A schedule is the disadvantage to going with a tour.
Then we went to this other place which was even nicer. We stayed there about three hours. I thought it might be a stretch to want to stay so long, but you walk up the river to view the views and swim as you like in many swimming holes. Beautiful series of falls, beautiful river, not too many people, cool water on a hot afternoon. Very nice. Our group got along well, also.
The second full day I was there, I went to the ruins when they opened at 8. Considering the heat and the number of tourists, I was surprised so few people go there early. It’s nice there, as you will see. The ruins are surrounded by lots of trees, though the main part of the site is well-groomed. There’s a very nice little museum there, too, which you shouldn’t miss if you ever go there. As usual, I’ll dispense with the history. All this archaeological history makes me dizzy. Suffice it to say, most of this is about 1500 years old, built during the Mayan heyday.
I managed to linger around there for about four hours. There are many paths off to obscure areas where one can hang out in peace.
The rest of that day was nothing. There’s ultraslow wifi internet at Don Mucho’s and a couple of the hostel/cabana places, but not at Margarita and Ed’s. Don Mucho’s charges 25 pesos per hour, but it’s so slow I only bothered with it one hour. You can’t even voice only Skype on it. So I read and studied Spanish on the books and Spanish course I have downloaded. That’s about it. The next day I went to San Cristobal de las Casas, where I am right now.
San Cristobal is very pleasant and I plan to stay a few days. I’ll write about that when I’m finished here. Until then, be well, all of you.
