Highlights of Mexico (12): Palenque
Often on these exotic holidays, Roger succumbs to some kind of stomach upset while Vee has a stomach of steel. Day 9 (Thursday) began early for Roger with three bouts of ‘Montezuma’s revenge’ which meant no breakfast at all. Fortunately Imodium did the trick and he was able to proceed with the programme.
Today was all about the ruins of the ancient city of Palenque. The site was only 15 minutes from our hotel and we deliberately went there early (8.30 am) but there were still lots of tourists and just as many hawkers (Vee bought herself a necklace with a symbol from the Mayan calendar for the time of year of her birth). Also it was extremely hot (36C/97F) and really humid (around 95%), so we had to take every chance that we could to take advantage of shade. There was no toilet and no cafe so for Roger at least it was just as well that the Imodium worked.
Palenque, which means ‘palisade’, was the name given to the site by the Spanish, but the inhabitants probably called it Lakamha which means ‘big water’. This magnificent ancient city of the Mayans built at the foot of the Chiapas Mountains originated around 100 BC but reached its peak between 600-900 AD, before falling into decline in the 10th century, and disappearing into the jungle. It was one of the first Mayan sites to be discovered (starting in the mid 1700s) and remains one of the best preserved.
In terms of what has so far been excavated, Palenque is a medium-sized Mayan site, smaller than such huge sites as Tikal in Guatemala or Copán in Honduras (both of which Roger and Vee visited in 2014) or Chichen Itza, (which we will be viewing later on this trip), but overall it features up to 1,000 temples of various sizes and contains some of the finest architecture, sculpture, roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayans produced.
We started by standing in the main plaza at the base of a row of four large temples which from right to left are known as the Temple of the Skull, simply Temple XIIA, the Temple of the Red Queen, and the Temple of the Inscriptions. The last and most impressive is a very tall stepped pyramid that holds the extraordinary tomb of Palenque’s ruler King Pakal who died at the incredible age of 80 in 683 AD. The stone cover is estimated to weigh some eight or nine tons. The tomb was only uncovered in 1952.
Moving on to the Plaza of the Cross, we viewed three temples built by order of Pakal’s son: from left to right this time, the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Cross (the largest), and the Temple of the Foliated Cross. Unlike the previous of temples, these three can be mounted via steep stone steps and Roger climbed up to the top of the third of them which has the fewest steps. The third main area we examined is known simply as the Palace which is a very large and extensive structure of connected living quarters and courtyards plus a tall tower.
After almost four hours at the site, the heat and the humidity were wearing us down and we drove the short distance to a restaurant called “Los Leones” where a three-course meal with drinks was provided – particularly welcome to Roger who had so far eaten and drunk nothing and to Vee who was wilting in the tropical climate.
After lunch, we returned to the site of Palenque to visit the museum. This is small but well done with some superb incense burners in the form of decorated faces and a full scale replica of Pakal’s tomb compete with detailed glyphs. At the museum shop, Roger bought a book on the history of the Mayans.
We were back at our hotel at 3.15 pm and said farewell to cheerful and chatty Alberto after four days as our accomplished guide. The rest of the day was free, so we spent it napping (in Vee’s case), swimming (in Roger’s case) and (in both cases) reading, surfing, eating and drinking.