Day 45 : Palenque

The Palenque ruins opens at 8am, and I wanted to be at the grounds early to avoid the crowds.  Taking a collectivo at 7.15am, which costs MXP20, I got to the entrance at about 7.40am. 

While waiting for the Grounds to open, one of the guides in an attempt to sell me his service, shared with me that only about 5% of the grounds had been excavated, with 95% still hidden in the jungle. 

He also pointed out the howls of the howler monkeys, which could be heard throughout the whole time I was at the Grounds.  Apparently, the producers of Jurassic Park had recorded the sounds of Howler Monkeys in Guatemala and used that as the background sound in some of the scenes!

I was shortly joined by the couple, whom was on the same Agua Azul and Misol Ha Falls tour, and we spoke about the wash out weather the group would have had yesterday. 

I noticed that the couple had a band around their arm, and at first thought it was the admission ticket, but was told that it was the Palenque National Park fee, separate from the ruins admission and had to be paid at an earlier entrance.  It was then I realised that the collectivo I took had not stopped for me to make this payment of about MXP31.  No one at the ticket counter seemed to question me for not having the band fortunately.

The moment admission was allowed, I went in and soon found myself in an opening with towering temples, namely Temple of the Skull, Temple of the Red Queen, Temple of Inscriptions and the Palace. 

The rain had stopped a couple hours before I arrived at the grounds, and with little sun.  Being situated amidst the jungle, the lush green and colours of the stones on the temples were more vivid under the weather conditions.  Being early had its benefits, as most of the time I was able to capture pictures without anyone in it. 

I also didn’t get vendors pestering me to buy merchandise, as they were busy setting up shop at that hour.

Palenque, one of the most important Mayan cities of the Classic period (250 to 900 A.D.) was the capital of a powerful dynasty that ruled extensive regions of what are today the states of Chiapas and Tabasco. 

It is noted for the quality of its architectural and sculptural works, in addition to the numerous and well preserved glyphic inscriptions. 

It was at the Temple of Inscriptions where they found the Tomb of Pakal in 1952, a great archaeological find, as it was a very grand and masterfully carved tombstone, and in pristine condition.

The Palace was the residence of the ruling family and his court.  The complex is the result of several building phases, and were built during the reign of Pakal, with his successors adding houses, courtyards and the famous tower in the 18th century A.D.  It was the only temple in this section, that one was allowed to climb on and walked into the various courtyards.

The next section that had been well excavated is The Complex of the Cross and the Triad of Palenque, made up of three temples – Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Cross, Temple of the Foliated Cross. 

There were still some very well preserved carvings in these temples.  The view from atop Temple of the Cross, which is also the tallest structure among the 3, was magnificent, as one could see an aerial view of the Palace in the distance.

These two key sections took just slightly below 2 hours to complete.  However, instead of exiting from the same entrance, I took the longer way out, which was a path leading through some other partial ruins, a waterfall, and finally leading to the Museum.  Covering these additional sections took another 1.5 hours. 

A very pleasant walk, though because of the wet grounds, it was slippery in some sections, and I slipped and fell on one of the steps leading towards the partial ruins of Complex C. 

Complex C was only partially excavated, but it was also where it gave me a better impression of how much effort archaeologists had to put in, just to excavate and preserve what we see today in the more restored sections.  When I exited Complex C, I realised that they had closed off entrance to this area, probably because of the slippery ground. 

The Museum was very interesting and is strongly recommended.  The admission cost is already included in the price of the entry ticket to the ruins (MXP 65), so no additional fees needs to be paid. 

All contents had both Spanish and good detailed English translations, proving information on the history, along with carvings, glyph writings, statues and other ornaments that are typical of the period. 

There was also a big section dedicated to the find of Pakal’s tomb, along with a replica of the tomb and detailed explanation about the different carvings and what they represent. 

The originals are housed in Mexico City, and burial artefacts could be found in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.