From Jill & Lester – Well some of you who received way to many snap chats of ruins today might have guessed that we were mighty impressed with what unfolded before us today. I can tell you Mexico surprises us at every turn. We’ve not been disappointed with one day of it so far.
So anyway at the moment we’re in Palanque which is a pretty agreeable town in itself. Earlier this morning we headed out of town to check out some Mayan ruins. On arrival we were approached by an English speaking guide offering his services.We took him on which proved a real bonus. It was one on one for two hours with a very knowledgeable and intelligent young guy. His subject matter just blew us away. The scale of the place is immense. Hundreds of buildings spread over 15sq ks only a fraction of which have been unearthed but boy are they impressive. You’ve got free rein to climb most of them but not only that you can explore the tunnels ,staircases,crypts and all that make up the insides of them as well. No health and safety bs here! You continually had to remind yourself that what was before you was built, and bloody well built at that,300-900 AD.No one knows what their cement recipe was but it’s sure stood the test of time. All this without the aid of iron, the wheel, or pack animals.It made Pompeii tame by comparison. Anyway come 900AD the Mayans deserted the place for reasons unknown and it reverted back to jungle until rediscovered in 1750 but not excavated till 1850s.Its the protected jungle back drop that that adds to the surreal feeling of the place.
Tomorrow we head over to the West coast to Campeche where we will start a look around the Yucatan peninsula. I’m told it won’t disappoint. Anyway here’s a couple of snaps from today.