In the Jungle
The fertile smell of the jungle and the damp humidity hit you as you step out of the taxi at Maya Bell Jungle Lodge in Palenque. Here, we are within the national park, ancient ruins still left unexcavated in the trees behind the cabins and pool.
Guided by Chibo, affectionately meaning "goat", we ventured into the depths of the tropical forest. Here, every hill is not what it seems: crumbling stone structures remain buried in the foliage that was once completely cleared when this village was occupied by Mayans centuries ago. After seeing the size of this complex and the vast vegetation, it is easy to imagine just how destructive this impact would have been, leading to massive droughts.
Chibo told us it was time to take off our shoes and wade through the water inside the aqueduct. We acquiesced quite readily and crawled through, dodging massive spiders and watching for startled bats.
An old sundial hints at the once-bare complex.
In the excavated portion, beloved King Pakal's palace stands centre, and a tomb beside.
Inside, the Red Queen was found in a completely red-painted room, and all her jewelry was protected from theft by being coated in mercury. All this is now in a museum.
In the palace, they have a purposefully leaning tower, meant to account for their latitudinal position as they did their astronomy. Here, they also found sophisticated, although communal, toilets, with plumbing leading to a room with charcoal filtration.
A hallway of faceless portraits bears evidence to the apparent uprising, in which citizens must have become displeased with the god-like royals.
We took a long walk back to the lodge through more jungle before heading off to see some waterfalls, soaking in the lush green scenery.
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