Since we got a really nice and spacious Airbnb apartment, we decided take a day off. We wanted to plan the next days and just relax in Palenque. But things didn’t turn out as planned…
Digital detox
Unfortunately, our day off was exactly when both the internet and the mobile network in Palenque were down all day. Really all day!
So everything we wanted to do that day fell into the water… Christian literally, as he cooled off in a nearby pool. 😅
Luckily in our apartment we had some info flyers about things to do and see in the surroundings of Palenque. When we decided on a tour, our Airbnb host, who still got a landline, called us a taxi to get to the tour agency. So we were able to book a tour for the next day the old-fashioned way. In the end, the digital detox was not that bad at all…
Into the jungle (again)
After the first Maya ruins in Palenque we were ready for some more! We booked a tour to get to the remote ruins of Yaxchilán and Bonampak located deep in the Mexican jungle! Our pick up was right in front of our apartment quite early in the morning to get pretty close to the Mexican border… After a long ride in a van we changed to a boat to get to Yaxchilán.
Yaxchilán (pronounced Yash-chee-Lan) is an impressive Mayan archaeological site located along the Usumacinta River, the borderline between Mexico and Guatemala. The site offers over 100 structures and monuments and is especially famous for its high-quality relief carvings.
We explored the area alone and were excited what to see and learn. All of
Yaxchilán’s areas are skillfully adapted to the sourroundings and attached to each other with terraces, stairways, and platforms. Almost every building has a doorway decorated with carved lintels that tell a story. The lintels were originally in colour, but now only traces of that remain. Yaxchilán’s central complex of buildings is the “Central Acropolis”. On the Western part of the “Central Acropolis”, you can find the “Structure 19”, also known as the “Labyrinth”. This temple has rooms spread over three levels connected by interior stairways. The temple facade has four doorways, of course we had to get in there!
Walking through the dark hallways was impressive but also a little creepy. Especially as we found a huge amount of small bats hanging from the ceilings! As we used the flash light of our phone the bats flew above our heads and out of the ruins! 🦇🦇🦇
That was an impressive and little creepy ending to the tour before we headed back to the boat.
Small, but impressive
After a lunch break we took the van to get to the second site of the tour, Bonampak.
Bonampak is a smaller Mayan archaeological site along the Usumacinta River. But it is well known for the impressive murals located within the three Rooms of “Structure 1”, the “Temple of the Murals”.
Beginning in “Room 1”, the murals tell a distinct story, starting with a scene of tribute: dressing, dance and musical performance; then “Room 2” with a scene of violent conflict, and a display in which a human sacrifice is presented, tortured and killed in the company of the highest members of court and upper rank of the victorious force; and, last but not least “Room 3” with a scene of a dance, with observers, and ritual bloodletting…
The colors of the murals are still pretty well preserved and you can easily see the scences as described. Even though Bonampak was the smallest
archaeological site we have been so far, it was definitely worth visiting too.
After a long ride back, we eventually arrived back in Palenque, heading to bed with more positive impressions…
