Palenque Pinching

Arrived in Palenque early evening and after a tip from a couple we met in Oaxaca we headed to El Panchàn in the rainforest (about 4.4km outside Palenque town). El Panchàn is a bit like how I imagine CentreParcs to be like but without any of the facilities and a few too many eco-freindly tree hugging types. The place we wanted to stay in had no rooms and a thunderstorm had just started so we were lucky to get one of the last rooms left in the next place (Chato`s Cabañas), even though it was another 5 minute trek through the rainforest. We decided to get the mosquito net out for the bed as we weren't too convinced about the grills over the windows, we also covered ourselves up and applied loads of deet. We then went to the restaurant Don Muchos which we heard done the best Italian food in Mexico, Joanne's fajitas and my pizza certainly lived up to the expectation. A few beers later with a Marguerita thrown in for good measure and it was off to bed before the dodgy reggae band ruined the night.

Next morning was a bonus...neither of us had too many bites. Joanne got dressed and as she walked through the door she started to scream really loud and was dancing round the room tearing at her trousers trying to get them off. I figured something had bitten her but just then out fell a scorpion which I managed to free from Joanne`s advances. I quickly read the lonely planet guide-book for advice on scorpion bites which said something about ice and get medical attention immediately, so we headed down to reception and fortunately the owner explained that it wasn't that severe and gave Joanne an ammonia pen to apply to the affected area. This seemed to do the trick and eased the pain slightly, once Joanne calmed down we went and got the bus to the Palenque ruins.


We had hoped that following the storm the weather would have been better but unfortunately it was quite overcast when we got to the site. There are 500 Mayan builings spread over 15 sq Km but only relatively few have been excavated in a fairly compact central area, all set within a dense jungle covering the surrounding hills. We wandered about the impressive site for about 3 hours and climbed many temples (that`s all we seemed to have done since arriving in Mexico) and looked at some of the amazing bas-reliefs on the temple walls.



We then went into Palenque town which is small and uninspiring before heading back to El Panchàn & Don Muchos that night - I had another pizza which again was great and Joanne had an ok chicken. Several beers later and another Marguerita (which was mostly tequila, no ice and just a hint of lemon/lime) and we headed to bed for our early start the next day. Spent plenty of time shaking our clothes to check for anything undesirable before packing them away