Mexico 2012 RV Trip - Day 41 - February 5, 2012 Palenque - Aqua Azul

Sleeping last night was a challenge. The howler monkeys started their howling about 10 pm. Tobey got up and found ear plugs for us and that helped. It was so loud! Part of the time they sounded like lions roaring, part of the time it almost sounded like elephants! It made for an interesting night.

This morning we walked about one mile up the hill to the ruins of Palenque. Set in the rainforest, many people consider Palenque one of the most beautiful in all of Mexico.  The earliest evidence of occupation dates back to 100 BC when Palenque was probably a small farming village. By late 600-900AD, Palenque had become the power center that ruled the current states of Tabasco and Chiapas. The entire area takes up about 20 miles, but only a small portion has been excavated. It was discovered by the Spanish in the 1750s, but was not really explored until the 1950s!

 

    

Our tickets to Palenque ($57 pesos each – about $4.40 USD) also included admission to the museum. The museum is well laid out and had an incredible display of statues and carvings found at the archeological site. Between the ruins and museum we spent about four hours at Palenque.

    
From Palenque we took MEX 199 south to Agua Azul. We are in the jungle and mountains. The road was VERY narrow and snaked back and forth up the mountain. We experience a bit of road damage – I am very thankful that Tobey is a good driver!

The 43 mile drive took us two hours!

We passed through several small villages that are not on the map and many had colorful displays of clothing for sale. At every tope there were kids and adults selling fruit, tamales, and an assortment of foods.

We arrived at Agua Azul, a series of waterfalls with pools in which swimming is permitted. Apparently there are supposed to be over 1000 falls! 

We hiked up quite a ways before picking our swimming spot. The water was pretty chilly when we first got in, but it was refreshing after our hot morning at Palenque.

The water is supposed to be a beautiful blue color, but it rained off and on today, so they were not as vibrant as we had hoped. 

We saw Magi and Consu, the girls we met from Argentina here, too! There are several restaurants and vendors selling all kinds of handicrafts. We stopped for empanadas and fresh squeezed orange juice, a nice appetizer before dinner!

Admission to the falls was $38 pesos each ($2.90USD). We are camping in the grassy area by the parking lot (free) and will have one last look at the falls in the morning before we leave for San Cristobal. Again, we have absolutely not cell service, so no internet.

GPS  17.25698°N, 92.11340°W Elevation 726’