Once we were in town, we walked around for 6-7 blocks until we finally found an ATM where we got some Pesos to buy dinner. The town of Palenque is pretty bland, sort of a hodge-podge of buildings. Ok, it’s a little dodgy! Seemed like an assembly place for backpackers who are heading off for other parts of Mexico. It reminded me a lot of Tena, Ecuador that sits at the bottom on the east side of the Andes.

Saturday night  downtown in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

Using our trusty Lonely Planet guide book we headed for the best restaurant in town, a beautiful open air place named Restaurant Maya Cañada. The service was great. We both had steak for around $10 USD each. Before we left, the restaurant had filled to capacity. We knew we had made the right choice.

Steak Dinner

The dessert was the best part. Check this out:

Half a coconut shell filled with coconut ice cream topped off with a chocolate bar.

After dinner, we walked to the bus station to pick up our tickets for the bus the next day to San Cristobal de las Casas. Since I had originally purchased them on line before leaving the states it was just a matter of getting our boarding passes printed. I didn’t want to chance having to stand in a long line the next day.  We would spend the next a.m. visiting the musuem at the ruins before leaving for San Cristobal in the afternoon.

Next-A brief visit to the Musuem of the Ruins in Palenque

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com

Colombia:                                                                http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ 

Mexico:                                                                  http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda                          http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover                                    http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day:                                                                 http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

There were a few other guests around the pool. We didn’t see or hear any other Americans. All  seemed to be from Europe. We struck up a conversation with several of them. Most were just traveling around Mexico on buses somewhat like us.

We hung around the pool until a lightning storm drove us back into the casita.

Next-Dinner in Palenque Town

View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com

Colombia:                                                                http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ 

Mexico:                                                                  http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda                          http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover                                    http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day:                                                                 http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

Being a Saturday, the ruins were really busy with tourists,  most seemed to be Mexican. After the two-hour tour we stayed around for an extra couple of hours shooting photos and climbing around the ruins.

Impressive, huh?  Post your comments below if you liked these ruins.

After we finished, we caught another “colectivo” on the highway and headed back to the Chan Kah Resort to take a dip in the pool.  But first, I want you to see some photos of the flowers on the property of the hotel  in the next post(#8).  Then wait until you see the pics of the pool in the post(#9) following the flowers! Stay tuned.

Next-The Flowers of Chan-Kah Resort Village

          Outside of the dining room

             Inside the dining room-

                   All you can eat buffet breakfast-cost was about 12 bucks.

The ruins were about 4 miles away and we needed transportation. We were told to just walk down the road and stand on the highway until a little “colectivo” comes by and wave it down.

                This is the road from the resort that leads to the highway-

“Colectivos” are vans that run up and down the highway, hold about 9 people, and function as an ad hoc taxi service.

        Flagging down a “colectivo” on the side of the highway                  

You get on and off wherever you want and pay the driver a token fee. In our case, the 4 miles to the ruins cost $1 each (10 pesos). He had about 13 people in his 9 person van with most of them being backpackers, some of whom were carrying bedrolls, tents, etc.  Several of them looked pretty spacey.  This area seems to be a magnet for backpackers.

When we arrived at the ruins we were approached by a guide service asking if we wanted a private guide in English. Carol said “we’ve come this far, let’s do it right and hire a guide”. Best thing we ever did. For 2 hours ($85 USD), our guide took us through the ruins and painted a vivid picture in our minds of how this Mayan civilization lived …..It was incredible! You will enjoy the photos in the next post.

Next Time-The ruins of Palenque

See my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:

Colombia:http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/   Mexico:http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/    
   

Caribbean island of Barbuda:                    http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/     

San Juan with a 5 hour layover:                                  http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/        

Fly around the U.S. for the day:                                                http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/