Palenque: Mayan Magnificence

  We are at Palenque considered by some as the pinnacle of Mayan building magnificence !  We stayed nearby so were early to beat the rush and the crowds. The town has grown up simply to service the temple visitors.

The city grew from about 100 BC and by 600-900 AD it had reached the pinnacle of development ruling over a large area that is now Chiapas and Tabasco. Work is still progressing and there are many more buildings yet to be unearthed from their cover of forest humas and vegetation. It is an inspiration for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" fans.

We had great weather and an excellent local guide so were able to visit an extensive area, enter lots of the buildings and climb the very steep steps up the face of the pyramids.

               Our first stop was the Temple of the Skull, Built in about 800 AD it sits over two earlier                       temples.

 Temple XIII, The Tomb of the Red Queen,  was one where we could climb the steps and go inside. Narrow passages and inscriptions adorned the walls.

                                                          Gail inside the temple passageways.

 The magnificent Temple of Inscriptions. The other two temples are behind.

This temple has been a great source of information about the Maya. There were limestone tablets discovered that contained glyphic text that eventually resulted in the code to the language being discovered. It also contains the sarcophagus of Pakel II. It was discovered in 1952 and you could go in for 50 years but is now closed. You can see a copy of the sarcophagus in the museum as we did!

                                                                It is a work of art!

The Palace stands opposite and is very large. It was built to hold the many wives and children of the ruler. It was a highly hierarchical society.

                                                  Inside the Palace.

                                     The tower was added much later around 800 AD

The archaeologists are currently working on this site and just 4 days ago they discovered through this hole an entrance into the inner section of the Palace.Who knows what they will find!

                                        Rob climbs another temple and looks down on Gail near the Palace.

We looked at many more structures but also called into the attached museum.

                                                          All the exhibits relate to Palenque.

                                                  Both of these are incense burners.


The sarcophagus found in the Temple of Inscriptions was tool large to remove so as it is now closed to viewers they have a quality reproduction.

                                                                Found on 15 June 1952

                                                                    The sarcophagus.

This was a stunning location and a must see place.

Olmec Heads

Today we spent hours travelling from Veracruz to Palenque. It is a long way!!
We stopped for lunch in Tabasco. Did you know that Tabasco sauce is not made in Tabasco! Nor do
Chihuahua dogs come from Mexico!
Our main stop was at La Venta. There is a park that has a small zoo and a collection of Olmec heads that have come from 3 or 4 different sites. They weigh huge amounts like 40-100 ton and they had
no beasts of burden or wheeled carts. They must have been taken up to 100 km with human power and rollers!

                                                                A baby Howler Monkey.

                                                                 A Black Jaguar

                                                    Olmec figure: The Grandmother

                                                      Olmec figure: Old Warrior.

                                                  Olmec sculpture: The Triumphal Altar.

                                                      Olmec Head: The Colossal Head.

                 As we walked around looking at the Olmec figures, we spotted this Alligator just off the                      path.

                                                     This one was out in the river

Vera Cruz

Today we departed from the Aztec lands and headed to Veracruz,   The roads were at times busy and our passage at one point was slowed by a truck blockade. It was a long drive at times past inhospitable countryside and we had our only major stop at a coffee plantation with a historic hacienda. It has been the setting for various movies including Collateral Damage with Arnold Schwarzenneger. The owner is passionate about coffee and this along with the historic home and a pleasant lunch made for an interesting visit.

                                        A long hot drive including cactus areas.

                                                     Hacienda De Pacho Nuevo

                                                         The Hacienda Chapel

                                                    The house is a living museum.

We drove on to Vera Cruz, the city that is the home to "La Bomba" Even the cathedral bells played the tune before the 9.00pm bells. This is a port city and we strolled around the harbour for kilometres stopping to take photos of the historic buildings and the sculptures and for a gellato. A very happy town that comes alive at night with bands and music and people frequenting the many restaurants.

                                                 View from our room across the cathedral and park.

                                                 The two of us at the city sign.

                                                          Gail at the lighthouse.

                                                        One of the many sculptures.

Puebla

We departed Mexico City although it took well over an hour to escape the city! Mexico City has
a huge population somewhere between 22 million and 35 million! Our destination was Puebla and it is the shortest leg over the next three days.

On arrival in Puebla.."The City of the Angels" we drove past huge car manufacturing plants. This is the third  or fourth largest city in Mexico but is the first exclusively "Mexican" city.

We stopped to inspect a pottery factory and they did have beautiful work. No purchases! Before we went to our hotel we visited the Santo Domingo a former convent that has an altar piece considered to be the 8th Wonder of the World.

                      The tiles over the workers wash tub at Uriarte Tiles. A special order!

                                             The front altar. Spectacular but not the one we came to see!

The doors were closed in front of the special altar and the officials would not open them. Frustrating!
Towards the end of the day we passed again and went in and this time had a great view of this golden masterpiece.

                                                   St Dominic and The Virgin

                                                            The golden roof.

After lunch we visited the Cathedral, the first in Mexico and still the second largest.

                                Puebla is considered to be the centre of the Church in Mexico.

                                                         Looking up.

Puebla is an interesting city. It has 70 churches in the old town and over 1,000 colonial buildings. It was granted UNESCO World Heritage status. Our hotel is a former convent and is now a luxury
hotel. Our room is modern..not a Nun's cell but still has feature sections of wall with original frescoes.

                                        I doubt that this was an original that now decorates the foyer!

                                   The cloisters is now a covered eating area.

                                           The view down from our terrace to a beautiful outdoor area.

After a short break we walked around the town visiting churches and old colonial buildings along with markets and shopping streets. A few photos from along the way:

                                          Celebrations continue for The Day of the Dead.

                                                                  Anyone for dinner?

                                                  Anyone for a tasty snack of worms?

                                            A quiet corner of the market square.

In and around Mexico City

We started with a revisit to the Cathedral and then The National Palace. This was interesting, not only for the buildings but the art that it contains. Diego Rivera painted many murals and frescoes on the walls of the palace. These can tell most of Mexico's history in art.

                                        The buildings and gardens of the palace.

                                                   The main area of the palace is very impressive.

                                          Diego Rivera depiction of trade with the Gulf Coast people.

                                         The depiction entitled " The Epic of the Mexican People"

We moved on to visit the second most visited Catholic Basilica after St Peters. Our Lady of Guadelope is a huge complex. The old cathedral remains but a huge modern structure has been added along with an outdoor area for mass. The actual icon can be seen from within the new Cathedral and also from the rear from a moving footway.

                                                       The view from the moving footway.

After lunch we were looking forward to the major Aztec temple, Teotihuacan. This was very busy and we started to follow the viewing route but before the end we were hit with a very strong storm.
There was no option other than to head for shelter. Eventually the visit was abandoned and we headed back. We had seen enough to be more than impressed but missed the major sites.

                                         The first view with the noble's houses.

                                           The Palacio  Quetzalpapaloti.

                                                        Details of the birds decorating the walls.

                                     View across to The Temple of the Moon. We were about to head down to                                                climb! Look at the clouds in the sky!

                                                  Soon after this we headed back.

We missed the Jaguar Temple and walking The Avenue of the Dead to The Temple of the Sun.

We did expect to get back to the hotel to see the Day of the Dead parade but the traffic was heavy and the bus couldn't get to the hotel. The rain started up again as we walked over a kilometre to the hotel.
We were so wet that we missed the little that was left of the parade and are currently still drying everything that we had out with us.