California USA, Mexico, Guatemala & Belize This is my journal for my next trip from 17 March 2008 starting in LA, San Francisco, San Diego then down into Mexico. Will now be going to parts of Guatemala and Belize.

Palenque has some ruins about 20 mins drive from the town centre which are amazing!!  They are in the middle of the forest and are absolutely stunning.  I went this morning when it was still raining (so there werent too many tourists) and was amazed at how beautiful these ruins are!!  There is a Tomba de Reina Roja (tomb of the red queen) as when they found the tomb the remains were in were painted a red colour and there were many precious jewels in her tomb.  The tomb next door contained the ruins of the king (Templo de las Inscripiones) which led people to believe that buried next to him must have been his wife.  There are many other ruins such as El Palacio (the palace).  It is thought that this was built in 5AD.  There is also Templo del Sol (Temple of the Sun) which as many beautiful carvings, Templo de la Cruz (Temple of the Cross) and many more.  I think these ruins and the ruins I saw in Guatemala (Tekal) are by far the most beautiful that I have seen.  There is not too much to do in Palenque as it is only a little town.