Spent a couple of very pleasant days in Palenque in the hot sunshine & torrential rain. Took ourselves to the site of the ruins on a local bus which was much cheaper than the shuttles for tourists. Was a stunning place, much smaller than Tikal but very impressive. Also set in the lush jungle where the humidity was pretty fierce but thankfully other than some lovely butterflies no other wildlife to report.
Came back into town & had some of the best quesadillas I have ever had at a place recommened in the Rough Guide. Whilst we were there I spotted that they did deliveries so we placed an order for later that night as we were going to stay in & fight crime with the SVU on Law & Order which we had downloaded onto my laptop. Think we might have over estimated the quantities of food that are served in Mexico as when the order duely appeared on time there was enough food for about 6 people! Thankfully it didn't go to waste as we used it for a packed lunch the next day.
Were picked up by the minibus & taken to 2 sets of waterfalls namely Misol Ha & Aqua Azul. As it was the rainy season but were impressive in their own right. At the latter falls, I did manage to indulge my love of pigs by spotting a mother & baby piglet so very happy indeed. Transferred onto a regular Pullman bus for the trip through the mountains to San Cristobal de las Casas. Unfortunately it was raining for much of the trip so couldn't really appreciate the scenery but the bits I did see were very impressive. Arrived at the bus station & without any problems-long may that continue.
The next day was spent walking around the town watching a political demonstration as the people here in the Chiapas state want independance from the rest of Mexico. The demonstration seemed to very peaceful so much so that of the 2 armed police on duty, one of them was painting the roadside kerb!
Found a great market with lots of locally produced goods all significantly cheaper tha anywhere else in Mexico I'd been to so stocked up on pressies. Ambled around the beautifully presented produce market & had a beer at the Cafe Revolucion! Simons Che tattoo went down very well.
Dinner was at a great Argentinian Steak House where I managed to satisfy my long overdue urge for very undercooked steak. Then it was off to some bar with a couple of the guys who worked at the restaurant for more beer & a chat before heading up the road to buy yet more beer from a vendor in his house. San Chris rocks is all I can say!
Up early the next morning to be collected at 7.00am by shuttle bus to head to Guatemala. Weren't actually picked up until 8.00 so I was already not the happiest person you have ever met. When the minibus arrived the only seats were right at the back & a very tight squeeze for me let alone S who is 6 2. So we made a stop for breakfast where the entertainment is provided by quite a sizeable rally of locas protesting about the government. All traffic was stopped & the road blocked in both directions so that caused yet more delays.
However, made it to the border, no excitment to report, another wait for the next minibus where I made sure we had great seats well as great as they get anyway. Found out that one of our fellow passengers was from Lewes Road Brighton! Yet another stop for snacks but this time it was welcomed as we found the full range of my current fave crisps-called Chips! Waited for another minibus to take us to Antigua which duely arrived after about anotherb 30 minute wait.
Set off on what we belived to be the final part of the journey but as we were seriously late the driver then informed us that he wouldn't actually be going all the way to Antigua but would instead drop us off in Panajachel instead. This news I can honestly say wasn't all that well received & those that could speak Spanish let him know how they felt. Eventually he spoke to someone in the office & those of us travelling onto Antigua were transferred onto yet another bus & we arrived in Antigua at 8.30pm. Only the 4 hors late drropped off at the wrong hotel but eventually managed a quick shower before collapsing into bed. Oh how I love travelling in Guatemala!
