Palenque Things to Do Tips by Maria_75 Top 5 Page for this destination

Waterfalls in the jungle

As you walk along Rio Otolum you will see many small and big waterfalls. It's not allowed to swim here anymore, but it's a nice place to sit down and rest a bit. The best place is El baño de la reina (The bathing pool of the queen).

Discover the hidden ruins

When you walk down the path along Rio Otolum from the sites near the entrance, you pass along some signs to Grupo B and Grupo C. Follow the path to these places and discover the ruins that are still hidden inside the jungle.

There are almost no tourists there and the only sounds you can hear are the birds, grasshoppers, howlermonkeys and the other animals of the jungle. And maybe an archeologists singing a song while excavating the sites.

It's a great adventure to explore these ruins and you can imagine how it must have been when people saw them for the first time.

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Grupo del Norte

Close to the ball court and the Templo del Conde you can see many small buildings. They are called The north group. All of the buildings in this area are shaded by trees and the jungle. There are not so many tourists here as in the area right after the entrance. It's a nice place to sit down and rest a bit, before you continue.

Templo del Conde

When you go walking along Rio Otolum from The palace, you pass first the ball court and then you turn left. There you will find the Templo del Conde next to Templo X, Grupo del Norte and some platforms.

On top of the pyramid is a small temple where you can find murals and carvings. It is a very nice view of the area from the top.

Juego de Pelota

When you follow the Rio Otolum down past The palace, you come to an area with some buildings and a ball court. It is typical mayan and is shaped like a capital I or two T's facing eachother. But it is much smaller than many of the other mayan ball courts.

Templo de la Cruz Foliada

This temple is situated next to The temple of the Cross and The temple of the Sun. It's a quite small building, and it's completely surrounded by the dense vegetation. It's much smaller then the other buildings around, and there is a small path leading up the hill to it.

Templo del Sol

The temple of the Sun is situated across the river from The palace, and next to The temple of the Cross. It's much smaller than many of the others in the area. Inside the temple on top of the pyramid are murals depicting Pakal, and like many of the other buildings it has the characteristic stone roof-comb.

Templo de la Cruz

This temple, The temple of the Cross, is the biggest in the group situated on the other side of Rio Otolum. It is half obscured by the dence vegetation behind. Like the others it is a tall, narrow pyramid with a stone roof-comb.

Along with many other buildings it was built by Chan-Balam II, the son of former king Pakal, as he was trying to overgo the buildings and acchievements of his father.

The cross was very important to the mayans. It is believed to symbolize the meeting of the heavens and the underworld with the living land.

Rio Otolum

Right next to the palace runs the river Rio Otolum. The mayans lined the river with stones and used it as an aqueduct.

The path crosses the river, and on the other side you can find many more pyramids, like Templo del Sol, Templo de la Cruz and the Templo de la Cruz Foliada. Behind these are even more buildings in the South Acropolis, but this area is still closed off to the tourists.

Carvings in the palace

All through the palace you can find carvings and murals. It is believed that all the walls were covered with stucco and then painted in bright colors, especially red. Many places you can still see some of the colors.

In some of the dooropenings you can see a small hole on each side, and archeologists think that they placed a wooden stick here for holding up curtains that were covering the doors.