"Yaxchilan and Bonampak" Palenque Travelogue by nepalgoods
Palenque Travel Guide: 208 reviews and 511 photos
I booked an organized tour to the ruins of Yaxchilan and Bonampak at a small travelagency in Palenque. We were 4 men and me. The first few hours we drove with a minibus on the road to the border to Guatemala. Then we took a small boat, which brought us through the jungle to Yaxchilan. Our guide told us, that there are still krokodiles in the river. We didn't see any.
Near the ruins of Yaxchilan is a small strip for airplanes to land. We built our tents aside of this grasstrip. In small huts a few people live to keep the landingstrip in order.
Through this dark and mysterious entrance we entered Yaxchilan. In the tunnel we disturbed bats and lizards. Take care to have a torch with you. Under the big trees of the jungle is not much light.
In contrast to the ruins of Chichen Itza or Palenque we found ourselves alone with the temples, rainforest and monkeys. No other tourists around! I got the wisp of an idea, how the discoveres of this jungle ruins might have felt. The jungle noices and smells were fantastic!
We wandered around. And thanks to our guide we saw also the ruins deep in the forest. There is a special kind of monkeys, which we saw: they are famous for their loud roar. They are big animals with dark brown fur and a long tail. Their roar can often be heard just before it begins to rain.
In the evening we sat in front of our tents, listened to somebody playing the guitar. Tucans gathered in a tree near the bank of the river and made a lot of noice. It grew dark very early, very fast, and then it was pitch black. Only the light of the fireflies was flashing around us.
The next morning we got up very early. The boat brought us back to the road. We drove a while. Then we went on a small path through the forest 2 hours to the ruins of Bonampak. A young Lacandon boy in his traditional white dress guided us over a slippery wet path. The forest was not really rainforest here but nevertheless impenetrable.
Bonampak was not that impressive as the jungle ruins of Yaxchilan. But it has old murals . The colours are vanishing. But you can still see the scenes of Mayan life.
The walk back to the road was very exhausting. It had rained and the path was full of muddy holes. Then the minibus broke down several times, which our guide commented with the words: "This is part of the adventure". When it happened the third time, I did not think it funny anymore.
But anyway this two-days-tour was a highlight of my trip to Mexico!
Reviews (4)
-
Things to Do (4)
See All Yaxchilan
-
Been to Palenque?
Share your travels with the world!
nepalgoods' Related Pages
-
San Cristóbal de Las Casas
-
Mérida
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Chichén-Itzá
-
Cancún
-
Florida
-
Mexico
-
United States of America
-
Kanazawa
-
Kaili
-
Yangshuo
-
Guilin
-
Xiahe
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Turpan
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Kashgar
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Urumqi
Top 5 Page for this destination
-
Kuqa
-
Yining
-
Aksu
-
Sayram Hu
-
Chongqing
Top 5 Page for this destination
Palenque Travel Guide
Member Travel Pages
- "PALENQUE"
- "Palenque - The Most Awesome Mayan City!"
- "Palenque"
- "Palenque, Chiapas"
- "Palenque: A Mayan Paradise"
- "Palenque"
- "Palenque"
- See All...
Badges & Stats in Palenque
- 4 Reviews
- 13 Photos
- 1 Forum posts
- 15 Comments
- 4,298PageViews
- See All Stats
- See All Badges (32)
Have you been to Palenque?
Share Your TravelsLatest Activity in Palenque
- Commented on shdw100's Palenque Page
- Wrote a Review Yaxchilan in Palenque Things to Do
- Uploaded a Photo to "Palenque"
- updated a Palenque Travelogue "Yaxchilan and Bonampak"
Top 10 Pages
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Beijing
Intro, 95 reviews, 202 photos, 6 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
China
Intro, 80 reviews, 208 photos, 3 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Hannover
Intro, 83 reviews, 135 photos, 7 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Hamburg
Intro, 42 reviews, 101 photos, 3 travelogues
-
Germany
Intro, 30 reviews, 80 photos, 4 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Bukhara
Intro, 32 reviews, 69 photos
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Asia
Intro, 25 reviews, 72 photos, 3 travelogues
-
Hong Kong
Intro, 26 reviews, 67 photos
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Chongqing
Intro, 16 reviews, 72 photos, 5 travelogues
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Turpan
Intro, 25 reviews, 63 photos
Friends
See All Friends (37)
Women's Travel
Backpacking
Hiking and WalkingLatest Palenque hotel reviews
- Hotel Ciudad Real Palenque
- 35 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 10, 2012 - Chan-Kah Resort Village
- 99 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 10, 2012 - Hotel Nututun Palenque
- 30 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Dec 10, 2011 - Howard Johnson Hotel D Marco Palenque
- 5 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Oct 9, 2011 - Best Western Maya Palenque
- 55 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 3, 2012 - Casa Inn Palenque
- 3 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 19, 2009 - Days Inn Palenque
- 4 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Apr 19, 2009 - Hotel Maya Tulipanes
- 141 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 10, 2012 - Villas Kin-Ha
- 36 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Nov 23, 2011 - Hotel Chablis
- 109 Reviews & Opinions
Latest: Jan 12, 2012
Comments (15)
genuinely interesting stuff
nice page. i really liked palenque too when i was there a few years ago.
It is unbelievable that this one site has only been discovered in 1946!!! Great info and wonderful pics, Ulrike!!
Impressive! thanks for Yaxchilan travelogue especially.
Great page with very good tips and a fantastic travelogue.
Yaxchilan covered by jungle looks fantastic!
The picture of the Mayan temple fragment is beautiful...good tips!
Wonderful travelogue photos. Imagine finding these ruins in the jungle! So cool.
You certainly did have an adventurous trip seeing those ruins in Yaxchilan and Bonampak. Brilliant pictures again!
romantik Ruins;-)
like that......great shots
1 - 10 of 15
View 5 More