from the highlands to the jungle!

Hello! After San Cristòbal de las Casas, Simone and I headed to Palenque... there are some ruins there and it is particularly beautiful because it is set in the jungle. The guidebook says that the ruins are at the exact point where the plains rise into the mountains. It was very beautiful and I took wayyyyyy too many pictures. This is a shot of El Templo de las Inscripciones.... I think.

Here`s a photo of a vendor`s stuff in front of the Palace section of the ruins. The ruins are huge- there is something like 15 square km of stuff. We were there for several hours wandering around. It is pretty cool because you are allowed to climb on top and inside of the ruins, unlike at Monte Alban in Oaxaca.

We stayed at a place up the road from the ruins, and here is the bridge that leads to our palapa (fancy word for hut covered with a straw roof). There is a little creek running through the property with incredibly clean water. There were some hammocks strung up which we took advantage of, and at night you could hear howler monkeys roaring. It was a pretty intimidating sound. The only bad things about staying here were: flying cockroaches (which for some reason only lived on my side of the room), mosquitoes, and freezing cold showers.... but that is the price of paradise.

Here is the tower of the Palace section of the ruins.

Yesterday we took a bus from Palenque to Mèrida, and we arrived here around 10:30 last night. The weather is still really nice- warm and a little humid. Today we have a few different missions, do laundry, buy soap and toothpaste. We will be here for a couple days and then we will make our way to the dreaded town of Cancun, to pick up Simone`s friend from the airport and make a quick getaway to Tulum. My friends Rocìo and Cassie are also coming in a few days and I am due to meet them in Tulum. It will be great to have some time in the Carribean sun with old friends.

I will send more pictures tomorrow or the next day. I hope everyone at home is doing great.