Palenque – Ruins and some good local food

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Tower at Palenque archeological site

JAN 2, 2016 – In the afternoon of Dec 31, I visited the archeological site of Palenque. It is located in the middle of the jungle, and howler monkeys provide for a nice acoustic setting. The ruins are in somewhat better condition than the others I had visited so far, with some roof structures still intact and even an accessible tunnel into one of the temples. While the dimensions of the pyramids do not match Teotihuacán, I still think Palenque is one of the nicest sites in Mexico, given its surroundings and the complexity of some of the buildings.
I spent New Year’s Eve with a local family who had accepted my last-minute CouchSurfing request. We had a tasty dinner and watched a movie. Then, suddenly everyone went to bed, and by midnight only one of the children was awake. I felt slightly awkward opening my bottle of Prosecco all on my own, but didn’t really know where else to go, so I drank a glass and went to bed. The next day, my host Mireya prepared a very tasty Mole con camarones for the entire family: A cocoa-based sauce with shrimps in it, apparently only made on New Year’s Day. Most of my day was spent sorting photos and plotting my upcoming travels in the jungle of Chiapas.

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Nice water cascade near the ruins
Nice water cascade near the ruins
Iguana killed by my host family's cat
Iguana killed by my host family’s cat

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Town hall of Palenque
Town hall of Palenque

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