Into the Jungle

It took four countries to determine Dean’s lunch choice. I did my best translating the basic menu for him as our server rattled off the choices in her rapid-fire Spanish (chicken, beef, vegetarian), and I even got some of the options (fried, grilled, with mole [moh-leh] sauce).

The problem came when she described the four types of mole sauces and the ingredients in each. That’s when the two exchange students from Spain, sitting in the back of our tour van, chimed in. Even they had difficulty defining each type in English. Dan from New Zealand, who doesn’t speak Spanish but was familiar with mole, tried to help as well. Victor, from Baja California, a region not known for its mole, also chimed in. Luckily, Dean’s wife, Fiona, stuck with a simple grilled chicken.

Our group had left Palenque at 5:30 in the morning on a four-hour journey into the jungle to see two sets of ruins: Yaxchilán and Bonampak. I had heard of these ruins during my travels and decided to add this extra day in Chiapas to my itinerary.

After placing our lunch orders, we stopped at the river separating Guatemala and Mexico. A forty-five minute boat ride brought us to the first set of the ruins deep in the Lacandon jungle.

Along the way, our international group bonded and enjoyed many conversations in both Spanish and English. The man from Tijuana is a truck driver who delivers goods across the US and Canada. He and his wife love to travel and shared many photos and tips for the rest of my journey (or the next one). Dean and Fiona from South Africa are retired biologists, so they were especially adept at pointing out birds along our trek, and they asked many questions I would have never thought of. Dan from New Zealand, a young software engineer, was on an extended trip to several continents. He had just come from a EDM festival in Las Vegas and described the multi-day all-night partying extravaganza to me as we walked from our boats to the entrance of the ruins. The two young Spaniards had just completed a semester in Guadalajara and gelled just fine with this group of various ages and backgrounds. Two Puerto Rican travelers joined us later in the tour and added to the mix.

So, as amazing as the ruins were (see below), what made this day even more memorable was this brief encounter of people from around the world sweating our way through the jungle ruins together. And this is just one of many examples of wonderful people I’ve met throughout this trip!

I would not get back to Palenque until almost 9:00 pm, a thick layer of dust sticking to my sweat. Luckily, I had just enough time to shower and change, before a 10:00 overnight bus to my next destination, thanks to my lovely Couchsurfing hosts, Romulo and Sandra. They have opened their humble home to travelers for years, and share their love of caring for the environment and sharing their culture. I was welcomed into their home as if I were an old friend, and enjoyed conversations around their table over delicious coffee and fruits grown in their garden.

Click on the images and read the captions to learn more about these amazing places.

Palenque

Yaxchilán

Bonampak

Sumidero Canyon

Before arriving in Palenque, I spent a couple of days in the capitol of Chiapas to visit Sumidero Canyon. Stunning!