Three Mayan Cities, Palenque, Yaxchilan and Bonampak

The words for Palenque are all superlatives, amazing, spectacular, stupendous. Lots of climbing and was extremely hot. Wasn't as busy as I thought it would be and there was lots of access to the buildings.Best 5 dollars for entrance fee  you can spend. I think we did around 3.5 hours then catching  a 30 cent ride back to the hotel. Taxis, shuttles and buses are all pretty cheap in Mexico.

Across the road there was a very good restaurant we visited for supper and arranged our trip to Yaxchilan and Bonampak for the next day.

our room in the jungle

one of many pyramids

Yaxchilan and Bonampak required a 2.5 hour shuttle ride south from Palenque. Yaxchilan is the first and to get to it requires a ride by motor boat down the  Usumacinta River . This is also the Guatemala/Mexican border.

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Yaxchilan has a completely different feel to it than Palenque. It is more in the jungle and feels like a quaint more hospitable place. Like Palenque it was a major Mayan centre.

From here it was a half hour ride to the next ruins Bonampakwhich at one time had been an ally ofYaxchilan . Bonampak is know for the frescoes that have survived in a few of the buildings. This as well as the construction of the ceilings here and in other ruins reminded me of the pyramids and temples in Egypt

Leaving Palenque we decide to shorten the bus trip by stopping after 5 hours at Campeche rather than going the further 4 hours to Merida.