Surprisingly, I got a really good night’s sleep on the overnight bus. Mexican buses are comfy.
While I was waiting for my luggage, another passenger came up to me and asked if I was Japanese. No need to lie, she looked like a fellow Japanese backpacker. We decided to look for a room together, and then head over to the ruins of Palenque.
That’s basically the only thing to do in this town. After a quick shower and an extremely filling Mexican breakfast (coffee, OJ, tortilla, avocado omelet) at a popular diner, we hailed down one of the collectivos to the ruins. Took about 20 minutes to get to the entrance, and another 5 minutes or so to the ruins on foot.
Having seen Uxmal and Tikal already, Palenque was rather mediocre. I didn’t really like it. Of course, it could simply be that I was completely ruin-ed out by this point… The fact that the locals were selling souvenirs all around the complex and along the paths didn’t help either. Who wants to be constantly harassed to buy something while wandering through the woods (?) where the ruins are located?!
I had no intention to buy anything, but I did look. All these colourful bracelets lined up looked so pretty! I’d hate to have to organize this setup every morning though…
While I was waiting for my luggage, another passenger came up to me and asked if I was Japanese. No need to lie, she looked like a fellow Japanese backpacker. We decided to look for a room together, and then head over to the ruins of Palenque.
That’s basically the only thing to do in this town. After a quick shower and an extremely filling Mexican breakfast (coffee, OJ, tortilla, avocado omelet) at a popular diner, we hailed down one of the collectivos to the ruins. Took about 20 minutes to get to the entrance, and another 5 minutes or so to the ruins on foot.
Having seen Uxmal and Tikal already, Palenque was rather mediocre. I didn’t really like it. Of course, it could simply be that I was completely ruin-ed out by this point… The fact that the locals were selling souvenirs all around the complex and along the paths didn’t help either. Who wants to be constantly harassed to buy something while wandering through the woods (?) where the ruins are located?!I had no intention to buy anything, but I did look. All these colourful bracelets lined up looked so pretty! I’d hate to have to organize this setup every morning though…
One thing I found interesting about Palenque was its similarity to Asian architecture. Or is it just me who thinks this looks a bit Asian??? 
Given that my friend for the day wasn’t a ruins fanatic and I wasn’t in the mood for ruins, we were done with Palenque by early afternoon. We went back to the hotel and just bummed until dinner.
She gave me some great advice on seeing the northern lights/aurora. Yes, I’m thinking about heading north from Vancouver (that’s where I fly from Mexico City next month) to Whitehorse, which is supposedly THE PLACE to see the aurora in Canada. It’s extremely expensive to get there though. Only flights. But, it turns out that I don’t have to go all the way there. She went to Hay River, a tiny town far north of Edmonton accessible by a long bus ride, back in early October to see the lights. With beautiful photos to prove it too. If I do decide to spend some time in Canada, that’s where I’m going for sure!
She gave me some great advice on seeing the northern lights/aurora. Yes, I’m thinking about heading north from Vancouver (that’s where I fly from Mexico City next month) to Whitehorse, which is supposedly THE PLACE to see the aurora in Canada. It’s extremely expensive to get there though. Only flights. But, it turns out that I don’t have to go all the way there. She went to Hay River, a tiny town far north of Edmonton accessible by a long bus ride, back in early October to see the lights. With beautiful photos to prove it too. If I do decide to spend some time in Canada, that’s where I’m going for sure!
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