Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
Wanna see all reports? Click here
Day 20: Palenque
February 27, 2006
Just another 2 hours via Mex 186 and we are in the beautiful Palenque. What a pity we didn't reach it yesterday! The little town of Palenque is full of places to stay: hostels, budget hotels, mid-range hotels and camping areas… take your pick! Not too touristy, but not completely isolated either - just the right amount of fellow travelers to share the curious looks of the locals with. You can even camp at a designated area inside the archeological site, if you manage to get in before they close the entrance (around 4 or 5PM).
According to Dovi, the Maya ruins of Palenque are the most impressive of
what we have seen up to now. (Zee's favourite was Edzna). Attitudes aside,
if you have a chance to see Palenque, don't hesitate. The remains of the Mayan
buildings might not be so impressive as those of Chichen-Itza or Uxmal, but
the lush tropical forest all around the ruins (you actually get to walk through
it) compares to nothing we have seen in the Maya World of Yucatan. The surrounding
jungle is what makes Palenque so mysterious and unique. When looking at the
pics, pay special attention to the green hills sticking out in the background
- these are the jungle-covered pyramids and temples yet to be excavated!
We spent almost 3 hours admiring Palenque and would have stayed for a "howler monkey watching trip" (the local boys were offering it at a little additional cost), however, our time in Mexico was literally ticking away, and we still had about 6-8 hours of driving to the border of Guatemala. As a proof that we were in the real tropics, the humid heat turned into pouring rain at the time we were leaving Palenque. Our first rain in Mexico :)
It was late in the afternoon when we eventually arrived in San Cristobal
de las Casas and… just couldn't help staying there for at least one night!
:) The city, which seemed to be located slightly of-the-beaten-track, appeared
to be one of the liveliest and most vibrant places in the entire Mexico! (For
its rather recent political turmoil and rare but still possible sporadic outbursts
of politically motivated violence, the state of Chiapas is one of the less
popular states among tourists even today) To our greatest surprise, San Cristobal
was also the most English-speaking Mexican city. We haven't seen so many students
and backpackers from all over the world anywhere else in the country. Numerous
ads about apartments being rented out for students suggested that there were
many foreigners studying in San Cristobal. No wonder - the lovely city seemed
like a perfect choice for a Spanish course before continuing down south through
the countries where an English-speaking person is a rarity.
Although described by most of the travel guides as belonging to the colonial
town group, San Cristobal de las Casas looked more Caribbean than Mexican
or Spanish. Multicolored one-story buildings along the narrow streets, artsy
cafes and vivid "mercados" all added to the tropical mood of the
city. Located quite high up in the mountains, San Cristobal was comparatively
chilly despite its tropical ambiance and it rained in the evening, but that
didn't stop us from finding a salsa club and dancing the last night in Mexico
away :) (Even on Monday night there were several places playing live Latin
music that stayed open until 2-3AM)
Tip #1: There are lots of nice and clean $20 hotels in the very center of San Cristobal.
Recommendation #1: "Salon Mundial" on the pedestrian street, on the corner of 1o de Marzo and 20 de Noviembre. Free admission, good live music, 2 for 1 drinks (might be just Monday nights), open until 3AM and full interesting people from different countries.
Recommendation #2: Looks like we missed an interesting side trip while
in San Cristobal. There are 90-minute boat trips to Canon del Sumidero that
can be arranged from Embarcadero Cahuare or Chiapa de Corzo. The boats are
supposed to go past incredible kilometer-high cliffs; plenty of monkeys, birds
and crocs to see.
Cick on the pictures to enlarge
|
The lush jungle makes Palenque look like no other ruins in Mexico
Vesios dziungles kompensuoja visus archeologinius Palenque nepriteklius |
The green hills in the background are the pyramids and temples yet to be excavated
Zalios kalvos tolumoje - dar neatkastos sventyklos ir piramides |
The mansion on the hill... Sorry, not for sale!! :)
Neblogas zemes sklypelis... gerai, kad Palenkeje dar neapsilanke naujieji lietuviai :) |
|
Lost in time, found in the jungle...
Cia laikas kazkada sustojo... |
Click here to view video clip from the Ruins of Palenque. Spauskite cia, jei norite pamatyti video klipa is Palenkes griuvesiu. |
 (this is a video clip) |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
20-oji diena: Senio Kristobalio Kasos
2006 m. vasario 27
I kelia issiruosiam anksti, ir per pora valandu privaziuojam Palenke (Palenque). Gaila, kad vakar nesuspejom iki cia atvaziuoti - ir pries ivaziavima I parka, ir paciame parke pilna pigiu viesbuciu bei kempingu, kurie atrodo kaip botanikos sodai. Palenke - jau tikros, veslios, zalios dziungles, pilnos ivairiausiu pauksciu ir gyvunu, nei is tolo nepanasios I Jukatano "dziuvesius". Per parka teka dvi upes, tarp kalnu virsuniu pupso istrige debesys, nuo medziu draikstosi lianos. Ispudi padare zole apzele elektros laidai :) Nenuostabu - dregme tokia, kad, ko gero, ir palapine, ir Nissanas, ir mes patys per savaite apsamanotumem. Patys Maju miesto statiniai gal ir nera tokie ispudingi kaip Chichen-Itza ar Uxmal, bet fantastisko grozio dziungles kompensuoja visus archeologinius nepriteklius. Giliau miske, girdejom, yra ir bezdzioniu, kurios labai anksti is ryto susirenka pazaisti po griuvesius. Ziuredami nuotraukas, atkreipkite demesi I zalias kalvas tolumoje. Tai - dar neatkasti Maju pastatai… Nebesistebim, kad Palenque - pagarsejusi kaip paslaptingiausias Maju miestas. Dovile is karto paskelbia Palenque savo "megstamiausiu griuvesiu" (Zi liko istikimas Edzna Akropoliui, priesais kuri buvo paaukotas Majoms).
Skirtingai nuo kitu griuvesiu, Palenkeje galima apziureti keliu piramidziu
vidu. Is isores atrodancios tik akmenu kruva, viduje piramides pasirodo besancios
sudetingas kambariu, tuneliu, koridoriu ir laiptu labirintas. Poroje kambariu
dirba archeologai, o kiti - visiskai tamsus ir reikia apgraibomis ieskoti
praejimo. Viename tokiame tunelyje isbaidom visa pulka siksnosparniu. Siksnosparniai
issigasta musu, mes - ju. Itariam, kad mums labai pasiseke - pabaige darbus,
archeologai, turbut, daugeli kambariu ir tuneliu uzdarys. (Isskyrus Migelio
Bekana, niekur kitur I piramidziu vidu ieiti nebuvo galima).
Belandziodami po tunelius nugirstam, kaip gidas aiskina porelei vokieciu,
kad dabar esame Maju tualete, ir juokingai demonstruoja tam tikslui akmeniniame
luite isskaptuotos duobes veikimo principa. Vokieciai pritardami linksi, taciau
kai gidas pradeda pasakoti, kad Majai isrado sauna ir net pats zodis "sauna"
kiles is Maju kalbos, vokieciai nebetiki ir bando gincytis. Gidas atmeta bet
koki vokieciu argumenta - sauna isrado Majai, ir taskas. Mums knieti dar zibalo
sliuksteleti, pristatant savo majonezo kilmes hipoteze, bet susilaikom :)
Isvaziuojant is Palenkes, pradeda lyti - stambiais, siltais, tropiku lietaus lasais. Pirmasis musu lietus Meksikoje… Labai laiku - metas buvo nuplauti masina :)
"Chiapas" (Ciapas) valstija, per kuria dabar vaziuojame, yra pati
neturtingiausia ir politiskai neramiausia visoje Meksikoje. Didzioji dalis
cionyksciu gyventoju yra grynakraujai Maju palikuonys, skirtingai nuo ispanu-indenu
misinio kitose valstijose, todel nestebina, kad butent Ciapos yra Zapatistu
judejimo uz indenu teises ir laisves centras. Nors nuo didziojo 1994-uju metu
Zapatistu sukilimo jau praejo 12 metu, net ir siandiena Ciapose tvyro itampa:
pakeliui pastebime skelbimu, raginanciu kovoti uz indenu zemes ir nepasiduoti
priespaudai; veliau pravaziuojam net kelis karines kontroles postus, kuriuose
mus (kaip ir visas kitas masinas) sustabdo ir papraso islipti. Kareiviai apziuri
masina - iesko ginklu. Turistu masinos apziura - daugiau formalumas, nes pro
tokia "kruopscia" inspekcija galejom ir patranka prasivezti. Be
to, kareivukai dazniausiai labai draugiski, linke paplepeti. Suzinom, kad
Ciapose yra labai daug nelegaliu ginklu, dazniausiai ivezamu is Gvatemalos,
todel net ir siandien pasitaiko pavieniu Zapatistu sukilimu. Del to ir karines
kontroles postu pilni keliai. Prie visu politiniu "dziaugsmu", Ciapas
visai neseniai nusiaube net du uraganai, sugriove nemazai keliu, tiltu ir
net istisu gyvenvieciu.
Kuo gilyn I Ciapas, tuo labiau jauciasi, kad zmones cia kazkokie dirglesni, lyg issigande, lyg nepatenkinti. Mazi vaikuciai visiskai suzvereje - pinigu trukumas, matyt, toks aktualus, kad gatvese tiesiog tampo uz skvernu ir reikalauja pirkti visokius niekalus. Kiti - dar griezciau: istempia virve per visa kelia pries pat artejancia masina ir kisa per langa papuvusiu bananu keke…
Po 3 valandu vingiavimo per kalnus ir virves, pagaliau pasiekiame Zapatistu sostine - San Cristobal de las Casas. Issiverciame miesto pavadinima I lietuviu kalba: Senio Kristobalio Kasos. Aukstai kalnuose isikurusiose Kristobalio Kasose - saltoka ir lyja. Buvom girdeje, kad, del neprognozuojamu politiniu sujudimu, turistai Ciapu vengia, taciau - siurprizas! - miestas pilnas uzsienieciu, ypac studentu, daugiausia europieciu. Pats miestelis - zavingas! Siauros, vingiuotos gatveles, nedidukai ryskiaspalviai ir pasteliniu spalvu namukai daug labiau primena Karibus, negu Meksika.
Pirmoji uzduotis Kristobalo Kasose - atnaujinti interneto puslapi - tradiciskai,
ne be nuotykiu. Del gausybes foto ir video failu, serveryje nebelike vietos
naujai medziagai. Kada galiausiai issiaiskinam, del ko niekaip neina uzkrauti
nauju nuotrauku, pradeda oziuotis kompas - eilini karta… Galiausiai pritruksta
kantrybes, ir imames antrosios pagal svarbuma uzduoties - deramai atsvesti
paskutini vakara Meksikoje.
Antrasis projektas einasi zymiai sklandziau - Lotynu muzikos klubu Kristobalo Kasose tikrai netruksta, tik spek visuose susokti! Studentu ir "amzinu turistu" (pastaruosius nesunku atpazinti is uz juos pacius didesniu kupriniu) pilni barai - kas soka, kas klausosi "gyvos" muzikos, o kas paprasciausiai isgerineja ir garsiai dalijasi istorijomis apie tai, kaip Kristobalio Kasose "netycia" isleido visas santaupas ir nebeturi uz ka is cia isvaziuoti… Kazkuo labai primine Naujaji Orleana, kur kas trecias lebautojas skundziasi panasiomis problemomis :)
Net pirmadienio nakti sokiai vyksta iki 2-ros valandos ryto. Saziningai atsokam iki paskutinio salsos akordo :)
