Feb 2023 – Palenque and the Mayan Jungle

Palenque is one of the largest and most well-known Mayan sites in Mexico. While Chichen Itza may get more visitors because it’s close to Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Palenque’s glyphs and architecture attract large numbers of tourists every year. Palenque is not very close to any major cities, so we decided to stay in the small nearby town for a four-day visit. We settled on four days to allow one day at the Mayan ruins, one day to explore local waterfalls, and two additional days for a buffer to return to the ruins or to see any other sights that we might learn about. Now having visited the area, we think four days was the right amount of time and would recommend that for anyone else traveling there and not wanting to feel rushed.

For our short stay, we found a hotel in the Cañada part of town. It’s a modern tourist district west of the Centro. When the area was developed in the 1960’s, it was promoted as eco-tourism, with a lot of trees and vegetation left in place during construction. On our first day, I spotted some parrots high in a tree (but unable to get any photos), and on our last day, we watched some howler monkeys play and swing. Our pet-friendly hotel – the Hotel Cañada International - was surrounded by large trees and had an open courtyard in the middle, a number of tropical plants, and vines climbing the interior walls of the courtyard. The hotel was reasonably priced at 812 pesos ($43) per night including taxes etc. Our main challenge was that our room selection (actually bed-type selection) resulted in a room on the third floor. The hotel had a spiral setup and no elevator, so it was a long walk up and down, multiple times per day, to ensure Gunner got outside enough. We also ended up leaving a lot of our belongings in our car, covered with blankets. There was a parking lot next to the hotel, surrounded by a wall with an open gate. It wasn’t truly secured, but we had no issues during our stay. The hotel room had a large TV and good wifi, but otherwise the amenities were limited. There was no on-site restaurant and we did not have a refrigerator or microwave in the room. Overall, the hotel was nice enough that we would stay there again, but also nothing special, and we would compare other options if we returned for another visit.

The surrounding Cañada neighborhood was very nice, and would be our recommended area for travelers to Palenque. There are a number of hotels, cafes, and restaurants, and the entire area is easily walkable. It’s also quite easy to walk into town, which we did on a few occasions. However, we didn’t find much to see or do in the Centro and preferred to spend our time in the Cañada area. From our hotel, it was also easy to take Gunner for walks. The best route that we found was to walk west, taking the road headed to the Palenque ruins. Within a short distance from our hotel, the route entered the countryside, with a good walking/cycling path next to the road, perfect for our walks. Really, the main challenge walking Gunner was the weather. The daily temps in Palenque are typically in the 90s, so we tried to get Gunner out first thing in the morning.

With no way to store or prepare food in our hotel, we had to eat all of our meals at restaurants. For breakfast, we would typically find a place with a continental breakfast or some type of eggs to order. Often, the best part of breakfast would be the coffee. Palenque is in the Mexican state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, and is a source of much of the coffee produced in Mexico. Dinners were typically dishes from southern Mexico, meaning that they retain a strong Mayan influence, including a lot of corn and chipilin, which is a leafy vegetable similar to spinach. On one day, after a trip to the ruins, we stopped at a hacienda-style Italian restaurant named Monte Verde, where we got a good wood-fired pizza. There are a few other styles of food available, but realistically, Palenque is a small town without a lot of options. For pricing, our breakfasts typically cost 250-350 pesos ($13-$18) and dinners ranged from 400-650 pesos ($21-$34), meaning that our food costs were higher than many of our other destinations.

As I mentioned, the main reason to visit Palenque is to visit the Mayan ruins. The site is very close to town and is easily accessible by car or public transportation. The Palenque site is quite large, covering over 40 acres, though we were told only 2% has been excavated and restored. For access, you need to buy 2 tickets – one to the National Park for 104 pesos, and one to the site itself for 90 pesos (approx. $11 total). Because our first visit was on a Sunday, our Temporary Residency waived the 90 peso fee, but we had to pay the full price when we returned for a second visit.

On our first visit to the site, we explored the restored ruins on our own, without a guide. We were able to climb up most of the structures, and could go into one tomb – the tomb of the Reina Roja (Red Queen). The tomb of Pakal has also been excavated, but tourists are not allowed to explore it. Overall, the restoration at Palenque is quite good, making the structures easy to climb and walk on. The tomb is also easy to access, and has electricity for lights along the passageways. The actual tomb is still intact, with a gate blocking access to the sarcophagus. Many of the ruins have hieroglyphics and carved reliefs. Some have paintings, but most of those were not well preserved. After exploring the site, we also went through the nearby museum (included with our admission). There, we saw many artifacts and treasures that had been removed from the tomb of the Red Queen. We were also able to see a replica of the tomb of Pakal. The museum reproduction replaced the burial chamber walls with plexiglass so we were able to get a good 360 degree view of how the chamber appeared. Pakal's sarcophagus was carved from a single block of limestone weighing 15-20 tons. The lid and sides were carved with large reliefs, and the entire burial chamber was decorated with reliefs of his ancestors.

Templo de la Cruz

Templo de la Reina Roja

Reproduction of Pakal's tomb

Mayan glyphs

On our second visit to Palenque, we hired a guide named Sebastian just outside the ticket booth. Sebastian grew up in a local village, but spoke very good English (we tested him by only speaking English as we discussed our options and costs for the day). Sebastian gave us an “off-season rate” of 1,000 pesos ($52) for a 1.5 hour tour, which could either be of the ruins or the nearby jungle. We opted for a jungle tour. Sebastian was very knowledgeable about the plants, animals, and insects in the jungle, telling us which were used for medicine or food, and which we needed to avoid. At one point, he guided us into a very small hole hidden by the roots of a tree. The hole quickly opened up into a tunnel with a shape similar to what we walked through in the tomb of the Red Queen. The tunnel only went back about 20 feet, but it was clear that it was original construction and had never been restored in the 1,000 years since the Mayans abandoned their city. Sebastian also pointed out some unrestored temples as we walked through the jungle and over some of the structures. He noted that one of the temples that we walked over was larger than anything that had been restored in the modern site. Overall, we really enjoyed our jungle tour, which ended up closer to 2 hours. We would highly recommend it to anyone interested in seeing behind the scenes at Palenque. Just be sure you interview your guide when you meet him/her to confirm that they speak good English and that their background knowledge of the ruins and jungle is what you’re looking for.

In the hidden jungle tunnel

Unrestored Mayan ruins

In addition to the ruins, we also spent 1 day exploring some waterfalls in the nearby mountains. Our first stop was the Cascadas Agua Azul (Blue Water Waterfalls), approximately 1.5 hours out of town. We had to pay an admission, in two separate payments of 40 pesos each (80 pesos/$4 per person). Unfortunately, it had been raining a few days prior and the normally bright blue water had turned a murky green. We were still able to take a nice walk along the shore of the creek to see a number of falls and could only imagine how much more impressive they would be with their natural blue color. There is a small village near the falls and many of the inhabitants have set up booths along the creek with food, drinks, and handicrafts. I thought it was a bit too much, taking away from the natural feel of the area. Our second stop was at Cascada Misol-Ha, which is a Mayan name appropriately meaning waterfall. Again, there were two separate charges, this time for a total of 30 pesos ($1.50) each. Here we were able to walk to a large pool where we could see the 35-meter (100-foot) tall Misol-Ha waterfall plunging into the pool. We were also able to walk a paved path behind the waterfall, then up to a cave where we could pay an additional 25 pesos each for a guide and flashlights to take a short walk upstream through an underground river to a cave with a small underground waterfall. Though the tour was short, it was interesting, unique, and a recommended addition to the visit. Our only negative to visiting the two waterfall sites was the access road from Palenque. The road is in poor condition and there are many speed bumps along the way at each small village or settlement. Additionally, many of the local people put ropes across the road to stop cars so they can try to sell food or ask for donations. We didn’t have any issues at these roadblocks, but they were inconvenient and annoying. If we were to return to the falls, driving to Misol-Ha would be fine, but we would likely find a shuttle service from town to take us to Agua Azul.

Cascadas Agua Azul

Cascada Misol-Ha

Underground at Misol-Ha

Expats – we certainly saw a lot of international visitors in Palenque, but we think that most of them were tourists rather than residents. While there is likely an expat community in Palenque, it’s a small, remote town without much of the support structure that expats would typically look for. Most of the visitors seemed to be European. We did meet some Canadians at our hotel, but we can’t say for sure if we met any Americans there.

Palenque (specifically the ruins and the Cañada area) are very nice tourist destinations. We enjoyed our visit to the town and ruins, but would be in no rush to return because we feel that we saw most of what Palenque has to offer. That said, we enjoyed our short visit, so if anyone wants to meet us there, let us know!