Unlike Roy Orbison and, later, Cyndi Lauper... a large Mexican bus driver took care of the driving for me. But we did head south through the night. It was my first overnight bus trip and it went much more smoothly than I expected.

I got back from the Uxmal ruins Saturday afternoon. I'd considered buying a ticket for Palenque for that night but decided to spend another night in Campeche then leave the following night. I'm in no hurry... right? I chose the night bus for two reasons. 1- I hadn't done it before and wanted to try. 2- Without a lot of experience finding hotels, I like to get into a new town early to have plenty of chances to find something. The trip from Campeche is seven hours, so even a fairly early bus would still arrive in the late afternoon. Probably wouldn't be a problem, but it's nice to have plenty of time.

I happened to be on the same bus with three girls from the hostel in Campeche. I'd bought the ticket long before them, but we happened to be four across in the same row. Funny. We left Campeche a little after 12:30am Monday morning. I usually can't sleep on planes or moving cars, so I figured it'd be a long, uncomfortable trip. Imagine my shock when I awoke at the stopping point over three hours into our trip. I'd slept the whole way from Campeche.

"Standing in the middle of nowhere at 3:30am"
This little layover was rather odd. Not a bus station. Just a roadside restaurant across from a gas station. Nothing else in sight. I didn't buy anything. Like the candy racks at grocery stores, I prefer to decide for myself what I'm buying... not have others push it upon me. Even if I really want that pack of Bubble Yum, I resist on grounds of hating suggestive selling. But tangents aside... it was just a little bizarre standing in the middle of nowhere at 3:30am. Yet another moment where you think... "If you'd told me a year ago that tonight at 3:30 in the morning I'd be...."

I then slept the rest of the way to Palenque, where we arrived at 7:30 or so this morning. There's a hostel here, along with other similar accommodations, but I wanted my own room. Both options have their pros and cons. I like the hostels because there's pretty of company and other travelers to offer advice and ideas and conversation. But I also like to have a little privacy

Pondering Palenque

from time to time. Hotels, however, are a little more expensive (although this one's only $12 and reasonably nice) and there's nobody to talk to.

"Small, cramped, claustrophobic and hot."
Since the ruins are free on Sundays, I headed out there around nine. Palenque is striking. There are mountains in the area that remind me of Virginia's southern Appalachians where I grew up. The city was set amid these mountains, now surrounded by dense jungle. The architecture seems even more complex than what I saw at Uxmal. You'll see in the photos when I post them. And, unlike the other cities I've seen, Palenque has remains of burial places that have been discovered covered over within some of the buildings.

One of the temples even has a long staircase going down to a sarcophagus reminiscent (so far as I know) of the Egyptian pyramids.

The Queen's Bath at Palenque

They even had the long tube leading from the chamber to the outside so the soul could escape... or however it is that goes. My guidebook said you could see the aforementioned chamber, but it was roped off today. A worker I asked in Spanish seemed to tell me that I could get permission at the office to go in at four o'clock this afternoon. But when I arrived at the office to ask, it was closed. Maybe it was the office that was open at four. Oh well. It's small, cramped, claustrophobic and hot. Perhaps it's best I didn't go.

"A steep hour-long walk."
The town of Palenque, about four miles from the ruins, isn't terribly interesting as far as I've seen. But I'll stay here a few days probably. I'll try to go out to Agua Azul tomorrow. It's supposedly a terribly beautiful waterfall not far from here. There's a public bus that goes there, but also a service that runs a door-to-door van for $10... including admission. I think I'll do that... especially considering the falls are a steep hour-long walk from the road where the bus drops you. Agua Azul, however, is only pretty if it hasn't been raining. If it's wet, it's muddy and brown. I think it's been raining. But maybe by tomorrow it'll be ok. We'll see. There are also other rather remote, seldom visited ruins a couple of hours from here. After that I may go down to San Cristobal for a few days.