 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico "Ahhh... life is good... All I have to do is relax, enjoy and
greet the people... and I do it so well!" |
 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico Just a couple of quick notes here before we see the
museum... We cannot say enough about the museums at the
archeological sites in Mexico. They are so well planned and put
together. The artifacts are professionally displayed and the
lighting is first rate. In most cases, there are English
descriptions as well as Spanish. The Mexican government organization
'Conaculta-INAH' is responsible for all the archeological sites in the
country and they do a wonderful job. Typical entrance fees are about
30 to 60 Pesos, or about US$3 to US$6. Some of the bigger sites were
up to about 90 Pesos, but still very well worth it! |
 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico
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 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico Incredible colours and detail! |
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 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico This is a model of El Palacio, one of the main structures
at this site. Later, we'll show you photos of the tower, central
courtyard and exterior. |
 Palenque Museum, Chiapas, Mexico The Mayan's are often short in stature, with large heads and a very
prominent noise. This carving depicts them beautifully. |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Now, we'll head up the hill to see the actual site. |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Look at that jungle! It is just thick with foliage,
we sure wouldn't want to get lost in there. |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Ah, Palenque! This is the first temple that you see
as you emerge from the jungle trail to the site The Templo de La
Calavera (Temple of the Skull) is named because of the carving of a rabbit
or deer skull bound at the base of one of the columns. |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico As you turn to your left, you are welcomed by the
remainder of the site... Enjoy! |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico The rabbit (or deer) skull, mentioned earlier... |
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Do you want to go inside? |
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico The setting and scenery here is just gorgeous, everything
is so green... |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico We venture beneath El Palicio where we find a network of
passages and rooms... |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico This site was great, you could go in and even down below
the structures... incredible! |
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico The tower at El Palacio... Do you recall the model
of this temple at the museum? |
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico This is the Templo del Sol, located in one of our favorite
areas of the site... |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico This is the Templo de la Cruz Foliada... Let's walk up there to see the sights... |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Wow! This view is simply incredible. We sat
here for a while to take it all in... |
 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico Then, up to the top of the next structure... |
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico
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 Palenque Archeological Site, Chiapas, Mexico In another section of the site, we find the Templo del Conde.
The central room at the top of these stairs is where 'Crazy' Count de Waldeck
called home for two years (1831-33) while he explored this site and wrote
his book... |
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| Well, that completes the 'main' section of the Palenque
site, however, it is incredible what you can find when you have the time
to follow a few paths, see you in section four as we complete our tour of
Palenque and hightail it to Belize...
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this Travel Log Series |