We arrived into Palenque bright and early at 06:00. We bought our onward tickets to San Cristobel and then walked into town. It was way too early to check into our accomodation so we found a little take away with indoor seating called Mr. Taco. We just had juice and coffee and watched the sun rise and more people fill the streets. Our limited Spanish managed to navigate us to the central Collectivo stop where we caught one to our accommodation.

Our accommodation was about 10 metes from the entrance of the National Park. We were taken to our rustic cabana surrounded by lush green jungle and, surprisingly, a beautiful pool. The lack of sleep was catching up on us so we showered and crashed for a well deserved siesta. We woke up hungry and caught a Collectivo into town to find some food. We wondered around town a bit taking a few photos. We also stumbled upon a Mexican post office - a sweet little pink and lime green building with a logo of a bird carrying a letter. We found a place to eat, pointed at a few things on the Spanish menu and waited to see what would arrive. As we choose to eat at non-touristy places, our food ordering is a bit of a gamble. The standard complimentary nachos chips and salsa arrived and then some chicken, salad and tacos. As we sat eating a few rain drops started falling. And then more. And then, hello, the heavens opened! We sat warm and snug inside and watched people running for cover and others who had given up and walked slowing in the downpour. The rain must have come down for 45 minutes without slowing down.

We waited it out and then headed to a cute coffee shop around the corner. Mexico has really surprised me in the quality of their coffee shops. Maybe it the American influence but we were served quality coffee and Starbucks-worthy Frapachinos. We did a bit of admin and sent out some Couchsurfing requests for a host in Mexico City. The times we have Couchsurfed have been our best experiences of a city and we were really keen to meet a local when visiting such a huge city for the first time. We then headed home, had a swim and another nap.

Later that evening we found out that there was a place to eat across the road from our accommodation. We wondered down a dark dirt road and turned the corner to find a restaurant lit up with pretty lights and a mariachi band blasting out the tunes tunes.... all this surrounded by lush forest... quite surprising! We found a table, ordered dinner and enjoyed the atmosphere.

The following day we woke up early, had some breakfast and then caught a Collectivo from the entrance of the National Park to the entrance of the Palenque Ruins. As soon as the Collectivo stopped, a guide opened the door and started bombarding us with offers of a guided walk. Soon we were surrounded by 5 guides all shouting their offers and in that moment we felt we were right back in India. Fortunately they respected our wish to be given 5 minutes to work out what we wanted to do. We settled on a guide who was happy to negotiate a rate and take just the two of us through the forest and ruins.

Covered in Bug Spray, we headed into the forest but didn't walk far until our guide, Hose, stopped to point our some interesting plants. We had visited some other ruins at Tulum and Coba and didn't have a guide. We mostly wondered around not really knowing what we were looking at. It was so worthwhile having a guide at Palenque. Hose explained so many things that gave us a great picture of what happened to this lost civilization. Interestingly, they got whipped out because they starved - they cut down down all the trees to make fires to burn limestone. They used the limestone to make the plaster for their temples. No trees equaled no rain for 10 years. No rain equaled no food. Many people and leaders were sacrificed as offerings to the rain gods but, alas, no rain came. Kevin took some great photos of the ruins and after a morning in the sun we walked home, swam, and fell asleep. These Mexicans are really onto something with their well-timed siestas and you know, when in Rome...

Dinner that night was at our hidden restaurant but this time with a young soul-filled singer singing some barely-English renditions of U2 and Coldplay. Fun times. Palenque doesn't have much going for it besides the ruins so once you've seen then, it's time to move on... our next stop: San Cristobal de Casis.