Bonampak
On the way back to Palenque, we visit the second site.
Entering the site with a private vehicle is forbidden. We have to leave the camper in a little village and take a Lacandon taxi for the last 9 km.
One has to pay for the taxi, for the parc entrance and for the archeological site entrance. Organized racketeering !
The maya site Bonampak was revealed to the public in 1946 by the Lacandones living nearby.
We first reach a frectangular square dominated by the Acropole . Its first floor is the most important with the « Edificio de las Pinturas that has given Bonampak the fame.
In the middle of the square lays a 6 meters high stele depicting Chan Muwan holding a ceremonial staff at the height of his reign.
* Edificio de las Pinturas : three rooms housing incredibly well kept colorfull frescoes
Room 1 : Chan Muwan II with his spouses.
Room 2 : a scene describing the 2nd of august 792 battle. A victory over the other tribes.
Room 3 : a big celebration with musicians, dancers and war prisonners as trophies..
It time to drive back over the 132 « Topes » to Palenque. Great fun !!!
Yaxchiclam
According to most people, the road to get there is a very difficult one.
Entering the sites is depending on the Lacandons good will.
There is an option of taking an organized one day tour from Palenque : departing at 5:30 AM, returning at 7:30 PM.
We hesitate, as the last roads we drove on were very exhausting. But waking up at five seems to us even worse…
We’ve decided to do our world tour with a camper, knowing we would encounter difficult roads.
So we will drive there.
We start our 165 km journey to the first site.
The road isn’t that bad compared to the ones we’ve ben on before. Surface is quite good, quite wide and we follow some trucks making the opening for us.
But… We counted 132 « Topes » and it took us 4 hours to reach our destination.
As we arrived quite late we plan our excursion for the next day. Of course we have to bargain to get a better price.
The only way to reach Yaxchiclan archeological site is to hire a « lancha » to sail down the river « Usumainta », natural border between Mexico and Guatemalar, for 45 min.
Yaxchiclan peaked in power and splendor between AD 681 and 800 when the city was abandonned.
Inscriptions here tell more about its « jaguar » dynasty than any other Mayan ruling clan.
Hidden in the tropical forest, it’s an incredible archeological site that counts more than 120 buildings whose only a couple of dozens have been explored, and some ungraved steles.
We leave crack of dawn and go down the river in a misty athmosphere giving us a fabulous scenery.
It reminded us of some trips on the Mekong river between Thailand, Laos and Burma.
We’re the first one on the site . Incredible sensation of beeing alone, just sharing the site with the howler monkeys during 2 hours. A moment of happiness in the humidity of the jungle.
One of the highlights of our trip.
We leave when the first tourists arrive.
Lacandon's land
The Lacandons indians call themselves « Hach Uinik » (the real men) in Mayan language.
It’s one of the most mysterious tribe of the mayan culture.
Lancadones are readily recognizable in their white tunics and long black hair cut in a fringe.
The Lacandones dwelt deep in the Lancadon jungle, escaping the conquistadors, and largely avoided contact with the outside world until the 1950s.
They are originated from the Yucatan Peninsula and from the Peten region in Guatemala.
In 1972 the mexican government decided to give them a 662 00 hectares territory.
They are the descendants of Mayan of the 6th century. Their dwellings are made of palms and wood and are always located closed to a river : they hunt, fish and do some agriculture.
ROAD BOOK 057
MAVROS ODYSSEE