Journal -- Day 11

January 6th
Palenque and Villahermosa

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Despite a rainstorm, we decide to return to Palenque this morning to explore further.  One of the delights of this site is a carefully constructed path along the Otolum river, passing several waterfalls and some small residential groupings.  The sometimes heavy downpour makes for slow (and squishy) going, but certainly adds to the power of the waterfalls!  I repeat to myself a new mantra – “They’re so much prettier in the rain!” – to avoid thoughts of soggy hiking boots.  This replaces my previous refrain of “It’s good for my hair!”, always good for cold showers.  Though in this case perhaps both would work.  The walk is gorgeous, though, and quite empty.  We have the ruins to ourselves.

The afternoon finds us in Villahermosa in neighboring Tabasco state.  (Not the home of the sauce, alas.)  Our driver describes this oil-boom town as the “city of two lies”, being neither a city (villa) nor beautiful (hermosa).  Sadly true, but it does have a splendid park.  When Pemex, the national oil company, discovered the Olmec city La Venta inconveniently close to their fields, they created a park here and moved many of the sculptures.  While less valuable from an academic perspective, this does allow for more accessible viewing.  The park/zoo has a jungle feel, with local plants and free-roaming coatimundis.  (Free roaming mosquitos as well, alas.)  Interspersed along the walkway are animal cages (jaguars!  crocodiles!) and huge stone heads.  We know little of the Olmecs, an ancestor race of the Maya, but their stone carving skills presage the era to come. 

As an aside, one of our favorite monuments was titled “The Silhouette”.  It seemed to have a vague human shape, but was very eroded.  On reading the plaque, we learned that it wasn’t actually an Olmec sculpture, just an interestingly shaped rock found nearby.  So perhaps this isn’t the most archeologically pure exhibit we’ve ever visited.

One final night, this time in a rather prosaic Hyatt, then back home we fly.  Hot water, air conditioning, and CNN provide momentary comfort, but there is a soulless quality to it compared to scaling temple staircases in the jungle.


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