Monday, February 17, 2003
We got a noon bus out of Villahermosa to Palenque,
state of Chiapas, and arrived about 2:30 p.m. It was
a short walk to the Zócalo, where we looked around
for just a few minutes before settling on a hotel,
the Hotel Lacroix, 180 pesos ($16) per night.
Hotel Lacroix
Hotel Lacroix is one of the oldest hotels in
Palenque and is run by a family of French origin who
arrived here in 1830. This place has character out
the wazoo. A crazy old man with bloodshot eyes
checked us in. He thought we were Italian. The rooms
surround a courtyard, and the walls are decorated
with homemade murals. Our room has two double beds, a
ceiling fan, a curtain instead of a door to the
bathroom, and no door or curtain separating the
shower area from the toilet and the sink. There is no
hot water. The door to the room is secured with a
padlock. The closet contains around 15 heavy, warm
blankets, though I can't imagine it ever getting cold
enough in Palenque to need more than one. The Hotel
Lacroix has six rooms, but we were the only guests.
This place is great!
Settling in
After settling in to our home away from home, we
found a travel agency, Viajes Tonina, and made
arrangements to travel to Guatemala in two days. The
travel agent spoke only Spanish, but we managed to
communicate. She spoke very clearly, and we all
pointed at the map a lot. She thought we were Italian
also.
Hanging around at the Hotel Lacroix
After an excellent lunch at Pizzaria Palenque and
a lovely two-hour siesta, we ventured to the Zócalo.
In true Mexican fashion, the bushes were trimmed into
interesting shapes, though we couldn't tell what most
of the topiaries were supposed to represent.
Palenque Zócalo
Numerous vendors were set up in the square, many
of them selling very cool paintings on leather. Many
more vendors were selling a variety of snacks, some
of which we could not identify, for example, the
overflowing cups of what looked like big giant
wrinkled olives. Maybe they were olives. It remains a
mystery. If you know what these are, please let us
know!
Sleeping niño
Our plan is to get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning to
visit the Palenque ruins before it gets too hot.
|