EL Cañon del Sumidero

Despite the direct route being only 140 miles, the bus we took from Palenque to San Cristobal took us on an impressive route 300 miles and 9 hours long.

Arriving late in the afternoon, the first thing we noticed was the temperature. A far cry from the heat and the humidity of the Yucatan, the air here was cool, dry and refreshing and for the first time since arriving in Mexico we were able to check-in at a hostel not soaked in sweat, but dare I say, looking almost presentable.

Travel Guilt

The first, last and only bus each day to be heading in our direction was in the early hours of the morning, not long after midnight. Whilst the timing was far from perfect, it was at least refreshing not to have to think too much about which bus to catch; for when there is but just the one, the itinerary sort of plans itself.

The longest journey so far, the trip to Palenque was just shy of 8 hours

To my pleasant surprise I managed to sleep for a good 6 hours and well enough that when we pulled into town I felt - for the shortest of whiles - almost refreshed.

We were in Palenque for less than 24 hours and the reason for our visit was simple. On the outskirts of the modern day town lies its Mayan predecessor, a 2,000 year old city which boasts what are perhaps some of the most impressive ruins in Central America. And so after checking in, dumping our bags and fuelling up on coffee, we set off out into the midday Sun and on the road up to the ruins on what I thought was a 4km trip, or maybe an hour's slow walk.