La Ruta Maya - Page 2
The group had two choices on a route to Villahermosa from Veracruz. One can take the "Cuota road" (toll road) or travel by back road along the coast. We choose to go along the coast past a beautiful volcano and high altitude lake called Largo Catemaco. The lake, surrounded by volcanic hills, is roughly oval and 19 km long. El Tengal is a grotto topped with a blue cross where the Virgin is believed to have appeared in the 19th century. The lake has several small islands; on the largest, Tenaspi, Olmec sculpture has been found. Further around the north shore is the Parque Ecological, where a small piece of rain forest has been preserved. You can take a guided walk through the rain forest for a small fee.
We entered Villahermosa on Highway 180 and went to our hotel, Hotel Cencali, which is very close to the Parque (Park) Museo La Venta. We planned on visiting this Park and Museum the next morning so chose to stay close to the park rather then the Central Plaza.
The Olmec city of La Venta, built on an island where the Rio Tonala runs into the Gulf some 129 km west of Villahermosa, was originally constructed in about 1500 BC, and flourished from 800 BC to 200 AD. When petroleum excavation threatened the site, the most significant finds were moved to Villahermosa and arranged as the Parque-Museo La Venta, a museum without walls in a lush green setting that enables you to picture the sculptures in their original Olmec city setting. The park is a maze of paths with numbered artifacts set amid jungle foliage.
Three colossal Olmec heads, intriguingly African
in their facial Composition, were moved to the park. The largest weighs
over 24 tonnes and stands more than two meters tall. It is a mystery how,
originally, the Olmecs managed to move the basalt heads as well as the
religious statues some 100 km without the use of the wheel. As well as
the heads, you will see intricately carved stelae and sculptures of manatees,
monkeys and the jaguar, the totemic animal of the Olmecs.
We chose to hire a guide for
a two hour tour of the park - a guide is well worth the few dollars spent
in order to learn about the park and the sculptures.
Leaving Villahermosa, it was a short and pleasant ride to Palenque, south east of Villahermosa and near the Guatemala border. We went directly to the Hotel Calinda, about 3 km south of the town of Palenque and enjoyed the nice lush jungle greenery and swimming pool during the heat of the afternoon. This area is pure jungle rain forest and afternoons are hot and muggy - a swimming pool helps!
The ruins
in Palenque are
some of the most fantastic ruins one can visit! Surrounded by emerald jungle,
Palenque's setting is superb and its Mayan architecture and decoration
are exquisite.
Evidence from pottery fragments indicates that Palenque was first occupied more than 1500 years ago. It flourished from 600 to 800 AD.
The archaeological zone of Palenque is in a much larger reserve, the Parque Nacional Palenque. A new visitors center at the entrance to the park holds a museum and other services.
Only 34 of Palenque's nearly 500 buildings
have been excavated. As you explore the ruins, try to imagine the buildings
as bright red; at the peak of Palenque's power, the entire city was painted
vermilion. Everything you see here was achieved without metal tools, pack
animals or the wheel!
We spent one full day exploring
the ruins. Again, it is best to hire a guide and spend a few hours touring
the ruins with a guide who can provide details and answer questions. After
the guide is done then one can go back and spend more time in areas of
particular interest.
The next stop on our trip was Campeche, in the Yucatan itself. This was an overnight stop in preparation for visiting the Mayan ruin site at Uxmal. We did not plan on finding much of interest in Campeche so we were surprised to find a very beautifully reconstructed historic district! Campeche is filled with historic buildings dating back to 1531. Once a Mayan trading village called Ah Kim Pech, Campeche was invaded by the Spanish conquistadors in 1517. The Maya resisted and for nearly a quarter of a century the Spaniards were unable to fully conquer the region. Campeche was founded in 1531. The city was once a walled city to protect it from pirates! Many sections of the original wall still stand and a great deal of historical preservation has taken place. We were all very impressed with the beauty of the city. A great deal of work has been done to reconstruct and refurbish the original center of the city which was once surrounded by a series of forts and the wall - a pleasant surprise and a destination worth returning to in the future.
On to Uxmal!