...is without a doubt El Panchan, Palenque. So for the past 6 days I have been living in the jungle in Palenque, Chiapas. It is absolutely insanely COOL. Here I went to see the Agua Azul waterfalls. Agua Azul is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. Imgaine incredibly high, cascading waterfalls with turquoise see-through water and caramel, smooth rocks which the water is at once gliding and hurtling over. I had to keep pinching myself to believe it was real. It is like something only witnessed in an animated disney film. Butterflies in the jungle and birds swooping in and out of the water. It doesn´t look real. It was another Avatar moment. I visited twice to swim in the purifying, fresh waters. It`s awesome power terrified me as I was reminded of my frenemy the Pacific Ocean, however at the same time it was intimately calming and meditative.
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| Misol-Ha waterfall |
I also went to see the Ancient Maya pyramids and temples, ruins also set rather surreally in the middle of the dense Palenque jungle. Large, impressive and exhausting to climb it was mind-blowing to wonder how an ancient civilisation lived there, let alone built it with no modern construction technologies of our own. Having seen several Maya ruin sites now, the most exciting thing about these ones in particular was the setting. Wild, lush, colourful, overpowering jungle. At once scary and beautiful.
Down the road from the Palenque ruins is an area called El Panchan, described by Lonely Planet as a "Legendary travellers` hangout" but it is so much more than this. Swarmed with hippie travellers and residents, the place is magical. I was staying in a wooden cabana deep in the jungle and awoke each morning faced with exotic, wild and gigantic jungle plants with huge, cartoon-like leaves that made me miniature. And at night, we would all be kept up by the extraordinary huffing and puffing of the jungle´s attention-seeking howler monkeys who would sit very close to our cabanas and ensure us a very disturbed sleep. In fact, the entire jungle pulsates with a raw spiritual energy and I couldn`t help but look at everything in close detail. Caterpillars, hibiscus flowers, tightly twisted tree trunks, an immaculately formed cocoon, marching ants carrying leaves to build their nest, shiny berries, dangerous thorns, large but unthreatening tarantulas. Each day, my eclectic group of friends that I met there and I trekked around the jungle on slow, attentative adventures and discovered and frolicked in waterfalls. I was always hesitant to climb them, panicked by the strength of water but with patience and very deliberate movements I was able to conquer and climb near the top where fresh, clean water would pour over the top of the edge and purify and cleanse me. And wherever you walk in El Panchan, people would be jamming, playing their live music together with friends and strangers and just chilling and enjoying the good life amidst their beautiful surroundings every day.
Each night in El Panchan, we would sit in one of the open-air restaurants there - usually Don Mucho´s - and listen to awesome live music. The bands played an eclectic mix, sometimes from Argentina, sometimes son Cuba and sometimes jungle music which involved the lead musician carefully selecting from one of about fifteen different small wind instruments and making various animal sounds. Here my friends and I would sit and listen to the original music and drink red wine as locals and travellers danced salsa together seamlessly. And everyone I met in El Panchan was so interesting! I met a beautiful, delicate flower from Finland by the name of Karolina. She is a gorgeous, petite, dreaded and very talented artesan who has spent the last seven years travelling, 3 and a half of those in Central America, getting by on limited money but selling her handicrafts. Karolina is intensely charming and sweet and has a certain vibe that drawns in the people she meets and makes us want to protect her. She is also four months pregnant, which at first suprised and probably disconcerted me somewhat but when I saw the incredibly conditions she was bringing her unborn child in to I had no question in my mind that travelling was the right thing for her and her `Elfa`. Everyday her fairy was surrounded by original live music, organic nature and animal sounds and fresh, clean water as she ensured she swam in a waterfall each day. I wish them the best.
A wonderful adventurer named Mercedes from Texas was the first girl I met in El Panchan actually and not only did she go out of her way to make me feel comfortable, she encouraged and supported me during my waterfall climbing ordeal to ensure I got over my trauma. Unbelievably sweet for someone I don`t even know. I also spent time with a delightful Finish/Portugese newly married couple, Vera and Rico, who were very sweet, funny and down-to-earth and had met in London. Being in their company was extremely pleasant and you could feel their love. Strangely I bumped in to a French friend too, Romain who I had met in Puerto Escondido and who had been there in Mazunte when I had my accident. That was amazing and he strongly expressed his relief to see me well and healthy and walking again. Funnily enough I met many other people who had heard about or eye-witnessed themselves my accident and they would swarm me with marvel and a million questions to try understand my experience. I met a fascinating and beautiful girl/jungle creature, originally from Switzerland but who had been living in Mexico for 2 years names Jess. To talk to, I thought she was nearly thirty. An old soul, she talked to me about my accident in a spiritually mature way and I was fixated. She also crawled and ran and smoothed her way through the jungle like it was second nature. A real-life Mowgli. I couldn´t believe it when she revealed to me she was only twenty-one but she admitted she feels like she has always felt she has lived on this planet for centuries. My closest friend in El Panchan was Julio, a Mexican-Venezuelan from Texas who has been doing various voluntary work in Guatemala but is now on a roots-discovering trip in Mexico, he has an acute appreciation for live latin music and would beam ear to ear all night every night (save for when his head was on the table as a result of too much tequila consumption) and we left El Panchan together to discover the Carribean coast.
I could not have had a more enjoyable time in El Panchan and I already think about going back one day. There was a newly started intentional community there called Maya Buda and one day, Karolina, Julio and myself dropped by to see what it was all about and we all got on so well with the residents that we visited a nearby waterfall together. I could easily see myself living there for a little while. It was very hard for us to leave but now here Julio and myself are, making a quick city break in sweaty, hustling Merida on our way to the Caribbean coast. It feels very inner city typical Mexico here but today we are visiting nearby natural cenotes, sink holes that are formed under caves.
Leaving you in love and peace,
Anetta xxx
Down the road from the Palenque ruins is an area called El Panchan, described by Lonely Planet as a "Legendary travellers` hangout" but it is so much more than this. Swarmed with hippie travellers and residents, the place is magical. I was staying in a wooden cabana deep in the jungle and awoke each morning faced with exotic, wild and gigantic jungle plants with huge, cartoon-like leaves that made me miniature. And at night, we would all be kept up by the extraordinary huffing and puffing of the jungle´s attention-seeking howler monkeys who would sit very close to our cabanas and ensure us a very disturbed sleep. In fact, the entire jungle pulsates with a raw spiritual energy and I couldn`t help but look at everything in close detail. Caterpillars, hibiscus flowers, tightly twisted tree trunks, an immaculately formed cocoon, marching ants carrying leaves to build their nest, shiny berries, dangerous thorns, large but unthreatening tarantulas. Each day, my eclectic group of friends that I met there and I trekked around the jungle on slow, attentative adventures and discovered and frolicked in waterfalls. I was always hesitant to climb them, panicked by the strength of water but with patience and very deliberate movements I was able to conquer and climb near the top where fresh, clean water would pour over the top of the edge and purify and cleanse me. And wherever you walk in El Panchan, people would be jamming, playing their live music together with friends and strangers and just chilling and enjoying the good life amidst their beautiful surroundings every day.
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