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Sent on Jan 27, 2005 from Palenque.

Sending this from Palenque, the setting (Lacondon Jungle)
for the movie the Predator (with Arnold), and most scenic
Mayan ruins in Mexico.  At 6am tomorrow, it will be also my
gateway to Guatemala, via Rio USUMACINTA River, the largest
river between Texas and Venezuela.

1. Oaxaca.  To get to Oaxaca from Puerto Escondido, a
10-bus ride, we had to climb the Sierra Madre Sur (South)
mountains.  The city is located at a high-desert
environment, dry-hot during the day, cool at night.  The
city center around the so called ZOCALO & Alameda and the
cathedral (one of 3 in the city, Church of Santo Domingo
the nicest) is delightful, as it was in Guadalajara.  And
again I traversed the place at night, the lights adding
further beauty.  It joins the pedestrian ALCALA St.  A
leisurely walk in these parts is a must, if you come here. 
I stayed at POSADA MARGARITA.  Single rooms with bath are
250 Pesos ($23), without 150 Pesos.  It is located inside
the Plazalas Virgenes, right off Alkala St. I chose it for
its better-than-all-others location.  The taxi from
1st-class station is 20 Pesos ($2).

a) GUEYAMA Plant. I forgot to mention, but one unique
feature of the landscape hereabouts (actually all the way
from Guadalajara) is the scattered GUEYAMA fields, the
plant used for Tequila and its cousin Mezcal.  Indeed, the
best Mezcal is produced in Oaxaca.  The plant itself looks
like some of the garden varieties, with large olive-green
succulent leaves emerging from a common stem, the edges of
the leaves serrated with thorns.  A whole field of them
looks interesting and picturesque.

b) Zapotek culture.  This area is also the center of the
ancient Zapotek culture.  Its main city Monte Alban (White
Mountain) is about 3 hours of drive from Oaxaca and so  I
could not take a tour that distant.  Besides, it is said
that Monte Alban has many influences combined in it, that
it is not a purely Zapotek style. However there are the
ruins of a smaller city MITLA (entry 30 Pesos) that is only
12 km from here off the Pan American Highway, which looks
nice around Oaxaca. (And very sensibly the center divider
in someparts of the road is decorated with large cati, like
Organo, Bisnaga. Mesquite, etc.  There are very nice large
gnarled Mesquite trees also at Mitla.)  This one I visited
on a half-day tour (10am to 2pm) for 180 Pesos or about
$17.  I have many pictures of the place; I will post them. 
The Zapotek structures highlight number 4 which to them was
significant, as in 4 elements (fire, earth, air, water), 4
seasons, etc.  They highlighted this by having, for
example, different set of designs on each of the 4 walls of
their structures.  Suffice it to say for now that the
Spaniards destroyed most of this one--they did not find
Monte Alban--and used some of the stones to build another
church.  (I suggested the locals destroy the church and
rebuild the ancient city again.)

c) Tula (Water Cypress) Tree.  The tour included a visit to
Arbol del TULE (entry 3 Pesos), said to be the largest
biomass in the world, with the girth 58 meters, diameter =
14.05 meters, height = 42 meters.  Indeed the trunk is so
big you can drive a tank thru it.  I dont know why our
General Sherman t Sequoia Park is labeled as the biggest
tree in the world.  I have seen it; by trunk this one is
larger.  The girth of the tree is 22 meters, its height 45
meters.  (I will have a picture posted at my web site, and
will contact our Nat. Park service for comparison.)

d) Mexican Carpets.  The tour also included a carpet
facility, where they make them.  They showed us the plants
they use to add color to wool and mohair: COCHINIA (cactus
with round paddle-like thorny leaves; its tiny seeds first
first spread as white powder, which when rubbed with finger
tip, create a dark red juice; by adding a little lime juice
to it, the color turned orange red; a little soda turned it
purple; the color expert told us they can create 300 shades
of red from this plan). PECAN bark, leaves, shell to create
various green, MARIGOLD for orange-yellow, SPANISH MOSS for
beige and light yellow, Wild MANZANILLA for deeper yellow,
BEJUCO for yellow-green, HUIZACHI for black, LOGWOOD for
maroon, and ANIL for blue and indigo.  The best of 2.5 by 5
feet carpets cost $650, 2.5 by 12 feet $1400. I think the
prices are much exaggerated.  However nice, these designs
are crude compared to Oriental carpets. For $1400 you can
buy a nice woolen (silk much more expensive) Persian
carpet.

2. Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapa de Corzo, CANYON de SUMIDERO. I
had purchased my bus ticket for 7pm tonight to San
Cristobal de las Casas in Chipas, but then changed it to
TUXTLA to see the Sumidero Canyon.  The gateway to the
canyon is via the small village Chipa de Corzo, about 12 km
from Tuxtla, on the banks Rio GRIJALVA.  The canyon is
minutes away around a few turns.  The scene may have been
even more awesome that the trip to Angel Falls, in that
here the sheer rock cliffs literally drop to the river. 
(Wait till you see the photos.)  The boat (LANCHA) trips to
the canyon start at 8 and continue to 5pm.  My bus dumped
me at Tuxtla station at 5am; I took a taxi (50 Pesos) to
Chipa and was there at the empty city square at 6am; I just
sat there till about 7:30 and when traffic began, walked
down a block to the riverside.  It was 9:10 am before the
boat had 12 people to start the trip.  Truly AWESOME. 
Aside from all sorts of large birds, we also saw a
crocodile. Round-trip the cost 90 Pesos (about $9), but if
you want to visit the Eco Park there too, then the cost is
295 Pesos, incl. 30 minutes of kayak and some other things;
they come and pick you up at about 4pm in that case. 
Otherwise, you ride one hour the distance of 23km to the
dam, overwhelmed by rock faces that are 1km high, some
sheer some covered with tropical biomass, and then come
back an hour seeing the canyon from the opposite angle.  I
give this a 10 Rating.

3. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.  The trip from
Tuxtla to San Cristobal is a continuous climb of sharp
turns for more than an hour.  (I had thought that we had
climbed all the mountains getting from the Pacific to
Oaxaca.) Just as you think you can touch the clouds, San
Cristobal appears, still framed by lush mountains.  This is
mountain climate, cool at night, but was very nice during
the day.  The locals are largely the descendants of the
Mayan culture in these parts, as compared to the Zapotek
near Oaxaca.  I paid a taxi 20 Pesos to bring me to the
HOSTAL PLAZA CENTRAL (130 Pesos ($12) for room with bath),
which I picked from lonely planet due to its proximity to
city center--as I have done at every city I have seen.  I
walked the entire center of the city and took many photos. 
Yes, the colonial parts are very nice, but I found the
ambiance of SC too sedate for my taste.  Comparing
Guadalajara with Oaxaca with San Cristobal, I would rate
Guadalajara superior, Oaxaca after that, SC last, though
all 3 have very nice city centers--I dont rate the rest. 
But Guadalajara has the ambiance of a pulsing city, besides
the nice central parts.

4. Palenque and Mayan Ruins.  It was freezing cold in San
Cristobal at 5:30am, but I decided to leave with the early
bus to Palenque, a bus ride of about 5 hours.  I paid a
taxi 15 Pesos to bring me to the COLON terminal (of several
in town), for buses to Palenque.  I made the 7am bus for
102 Pesos.  (There may be much cheaper 2nd-class buses, or
Collectivo minibuses, if you can find them, but I suspect
this is what many locals do use for long-distance travel.)
The distance is not much, but as with the longer distance
from Oaxaca to San Cristobal, the entire stretch is on and
thru the Sierra Madre Sur, so continuous sharp curves,
climbing over or dropping from large and mountains.  Add to
this all sorts of speed bumps sometimes in front of single
homes in the middle of nowhere, and this explains why the
short distance took 6 hours.  The scenery was awesome, at
first with mountains covered with pine trees as we know in
USA progressively denser tropical forest with some
hillsides cleared for corn, etc., but otherwise a very
scenic and lush jungle named LACONDON, the only rain forest
in Mexico.  By the way, the Lacondon jungle in eastern
Chiapas is the area where the Zapatista rebels used to hide
from Govt. forces. 

a) City Info.  As far as Palenque, while the town itself
does not have the style of San Cristobal, I found the place
vibrant, with a pulse, as I like.  Add to the town the
exquisite Mayan ruins, the jungle, and several other scenic
spots nearby, I would rather live here than in San
Cristobal.  The main street is Benito JUAREZ.  The bus from
San Cristobal stops on it about 200 meters from town
center, about 200 meters after the Indian head statue that
marks the entry to the town.  Exit the bus station to the
street, turn right and walk up about 200 meters to a Y,
staying on the left branch for another 100 meters to
ALLENDE St.

  1) To Ruins. If you turn left and stay on the left side,
10 meters from the corner is the minubus stop to the ruins,
which go about every 15 minutes, each way for 10 Pesos
($1), entry to the Palenque Nat. Park another 10 Pesos, and
entry to the ruins 38 Pesos.  The ruins are open to 5pm,
and are set in dense emerald-green jungle with some
clearings for the visitors.

  2) Hostal Miguel. Continue on Allende St. to next
block--about 30 meters--and turn right at the next street
parallel to Benito Juarez.  After about 100 meters you will
see HOSTAL SAN MIGUEL--not mentioned in Lonely Planet. 
Single/Double rooms with bath cost 150 Pesos ($14), dorm
rooms (4 beds with its bath and shower) 50 Pesos.  The
place is spotless, very nice.

  3) To Guatemala (river and road entry).  If instead of
turning left on Allende St. you continue another 50 meters,
on your left you will see Agency CHIAPAS MAYA Agency.  The
trip to Flores, Guatemala--about one hour ride to TIKAL,
another famous Mayan ruins--costs 250 Pesos and takes 11
hours.  I will include the details in my next report.   

b) The Palenque Mayan ruins.  Lonely Planet describes this
as the must-see site, the best in Mexico.   Indeed the
setting in the LACONDON JUNGLE adds much to the beauty, but
the buildings themselves are also awesome.  The ruins cover
a large area, but the main groups can be done easily in an
hour or 2, unless you want to climb every sets of steps and
investigate every corridor and chamber inside the
buildings.  Read the details of what is here on the
Internet or in a travel book.

c) Misol-Ha Falls.  The falls are about 35 meters.  If you
really wish to appreciate the beauty of the Lacondon
Jungle, watch the movie The PREDATOR with Schwartzenegger
next time it is on.  The movie was made in this area.

Sirman