We woke up around 7 feeling sort of
rough from the night before even though we didn't drink too much and
slept for a reasonable amount of time. We packed for about an hour
and by 8 we were almost ready to go but I thought I would grab a cup
of coffee before hitting the road since the kitchen opened at 8am but
there was no one around and no preparation in sight for breakfast or
a good cup of coffee. I came back 15 minutes later as Eric prepped
the gps and such but found the same thing. Weird, I thought. There
was an English speaking traveler sitting outside the kitchen smoking
a cigarette who told me the kitchen opened at 8. Isn't it 8:15? I
asked him. It's 7:15, he said. Oh. We forgot that the time had
changed in the US the day before with “spring forward”. My phone
had automatically updated even though the time doesn't change in
Mexico. I guess that's why we were so tired and also why there wasn't
another soul in sight aside from the smoker outside the kitchen. Oh
well, at least we got a nice early start to our day!
The drive to Palenque would take about
3-4 hours but we had planned on stopping at Aqua Azul along the way.
The drive was actually pretty chilly as we crept over and through the
mountains but to be honest it was a nice change from the hot messy
sweating we've been doing the last few weeks. We came across more
washed out roads which helped Eric focus his attention to his
driving, saw some llama and and sheep along the way and lost our
water bottle before stopping for lunch an hour before Aqua Azul.
While driving we heard a big “thud” and asked each other what
that was. We pulled over to make sure we didn't lose anything and
sure enough the water bottle (2 liters) had popped out of our milk
crate and through the bungee net we had tied it down with. This was
our only water supply at the time. We looked back for it but it must
have rolled down the mountainside because it was no where to be
found. Oh well.
We stopped at a grocery store to buy
more water and then stopped at a restaurant to eat lunch. We ate with
a local Mexican family at the same table but didn't communicate with
them since it was obvious they couldn't speak English and our Spanish
is still rubbish. A local Mexican kid came up to us trying to sell us
something (chicklets?) and we said no gracias (as the scene from Once
Upon a Time in Mexico played through my head “why would I want
that!?). After we said no he asked us for one of our tacos we were
eating. We said sorry but no. Then the Mexican family at our table
called him over and gave him one of their tacos. They had the same
amount of tacos we had between the two of us for a family of four,
but with two small kids. I felt pretty small at that point and
realized I have a slightly skewed perception of these kids and even
people asking for things from us. They aren't just asking for food
from us because we look like rich Americans to them (well, that is
probably part of it), they are simply hungry and in need of food. As
it turned out, the tacos we ordered were terrible and made of almost
pure fat, so we ended up leaving two or three behind for trash. We
could have given them to that kid after all, but he was nowhere to be
found when leaving. This was certainly a lesson of the day I'm not
too likely to forget about any time soon.
Aqua Azul is everything you would
expect from pictures and more. The water is crystal clear and
turquoise blue. Its high mineral content gives it its nice bright
color. The staircase waterfall is probably the most beautiful thing
about Aqua Azul as the cascades of bright blue colors are simply
beautiful. We arrived at mid afternoon and while there were quite a
few cars in the parking lot, there werent many tourists around in
sight. This meant that we were perfect prey for touts trying to sell
everything under the sun. While most of them got the hint there were
a gang of four young women who came up to us about 4-5 times saying
the same thing, “want to buy some dried plaintains?”, no gracias.
Again, want to buy some plantains? No, gracias. 5 minutes later, do
you want to buy some plantains? Um, no! Thanks! As we try to get all
of our gear off and situate it in a way it wouldnt get stolen. Man,
those touts can really get under our skin when we are hot and sweaty,
unfortunately.
We hiked to what we thought was the top
of the falls and took pictures along the way before coming back down
for a swim. Though it was hot outside, the water was too cold for us
to actually swim in past our butts. After a good 30 minutes of
cooling off we got back on the bikes in damp clothes and headed
towards Palenque, 40 minutes away, where we would stay for the night.
Palenque is a jungle town most popular for its famous ruins and
optional jungle style camping. According to the guide books, you can
stay in a cabana in the jungle and listen to howler monkeys and
crickets all night long. These places are supposed to run about 10-20
bucks per night for two people. Though now, a few years since those
books were published, those very same cabanas and huts are 30-40
bucks per night; the same price as a hotel room. We found one hotel
and one hostel online that we plugged into our gps and checked both
of them out in person before booking. I'm glad we did because the
hotel where I originally wanted to stay at 30 bucks a night which was
supposed to have a nice grassy jungle feel to its pool area turned
out to be quite moldy and in dire need of cleaning. On top of that,
there was not a soul in sight and Eric and I found this to be kind of
depressing. We at least want the option to meet other people if we so
desire. So we headed towards a hostel in town which was supposed to
be 17 dollars a night for a private room. While it wasn't 17 dollars,
the hostel was incredibility nice and well kept, and their private
rooms were more than hotel value for 30 bucks a night. This is where
we stayed. By the time we checked in it was getting late so we went
to the grocery store to buy some dinner to cook at the hostel. We
settled on French bread, blue cheese, tomatoes and salami for dinner
along with some boxed white wine. Nothing but class for us!
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