Around a week of my time in Mexico I spend in the jungle just outside Palenque. I was staying in a hostel across the road from El Panchan jungle base, I a small partially closed wooden hut in the beautiful natural garden.
Right at hand there are beautiful cascades, small temple ruins and many trekking paths on which you can wonder for hours through the ancient nature and cool off in clear streams.
El Panchan is a little collection of small houses and hut, some accommodate bars and restaurants, a hostel and an indigenous culture centre. The cultural centre is very impressive to visit, there is a little tattoo studio making traditional hand poked tattoos, they host workshops and offer information on ceremonies and traditions in which visitors are welcomed to join and were very happy to chat and share.
I took the invitation to participate in a Temazcal hosted by students of shamanic teachings in a space in town. This is an ancient indigenous ceremony taking place in a special kind of sauna called caracol (shell of the snail). In four rounds hot stones, that have been heated up in the fire outside, are brought into the middle and smeared with herbs and water accompanied by music, chants, and meditation. This ceremony strengthens the connection to Nature, the World and ones self and was an intense and inspiring experience. The energy that is created over the course of two hours within the caracol through chants and meditation connected to the other participants but in ones own sphere was incredible. The day before the Temazcal I had gotten a meaningful tattoo manifesting evolution in the cultural centre both experiences and the combination of them will stick with me for all that is to come and had an undeniable impact on my energies.
All around Palenque there are more or less well-known cascades, one of the most popular ones would be the Cascadas Roberto Barrios. It is easy enough to get there with public transport just make sure to give yourself enough time for the travel since the small buses will wait until sufficient people want to go the direction. It is a great day trip to take though around noon many tour companies deposit groups of tourists in great quantity but there is enough space to slide down the smaller steps and swim in one of the many pools. In a wide area around Palenques ruins there are further hidden waterfalls and pools some with hidden caves to be explored in solitude mostly.
The town of Palenque does not offer too many attractions but good shopping opportunities on the market as well as different supermarkets and is well connected with collectivos ad ADO busses.
Most tourists come for the jungle experience in the surroundings, and it is truly a unique experience. Walking through the forest I spotted many curious plants, encountered howler monkeys and small groups on psychedelic trips. It was a totally new impression in nature for me, off the beaten track from Cities Party boulevards and paradisaic beaches and I am glad I took my time to soak all of it in. There is however also a vivid nightlife and with a little bit of luck you can get to a local festival in a jungle location, dancing until the sun comes up above the trees in the late morning hours starting the day quite magical.
