Palenque

Here I am - better late than never. We set off for Villa Hermosa yesterday, and arrived there around one o´clock in the afternoon. After raiding Wal-Mart for much-needed supplies, we decided that the day was young and we should proceed. It didn´t appear to be very far at all to Palenque. So off we went, but it was farther than we thought, and we didn´t arrive here until just before sunset. We are camped at Mayabell, which is the RV park closest to the ruins. It has no wi-fi, but I don´t think any of the parks do. Fortunately, there are several internet places in town.

Before settling in for the night, we went to the swimming pool, where I rediscovered one of my irrational - no, semi-rational - fears. It was dark, and there was very little light around the pool. I knew that the pool was created by damming a stream, and that there are no chemicals used in it. The water just flows through. It´s very pleasant to swim in. The problem last night was that, well, it was dark, and we were in the jungle, and I couldn´t see what was in the pool, and I found that I didn´t want to put my feet down. I told myself firmly to get over it, and I swam around for a few minutes, long enough to cool off. I went swimming again today, by daylight, after we came back from the ruins. There´s nothing on the bottom of the pool except concrete. A few leaves float on the surface of the water, but they don´t seem to have any ill intent. They just float around.

I needed that swim today. At 9:00 this morning, we got on our bikes and headed up to the ruins. The operative word is üp¨. And up and up. Finally, I gave up, figuring that by the time I had climbed to the top of a pyramid or two and struggled down again, I was going to be too tired to hop on my bike and ride the brakes all the way home. Robin agreed. We rode home a lot faster than we had ridden up, locked the bikes, and took the bus. The gate wasn´t too far beyond where we had climbed, but the hill was very steep.

We paid our admission and set off on our own, as the going price for a guided tour appeared to be 600 pesos ($60 Canadian), which seemed a bit much to us. I´m glad we made that decision, as a lot of what the guides did appeared to involve taking their charges to the many catchpenny operations set up along the paths. People had put plastic tarps on the ground and were selling wooden horses, blouses, statues of various sorts, jewellery, prints - none of which interested us. We walked around and read the plaques, which were written in three languages: Spanish, English, and Chol, the Mayan language. The comments were chiseled into stone. I had to laugh when I was reading the sign outside the Juego de Pelota, the ball court. It referred to the ¨slopping midsection¨ of the court, and I pictured the look on the face of the poor guy doing the chiseling, when he noticed his ¨typo¨.

The highlight of the site, for me, was el Templo de la Cruz, the Temple of the Cross. We climbed five tiers of stone stairs. Some of the risers were knee high. I think there were about fifty of them in all. At the top was the temple, where archaeologists had found tablets describing the accession of Lord Serpent-Jaguar II to the throne in 684 AD. Later, in the museum, I saw this temple and the plaza in which it stood described as follows: It was conceived as an image of the universe, where its temples symbolized the mythical places where the gods had been born.

To get to the museum, which is quite near where we are staying, we descended hundreds of steps through the jungle (where, sure enough, things hang from trees and crawl on the ground and sneak up onto your sandal and sting you - okay, it was an ant). Halfway down, there was a wooden platform for viewing an absolutely beautiful, gentle waterfall called The Bath of the Queen. Then there was a wiggly, squirmy wooden suspension bridge over the wide stream. Then, the museum, where I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and realized I looked as if I had gotten caught in the rain, though there had been no rain. When we got home, I made a hurried brunch so I could get back into the swimming pool. I feel much better now, but I think my legs are going to break and fall off.

Oh, speaking of rain - there was some, but that was yesterday. We drove through two rainstorms between Villa Hermosa and Palenque - the first rain we´ve seen on this trip, I believe, at least the Mexican part.

The last I saw, Robin was still poring over maps, trying to decide where we will go tomorrow. We think perhaps back to the gulf coast, headed toward Cancun. RV parks seem to get a bit scarce along that coast, so it will be an adventure.

It's an in-between day, a neither-here-nor-there day. I'm here, of course, in Catemaco, but we'll be leaving tomorrow, so I haven't really taken root.

First thing this morning, we had to drive up the road to yet another tire shop. One of our brand-new tires was virtually flat. I think the gauge read five pounds. Fortunately, it was the outside left rear tire, so we could drive a bit, slowly, without doing any damage. The inside tire held our weight. When we got to the shop, there was a bit of a problem, because they didn't seem to have the right socket to fit our lug nuts. (Does that sound racy to you?) Anyway, they did eventually manage to get the tire off and submerge it in soapy water, so now it's nice and clean - but there were no leaks in it. They put it back and filled it up with air for us. Life is full of mystery.

After that, I went down the street to shop for breakfast and dinner supplies, then made breakfast and started the spaghetti sauce for tonight's (very good, if I do say so myself) dinner. I did some more scrubbing, then figured I had earned a few hours of internet immersion, so that's what I did.

I tried to check out the newest Found Poetry entry, but something is wrong with their website. I've gotten nothing but error messages all afternoon when I've tried to connect. It's a measure of the subversive nature of that site that when the error message came up, I found myself wondering if there was a poem hidden in there.

I also learned about a new (new to me, that is) poetic form, the ghazal (See the comments to last night's post). John Hayes - of Robert Frost's Banjo - mentioned it, and I found it online. It makes my brain hurt, but one of these days I think I'll try writing one. I am drawn to couplets, and a ghazal is full of couplets.

Speaking of Robert Frost's Banjo, there's a very interesting post there about the history of children's literature. The blog is listed over here. --------------->

So. Tomorrow we leave for Villa Hermosa. We had heard that the RV park there was closed, but today we did some Googling and found a blog (Croft's Mexico) written by a man who seems to be a few weeks ahead of us on a similar odyssey. He stayed in that camp (Recreativo el Gordo y San Pancho) just a month ago, so perhaps we will have a place to sleep tomorrow - though no internet on site, from what he says.

When next I write, it will probably be from the restaurant beside the Wal-Mart in Villa Hermosa.

Another new home -

So much for my beautiful lake view. Now we're in a proper park,
where we can hook up to water and 30-amp power, and where there's a pool (though Robin says it's cold, so I haven't braved it yet). The park is attached to the Hotel Tepetapan, which I write here because I'll never remember it otherwise.
Which brings me to my good news: I have clothes! Woo-hoo! Yesterday, while we were staying at the restaurant, I took a taxi to a laundry and left my clothes there, to be picked up at 5:00 this afternoon. Then I took the taxi home. However, there were a few little problems: I didn't get a receipt for my clothes, so I had no idea what the name of the laundry was, or its address; and worse still, I had no idea how we got there, or how we got back to the restaurant. For a tiny town, this place has a very confusing layout.

Never mind, I thought, it will be obvious when I'm coming from our new location, because we're just off the main street. No. It wasn't. About an hour ago, I walked out of the park and up to the corner. I looked around and thought, I haven't the faintest idea which direction to go to get to the laundry. Oh, dear. So of course I flagged down a taxi and told the driver my sad tale of woe. I said "It's the laundry that's near the rodeo." That didn't get a reaction. "Some lady told me it's the one by the rodeo. I don't know what the rodeo is." (by the way, it isn't the obvious! I think it's maybe the middle of town.) "Do you know where the laundries are?" Yes, he did, and we embarked on the same sort of cat's cradle trip that I took last night. I decided to consider that a good sign.

The first laundry we tried wasn't the right one. I knew that from half a block away. "Is it on a different street?" the driver asked. Yes, I knew that much. So we twisted and turned a bit more, and there it was. Great sighs of relief. I picked up my laundry and came home in the same cab, and even though I tried to watch where we were going, I know that I couldn't find my way to the laundry again. Never mind. I am not naked in Mexico.

But there's more good news - our friends Kristin and TJ have resurfaced, and they're way ahead of us - probably in Cancun by now. I'm so glad. I was beginning to go all maternal.

I've spent most of the afternoon cleaning out and defrosting the refrigerator, but I did take time to clean up my blog a little, too. Do you like it? I ditched my beach photo and replaced it with the same one I use over at The Red Room. I also did away with some messy stuff and replaced it with a new widget that Blogger just introduced (I think). It's a list of some of my favourite songs, of which you can play snippets, if it pleases you. Of course, I'm now thinking Oh No, I forgot Alison Crowe's version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah! But never mind. I'll just refer you to You Tube for that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0

Oh, and one more thing. This day is just full of good news. Remember the poem I was trying to find? An online friend of mine found it for me. She's a much better internet sleuth than I am. So here it is, in its entirety and its correctity*!:

Vertigo by Adrienne Rich

As for me, I distrust the commonplace;
Demand and am receiving marvels, signs,
Miracles wrought in air, acted in space
After imagination's own designs.
The lion and the tiger pace this way
As often as I call; the flight of wings
Surprises empty air, while out of clay
The golden-gourded vine unwatered springs.
I have inhaled impossibility,
and walk at such an angle, all the stars
Have hung their carnival chains of light for me:
There is a streetcar runs from here to Mars.
I shall be seeing you, my darling, there,
Or at the burning bush in Harvard Square.

I followed my friend's instructions to find the poem on Google (type in "I distrust the commonplace" Adrienne) and guess what I got? My own blog. I got the post in which I asked for help finding the poem. Aaaargh. I also got a couple of sites in Spanish. I guess I have to wait until I get home to search again and get the source book. Meanwhile, though, I have the right words. That's plenty to be going on with. One line that I'm always forgetting is "the flight of wings surprises empty air". After last night, I should have no trouble remembering that.

*my word.

photos from http://www.gaudis.com/