Chiapas (Oct. 30 - Nov. 2, 2011)

On October 30, we embarked in a beautiful trip right after we attended our church meeting. We went to Palenque, Chiapas. From Cardenas we took a bus to Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco; and from there, we took this beautiful bus to Palenque, land of the Mayan, which was a 2-hour ride.

As You can see, Lucas absolutely enjoyed the trip, especially because Ashlie lent him her Ipod and he could watch a movie for about 5 minutes. Later on, he took a nice nap until we arrived to Palenque.

We stayed at the Best Western Maya Hotel near the center of the town. It was a beautiful hotel with nice swimming pools so the children were in heaven.

On October 31, we took a public van from our hotel to the beautiful Mayan Ruins of Palenque. This archaelogical site was so beautiful and mystic. What you see here is impressive, yet to date, only 2% of this 25 square mile site has been excavated.

THE PEOPLE

They were so friendly and very respectful.

This cute grandma was selling traditional shirts


CULTURE


We spent three days during one of the most popular Mexican celebrations: the Day of the Dead. The main square was full of high school students who were having a competition to see which school would have the best altar built. It was amazing to see how engaged these young people were and how dedicated they were in building the altars. The adornment of the altars is usually done with marigolds starting October 31st. They also place food on them. From this day on, nobody is allowed to touch the food because the guest of honor is the dead. It's only when the dead decides to go to the underworld, that the living can partake of the food.

Dancing was part of the festivities in the main square

The famous waterfalls: Misol-Ha

Misol-Ha is a spectacular 115 ft. waterfall that is a must see for any visitors. The name means "waterfall" in Cho'l. We hired a tour company to take us to this waterfall and getting there was quite an adventure. The fact that we are alive is a true miracle because the driver was a maniac. You see...the roads are extremely curvy and he would not slow down at all, so our children were getting sick to their stomach and so were we. Wow!!! I often wonder where these people get their driver's license or if they do have one....

AGUA AZUL

An hour from Misol-Ha, you can find the most amazing place we have ever seen. This was breathtaking!!! Agua Azul (Blue Water) cascades are located in the heart of the Lacandon Jungle. They cascade down a series of falls and rapids, ending with a stunning short but wide drop into shallow lagoons, where you can swim...

.....which is exactly what the kids and Jorge did....