The Adventures of Tioga and George

Sunday, April 06, 2008

10AM - Palenque archaeological site.
We are at the ancient Mayan City of Palenque. I hired a guide to take us around this massive city. We only viewed a small part of Palenque, because I do not have the endurance to do more!

The entire site of Palenque was inhabited by the upper class of this Mayan city. The campasinos [peasants] who worked the farms and did the work lived outside of Palenque.

Below is a pic of the first site visited. It is Temple of the Skull, so named because of skull shaped stucco relief found inside.

Temple of the Skull.

Closer view of Temple of the Skull.

Walking farther left, we come to Temple of the Inscriptions. Three limestone panels give this temple its name. This temple was built to commemorate Pakal, who ruled Palanque from 615 to 683AD.

The Temple of Inscriptions.

Temple of Inscriptions
Seen from lawn in front of The Palace

A third view of Temple of Inscriptions
High up from The Palace

To the left of Temple of Inscription, is The Palace. The plaque describing this site states that The Palace was used as an observatory of the heavens above.

The Palace.

The 12 months of the year, observed from a hall of The Palace.
Each of the objects on the roof represents one month.

The Tower in The Palace.

You may have to look at this image for awhile, in order to view the people depicted in the stucco artwork. I believe that one of them is the Ruler Pakal.

Pakal stucco image.

Stucco mask on a Palace hallway wall.

Above and below are located in the Palace courtyard.

The base of a Palace toilet.
The seat was made of wood.

Rear view of The Palace showing
the aquaduct which still runs on the right.

Temple of the Cross.

View from The Palace of
Temple of The Cross.

View from below of
Temple of The Cross.

View from path of
Temple of The Cross.

Forgot the name of
this temple!

7PM - The Cruz family.
Señorita Tioga and The Team parked in front of the Cruz family home in the City of Palenque. We spent a few hours visiting and chatting. Afterwards, Mary and her brother Jesus entered La Señorita, to play with Boid.

Then I showed them how to take a photo from Little Mavicito, put it on Ms. GQ's hard drive and then transfer [FTP] the photo to the internet.

In the pic below, Mary, Jesus and Jorge watch the computer working!