Guess what? Another long bus ride!

To be honest, there's very little I can say about today as it involved a 9 hour drive from San Cristóbal De Las Casas to Palenque. A couple of highlights were the shrimp farms dotted along one of the rivers and some of the more interesting topography of Chiapas state.

We stopped for a fairly miserable lunch at a Mexican chain restaurant called VIPS. You know it's miserable when you wished you had the foresight to use the pedestrian bridge and cross the road to visit either the McDonald's or the KFC located on the other side!

After leaving at 8:00, we reached our hotel in Palenque around 17:00 and, I have to say, it proved a pleasant surprise. A 4* hotel with comfortable rooms, all mod cons and a well stocked bar, we forewent a splash in the pool for a quick rest before dinner.

A group meal followed at a well rated local restaurant, where I had a local specialty called Arrecherazo - grilled steak with bacon, onions, peppers and cheese. It was pretty tasty, especially with the contents wrapped up in a corn tortilla with a freshly roasted spicy habanero sauce.

Suitably satiated and reinforced by a Margarita and a beer, I retired to bed happy, full but tired ready for our day's exploration of the Mayan site of Palenque tomorrow. Think I'll sleep well tonight.Les mer