Why does one come to Palenque? 
 
Salvador our local guide took most of us on an early morning forest walk (7 am!) where he showed us a tiny bit of the unexcavated ruins still enveloped in jungle. Just 2% has been found with ground penetrating radar. The whole area has been mapped out as to where the buildings are still hidden. It was so easy to miss it.
 
The photos still to be labelled shows the building’s cap stone, strangling fig tree, 60 metre mahogany tree, cedar tree fruit which certainly smells like garlic.
 
This 90 minute walk was a good introduction to what lay ahead of us. At least we now had a much better appreciation of the restoration work that has already been done but more importantly of the many decades if not centuries of work that still lies ahead of the locals.

Looking at the map of the whole area and what has been restored or more importantly what huge expanse that still has to be uncovered.