It’s my last full day at El Panchan, just outside of Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas. (Go ahead and google it, I’ll wait.) I’ve spent 5 days here, sweaty and content. The casitas right in the jungle at El Panchan, the isolation that brings on a feeling of time warp back as much as 40 years, the lack of English speakers, the waterfalls of Misol-ha and Agua Azul, the ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilan, and Bonampak, the river ride in an oversized canoe with a huge motor along the border with Guatemala; all these things I will take home with me, and the memory of them will bring me back again despite the difficulty of getting here. Continue reading