rock type that makes up the Yucatan’s
karst environment.
After we had finished frolicking
in the paradise that was left behind
by the destruction of the dinosaurs,
we carried on with our apocalyptic
themed road trip and took a trip to
the Palenque ruins.
The Mayan ruins at Palenque are
considered by many to be the most
impressive ruins in all of Mexico.
They’re over 2000 years old dating
back to 226 BC when they were
known as the ancient city of Lakam-
ha. These particular ruins are fa-
mous for being the place where the
21st of December 2012 doomsday pre-
diction was made. Apparently, on the
said day, both the local town and the
ruins were over run with believers
who had come to Palenque to witness
the end of the world. However, the
world didn’t end. Which was good for
most people, but Palenque was in a
kind of weird post-apocalyptic chaos
with hundreds if not thousands of
stranded people who had travelled on
one-way tickets and had no return or
accommodation booked for the 21st!
We pressed on north from
Palenque and headed up the spine of
Mexico towards the USA. We were
behind schedule after delays with the
shipping and if we wanted to make it
TRAVERSE 75
to Anchorage before the winter, we
had to really put our foot down. We
decided we’d rack up a few miles by
sticking to the highways, paying the
expensive tolls and having a big week
or two up to the states.
After a couple of days on the road
we were making great progress and
I put a Facebook post out that said
just how well it was going compared
to the start of our journey in South
America which was littered with
breakdowns. I could not have jinxed
us more.
The next thing we knew, we were
on the side of the road sucking petrol
out of our tank in an attempt to clean