T0NINA

Our trip to Tonina archeological site went through many small indigenous towns, over countless topes and around many curves up into the mountains and back down again to the jungle.  It took 3 hours driving and was worth it because after a short walk we came out of the trees and there was a huge building over 1300 years old.  There were alters and a wonderful ball court with a lot more seating than we have ever seen.  There are 13 temples and 4 palaces that they know of but the area still has a lot of excavating to be done.  It is a huge site and the temple has a lot of stairs.  I decided not to go all the way up but Pete did.  He found the bed room and the fact that they had a toilet that flushed. Observatory, throne, many other  departments all in one huge building. 
At its peak Tonina was dominant even over Palenque, even though Palenque is now more famoous because it was discovered and excavated earlier. The nearby town of Ocosingo bills itself as the "gateway to the Lacandon jungle", and the area grows lots of coffee, bananas, black goats, hairy pigs, and chickens all over the place.
The trip was exhausting,even though we were not driving. If we had gone to Palenque we woiuld have had to get up at 4 a.m., left at 5, and gotten back at ten at night. That would have been a miserable trip and we think the option which we picked was much wiser. Also we learned about a place that we knew nothing about, instead of viewing a place that we had already read a great deal about.