In the Southern half of Mexico there stand hundreds upon hundreds of remnants of a pre-Hispanic civilisation. Many of them date back thousands of years.

Even now, new sites are being discovered in the dense rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas. Many more have crumbled and weathered to dust, mere spirits of a lost civilisation.

Tourists flock to the more famous sites of Tulum, Chiapas and Palenque by thier droves to marvel at the ancient wonders. Further north lie El Tajin and Teotihuacan with its giant 'Piramide del Sol' (Pyramid of the sun).

I had visited many sites across Mexico but had always wanted to go to Palenque. Something about it from photos (which of course never do it justice), gave me a chill. Maybe the beauty of the buildings, the level of preservation or the thought of it being buried deep within the jungle, gave Palenque a mysterious and romantic edge.

I took the bus north from San Cristobal de las Casas through mountains and lush vegetation. When I dismounted the cool, air-conditioned coach I was hit by an intense wall of heat. I had not even reclaimed my bag before the dank sticky heat had enveloped me. I found it difficult to breath. I have endured intense cold, intense heat, strong gales, but never humidity (the worst of all climates) to this level before.

Palenque town is small and I had little distance to walk to find a hotel, air conditioned of course. The extra cost was worth it just to guarantee sleep! No sooner had I set down my belongings that the heavens opened. The streets were flooded in seconds, and later on I faced even worse humidity.

The next day I set out to Agua Azul (Blue water) waterfalls. Today they were brown and swollen, a long and impressive series of waterfalls and rapids stretching back for a mile or so.

On the journey I witnessed the destructive farming practices and negative effects of population growth in the region, which were desecrating the rainforests. Large tracts were being cut down and burned on a daily basis. People often blame paper waste mainly for deforestation, but the main cause is slash and burn farming, which is much more widespread, uncontrolled and should be limited by governments.

Returning to Palenque later in the day as the sun began to drop (there is more of an electricity in the air at this time in this part of the world), I hitched a ride out to the ruins. The driver offered me peyote and 'hongos' also known as magic mushrooms. I politely declined, knowing that these hallucinogenic plants were used by local indigenous tribes in religious rituals. Abuse of them by travellers was merely depriving the locals of their heritage and religious practices, the very thing which attracts so many tourists in the first place.

We rounded a corner to the entrance gates of the ruins. It was quiet, the cashiers were about to close up. They let me pass and I had this most magnificent sight mostly to myself.

It felt so safe and overpowering. Surrounded by vegetation on all sides, the magnificent structures towered above me, intact and largely in the condition they would have been centuries ago. A number of temples were more secluded than others. The main ones were located in an open plan area, which allowed the true magnitude of the site to be taken in.

One could climb the steps of the temples and see across the majority of the site, but never above the tree tops which maintained the illusion that I had just stepped into a new world or back in time. To think what this area would have been like over 500 years ago is overpowering. How such a magnificent civilisation fell because they had not developed warfare to the same level as the Europeans does not bare mention.

I walked around in a daze, hardly able to take everything in. Suddenly a lizard ran off across the grass, startled by my presence. It seemed so fragile as it disappeared into the forest. Perhaps it was the soul of a former warrior, its own fragility the mirror of the once mighty civilisation that crumbled and fell under bullets and hoofs.

I am very grateful that the Spanish settlers had the foresight to spare many of the old sites from destruction, a reminder that nothing is infinite.

By Paul Stafford