Emerald Bay Photography News and Updates

If I ever assumed that time could stand still somewhere, I would have thought it could be Mexico, especially Southern Mexico. With its slow lifestyle and vibrant Mayan culture, reaching back many centuries, to me, time always felt like molasses down there, trickling by at a decreased pace, turning minutes into hours and hours into afternoons.

Judging from a travel report by my friend Paulie though (who has just returned from a 4-week trip to Guatemala and Southern Mexico), times indeed have changed now.

The next day we went to the ruins outside of Palenque. Tons of people. At least outside the entrance. We never went inside. I got into a pretty serious argument with the guard at the entrance. They wanted me to pay $300 US for the privilege of being allowed to bring my tripod into the compound containing the ruins. Needless to say, this was not in my travel budget. It seems that regardless of who you are or what kind of still camera you have, it's the tripod that means you are going to make big bucks. They also had a $250 daily fee for any video camera.

What? 300 bucks to bring your tripod into the ruin compound at Palenque? Since when?



My idyllic picture of this area has been utterly crushed. In April of 1994, when I travelled through Palenque, the ruins were pretty much devoid of tourists. Sure there were a few stragglers, but that was it. I faintly remember paying a small fee to gain entrance to the park, but certainly no outlandish charge for bringing in *a tripod*.

Mexico has lost its mind.

Labels: photographer advocacy, photography, travel, travel photographer