MEXICO // In a sublime jungle setting in tropical Chiapas, Palenque is, arguably, Mexico's most atmospheric ruins, courtesy of the verdant surroundings, swirling morning mists and richly detailed Mayan architecture. More ancient and less crowded than Chichén Itzá, it's possible to commune with both history and nature here. Howler monkeys and toucans populate the nearby jungle while the ruins are so embedded in their setting that British novelist Graham Greene once described them as: 'so age-old they have a lichenous shape and look more vegetable than mineral'.