San Cristobal
We left Palenque pretty early in the morning for a long bus trip to San Cristobal. We started to wind our way up into the mountains and felt a pleasantly cool change of temperature. The scenery became progressively more impressive – and the roads progressively more windy. We got to San Cristobal into one of the nicest hotels on the whole trip – it had traditional colonial style architecture, and was beautifully refurbished – it was gorgeous! Red tiled roofs, pot plants, corridors and archways, narrow staircases all over the place – very cool. We were here for three nights, which was nice after having many two-night stops, so I decided to have one whole free day exploring the narrow cobble-stone streets, pastel-painted buildings, and a very interesting colourful local market. Some of the others decided to take the optional excursion to Sumidero Canyon. It was a hard decision about what to do – they had a fabulous time and saw a lot of wildlife in a boat trip up the canyon – but some of them did get car sick on the way there and back – so personally, I’m glad I didn’t go!
That night we went out – we must have hit three bars and two nightclubs – all with live salsa bands. The food was fabulous and there were way too many tequilas and margaritas consumed!! Our tour leader had arranged for us to go on a village excursion the next day, so I had to drag myself home at some stage.
Our village excursion was to the region of Chiapas, and there we visited the village of San Juan Chamula, which is one of the most intriguing, interesting places I’ve ever been to. The local guide was just amazing – it was quite a closed, alternative traditional community but he was well accepted there so it made our passage into the village a lot smoother and more interesting. I found the blend of the Mayan and the Catholic religion – and how the hid one under the other – fascinating. Having an insight into this was one of my most memorable tour experiences.
More partying, drinking and dancing wound up our last few days in Mexico!!
We left Palenque pretty early in the morning for a long bus trip to San Cristobal. We started to wind our way up into the mountains and felt a pleasantly cool change of temperature. The scenery became progressively more impressive – and the roads progressively more windy. We got to San Cristobal into one of the nicest hotels on the whole trip – it had traditional colonial style architecture, and was beautifully refurbished – it was gorgeous! Red tiled roofs, pot plants, corridors and archways, narrow staircases all over the place – very cool. We were here for three nights, which was nice after having many two-night stops, so I decided to have one whole free day exploring the narrow cobble-stone streets, pastel-painted buildings, and a very interesting colourful local market. Some of the others decided to take the optional excursion to Sumidero Canyon. It was a hard decision about what to do – they had a fabulous time and saw a lot of wildlife in a boat trip up the canyon – but some of them did get car sick on the way there and back – so personally, I’m glad I didn’t go!
That night we went out – we must have hit three bars and two nightclubs – all with live salsa bands. The food was fabulous and there were way too many tequilas and margaritas consumed!! Our tour leader had arranged for us to go on a village excursion the next day, so I had to drag myself home at some stage.
Our village excursion was to the region of Chiapas, and there we visited the village of San Juan Chamula, which is one of the most intriguing, interesting places I’ve ever been to. The local guide was just amazing – it was quite a closed, alternative traditional community but he was well accepted there so it made our passage into the village a lot smoother and more interesting. I found the blend of the Mayan and the Catholic religion – and how the hid one under the other – fascinating. Having an insight into this was one of my most memorable tour experiences.
More partying, drinking and dancing wound up our last few days in Mexico!!
posted by Tucan traveller | 5:41 PM
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