San Cristóbal de las Casas

In the evening we took an overnight sleeper bus to San Cristóbal (short for San Cristóbal de las Casas).  I have not taken an overnight bus for a long time.  The last one I took was probably at least ten years ago, from Hamburg to Paris.  On that I bus I sat next to a triple-wide African woman who took half my seat.  I could've used her as my mattress.

This 11-hour bus journey started at 8pm, when it got dark.  We couldn't see outside but we could feel the winding road.  Soon I started getting nauseous.  Later I asked my travel companions and some of them said they were nauseous too.  After a while the road gets better but still a little bumpy.  Except for a few security checkpoints, the bus did not stop.  Half-way through they switched drivers.  They played a movie about Bobby Fischer at the beginning of the trip but most of the way the inside of the bus was dark.  There were Men's and Women's toilets and the seats lean further back than most buses.    Most people slept (I think) or closed their eyes.  Since I usually can't sleep on buses or airplanes, so I couldn't sleep.  I may have dozed off a little bit but I was awake most of the time.  It was a very long and unforgettable evening.

We arrived in San Cristobal early in the morning and checked into the hotel.  Our rooms were not ready so we went out for breakfast, then came back to put our things in the rooms.  We were to spend 3 nights here.

Although I have not heard of the town, by the looks of the number of tourists here, this must be quite a popular tourist spot.  Most activities revolve around the zocalo (or city square).  There were a few pedestrian malls that are lined with shops, restaurants, bars, etc.  One thing this area is known for is amber.  If you saw the first Jurassic Park movie, you will remember that they found a mosquito that had sucked the blood of a dinosaur.  From there they were able to recreate dinosaurs.  (I am probably not factually correct here because I saw the movie a long time ago).  Anyway, it's a tree resin that has been fossilized a very very long time ago.  If you clicked on the link on amber above, wikipedia has some excellent photos of what they look like.

On our first day, we were supposed to rest from our long bus journey.  I took advantage of a laundry near the hotel and have all my dirty clothes, weighing about 2 kilos, washed for 30 pesos ($1.69)!  She even folded them beautifully.  What a treat; not having to wear dirty clothes for more 3 days!

One thing I noticed right away is that there are a lot more Indigenous People (what Americans call Native Americans) here.  Like in many countries invaded by Europeans, the natives are the ones who always ended at the bottom of the economic ladder.  So most of them are peddling souvenirs or food to the tourists.  Even little kids have to do this to help their family.  It's a sad situation.  Chiapas, where San Cristobal is, is one of the poorest states in Mexico and has the most number of Indigenous People.

A Chamula (Indigenous) Church

A bar near the zocaolo

Indigenous People selling fruits and vegetables

An early morning street sweeper in front of a graffiti wall

An Indigenous girl showing the art of hand-weaving

Some of the beautiful work produced by her

Range of souvenirs, again sold mostly by Indigenous people

Cathedral near the zocalo

Protest by the Indigenous people against the Federal Government

We visited two Indigenous communities - the Chamula and Zinacantan.  They are similar but different.  Both are close-knit communities and have their own language.  They run it like their own town and manage their own affairs.  Crime is very low because it's like a commune.  Everyone looks out for each other.  One has a little bit of Catholicism sprinkled with their native religion.  The other has more Catholicism in their religion.  According to our tour guide Cesar, all the people living in this communities are happy where they are.  They allow visitors but they don't welcome them to stay there.  Cesar speaks the language and grew up in the area so most people know him.

On the next day we have the option of going to the Canyon Sumidero, about an hour away and a cooking class.  I opted to just go to the Canyon, which I later regret.  Although beautiful and we did see some monkeys and crocodiles laying on the side of the river, the trip was marred by a floating debris of trash.  The trash were washed down from the various streams feeding into the river.  Most villagers don't hesitate to throw trash randomly, and that's where they ended up.  The boat operators said the government is going to clean it up but everyone's question is why don't you clean it up.  The cooking class was more fun because it was good and there was a lot of food, according to my friends.

Crocodiles sunning on the bank of the river

Tourist boats in the canyon

We had some excellent meals in San Cristobal.  Because it's a tourist town, it was very lively.  We enjoyed the beautiful area around the square.  It was within walking distance from our hotel.  Our hotel was nice and the service was excellent.  We had great breakfasts in the morning.  The only shortcoming was that the wifi was slow, but that's in all of Central America.  The next morning we had to depart at 5 am to go to Pelanque, stopping at a couple of water falls along the way.