Goodbye Chiapas

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Today we're leaving Chiapas. It was quite an adventure!

Our flight is not till six in the evening, so we had the morning to spend. We wandered around town, went looking for the Mayan Medicine museum because it seemed interesting. We walked through some of the poorer parts of town in our search, through a local market full of stalls and small shops selling pretty much anything you can think of, all mixed together. Fruits and cell phones, clothes and furniture, piglets and CDs. My favorite, I think, was a carpenter shop that sold bed headboards, chairs and fresh bananas.

Eventually we found the museum and ere a bit disappointed. Such a museum has such potential, but it's placed way away at the edge of town, it's dark and gloomy inside, not well kept and nothing is in English. Such a shame.

So we went back to the amber museum instead. That one was much better. It's in what used to be the cloister of the Iglesia de la Merced church (the church is still there). There was some information in English, it was well lit and the displays were interesting, showing amber from the stage of a rock-crusted lump to beautiful works of art.

Well, after that we just had to get some amber from the market! So we returned to the market and haggled and bargained, and managed to get a couple pieces of polished amber. I'm sure Daniella will figure out what to do with them.

We decided that with our remaining time we'd go back to Amatenango de Valle, where we saw such beautiful pottery. It's only an hour's drive, and two more from there to the airport. So we did. We battled the traffic and actually made it there in the proscribed hour. We took some pictures, bought a few souvenirs and then made our way to the airport. Driving back to San Cristobal was a battle, traffic was bad and I felt like I was in a hurry. But once we passed San Cristobal and on to the toll road the drive was easy, and we made it tot he airport with time to hand the car back and check in to our flight. They sat us apart from each other again, but this time I had an empty seat by the window, so Tamar moved over to sit next to me.

the flight was uneventful, and we took the bus to Playa Del Carmen. Much cheaper than a taxi or shuttle though still not cheap, especially by Mexican standards. We found our hotel, which turned out to be more of a house with rooms for rent and a shared kitchen. Never mind, it's just two nights.

Despite all the hassles and problems we encountered there, I'm sure both Tamar and I will have fond memories of Chiapas. Especially San Cristobal. What a lovely town.

So, tomorrow we're going shopping and snorkeling. It's gonna be expensive...

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Photos

The Cathedral of San Cristobal
It's being repaired after an earthquake last year, so no entry until it's fixed up