Blogs from Chiapas, Mexico, North America - page 61

Alright guys, apologies for being 4 weeks behind.... having way too much fun... This is what happened, since we last wrote... (we travelled from Mazunte - San Cristobal.. read on for more details) San Cristobal is a beautiful highland town with cobbled streets, markets and surrounded by nearby indigenous villages. There is hence a larger indigenous presence in the town as many come in to ply their trade. These people are very proud of their background, culture and religion and still wear their colourful traditional garb that are unique to their village - it's pretty special to see. We were fortunate to be able to visit a couple of these villages - on horseback! Our horses were carefully picked by the owner to match our personality and character; Alex´s horse was a beautiful mare with with ... read more

We left Palenque on Saturday morning, the 16th, and caught the bus to take us on to San Cristobal. It again was a beautiful hot day, and the journey took around 5 hours. We checked in to the hotel, San Martin, which was close to the main square. The town is a pleasant place, there are many small streets, all cobbled, which many local run shops. The first thing to notice here is that almost every drives an old Volkswagen Beetle, I have seen a few around Central America, but they are here in abundance, and are very cool ( wouldn't mind getting one myself when I get home!! ). I did the usual orientation walk around town and got my bearings, got some food, then went out with my friends around the bars in the ... read more

Apres une nuit mouvementee dans le bus (heureusement 1ere classe), arrivee tout aussi mouvementee a Palenque: deja il fait 30 degres a 7h du mat, alors qu'il faisait 15 en quittant San Cristobal, et je me retrouve comme qui dirait sans le sous, avec des banques francaises tres lentes a reagir et un jour ferie au Mexique! Heureusement, grace a la magie de Western Union et a la gentillesse et la disponibilite de parents geniaux, me voila sorti d'affaire! La dessus je tombe sur deux francaises qui se demandaient ou elles allaient bien pouvoir loger, et du coup nous partons bras dessus-bras dessous comme le veux l'expression populaire au Camping Mayabel, qui n'a de camping que le nom : des petites cabanes ou on accroche des hamacs eparpillees dans un coin de jungle, avec grande piscine ... read more

C'est fou comme le Mexique a l'air d'un pays moderne et un peu cher par rapport au Guatemala! Notamment au niveau des bus, ca n'a rien a voir: au Guatemala, on prend les bus un peu n'importe comment, il y a des horaires mais bon, ils sont pas confortables du tout et on s'entasse dedans a 3 par banquettes, si ce n'est debout dans l'allee... Par contre au Mexique il y a des terminaux de bus ou on peut acheter son ticket a l'avance, et on peut meme reserver son siege dans les bus "1ere classe" qui, pour un trajet de 6h, coutent seulement 2-3€ de plus, avec TV et toilettes! C'est marrant aussi de voir que, autant a l'arrivee a cancun depuis les Etats-Unis, les douanes s'en fichaient completement, autant la ils font attention: il ... read more

It was sad to say good by to Puerto Escondido and if you ask Mel, she would have changed the ticket and stayed another week or two..... Just because we got eat fresh fish every day, swim at the best beaches we have ever seen, there was pure white sand and turquois water that seemed to be just the right temperture to cool you off. Talk about being unrealistic! Well it was a "quick" 12 hour bus ride through the night to get to San Cristibal Del Casas, a town up at about 2000m in the Southen Mexican highlands. the claim to fame was the town was a colonial gem and there were a few activities in the area.We travelled with Yvonne, a German girl (surfer) we had met on the beach in Escondido. We had ... read more