Blogs from Chiapas, Mexico, North America - page 65

IN THE LAND OF ZAPATISTAS San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico Jul 17, 22:45 Yesterday evening, I arrived to San Cristobal de las Casas - a beautiful, but cold neocolonial town. I enterted the territory of Zapatistas. Yesterday I was hitchhiking in the center of the city and somebody picked me up. I explained to the driver my admiration to the Zapatista movement and my intention to meet with the leaders. The driver observed me for a while and after a few minutes of talking he shot: “I am Zapatista.” The answer really surprised me. I have never met a Zapatista before. After a few moments of silence we continued to talk and in a few hours he felt I am his friend. He told me about Zapatista movement, about their dreams and strategies and ... read more

Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas 00:30 Yesterday, after I wrote a report, I went on the street again and in a few minutes I found a person who agreed to host me in his apartment. He brought me to his apartment, we spoke for a while, made a few interviews and he left me the keys, wished me good night and left. We agreed to meet the next day. I soon found out he is a very important politician in Chiapas and today he connected me with a bunch of people. We agreed with a local girl that will take me tomorrow morning to the beautiful Canyon Sumidero. I listen to the drops of rain how they make noise when falling on the roof and I am finishing my diary. Today I wrote a letter to God with ... read more

Sunday 12th June 2005 : San Cristobal here we come We had an earlyish start as we had to catch the 09:30 bus to San Cristobal de las Casas and we had not booked. Leaving Mayabell without breakfast we caught a colectivo from the entrance on the ruins road. It was the same price as a taxi but we did not have to wait. In town I had to take more cash out as OCC do not accept credit or debit cards at the counter. Bought the tickets, with Rory going half-price again. Maybe OCC are really ADO but under a prettier name. Took the boys to buy supplies for the journey - chocolate cake, crisps, fizzy drinks ! Most of Chiapas is unceasingly hilly. The bus ride was not very pleasant. A little like a ... read more

Friday 10th June 2005 : Palenque Ruins After an unsettled night we had a reasonable breakfast. The camp site is the closest to the ruins. Even so it turned into a walk of around 2K to the main entrance. There are many buildings on the site which appears oddly landscaped, a little like English parkland. We climbed up and down quite a few of them but I was not as impressed as I had been by the Inca sites we had visited. Perhaps because many of the buildings were stucco-faced which is now faded, crumbling and dirty they do not have the impact of their original bold colourings of red, blue and yellow. Even so, we still spent a good two and a half hours looking around. We spent the rest of the day lazing around ... read more

I´ve just returned to San Cristo after two weeks of human rights observation in a small zapatista community called K'ana Kil. What follows are excerpts from the journal I kept along the way... 13-04-05 miercoles en el Caracol Torbellino de Nuestras Palabras Two women in impecable and bright garments met us at the gate. -¿Identificados? -Sí, nosotros somos de FrayBa, aquí es nos carta, y nos paseportas...we wait a few minutes...With a shiny sun and chirping birds, it was real nice there. I couldn´t understand all that was said in the officinas de la vigilencia (security) and la junta de buen gobierno (the Zapatista government), but I had perfect faith in our hosts, and the more advanced Spanish skills of my two companions. After about half an hour, we were settled into the campamento they have ... read more