Blogs from Chiapas, Mexico, North America - page 8

Got into Palenque this morning at 0630hrs after the over night bus. We only got woken up once by some military personnel checking passports; they didn't want us so we got through fine. We had the breakfast we bought for the bus ride and headed to our hostel, just a short walk. We spent a little time there locking up our things and researching. We decided to take the colectivo to the ruins right around 8. It wasn't hard to find the colectivos to the 'ruinas' on 3a Poniente Norte (Allende) just north of Central Poniente (Benito Juárez). For MXN20 they would get us the 7 kms to the ruins. It cost MXN30.50 to enter the national park, and an additional MXN64 to get into the ruinas themselves. There were yet again guides, but as always ... read more

We returned to San Cristobal on a night bus from Oaxaca. We checked back into the same hostel we previously stayed at and as our room was ready we could shower and have a sleep. We had a pretty quiet day which included going back to visit the young boys for a street food lunch of tacos and exploring the market. The next day we had organised a bike tour to the Sumidero Canyon. We cycled out of San Cristóbal and then uphill for 5km followed by a short downhill before continuing to climb for another 4km. Once we reached the top it was downhill for the next 60km. We made a stop for Grenadia (a fruit similar to passion fruit but sweeter) as they are grown in the area we were cycling through. Just before ... read more

Palenque town is compact with lots of places to stay and eat and easy minibus access to Palenque ruins. Not much else around aside from crafts as far as I could tell. Spent 3 nights, 2 would have been better but I was frazzled after 2 all day journeys in 3 days, first from Lanquín to Sayaxché then Sayaxché to Palenque. After Palenque I hit the Caribbean Coast at Playa del Carmen and the nearby ruins at Tulum which were not impressive and today the ruins at Ek' Balam near Valladolid which were very cool and not mobbed like Tulum most likely owing to the fact that's it's a bit of a production to get there but well worth it. US$ ≈ 13 Mexican pesos (M$) Accommodation and food Arriving late after the interminably ... read more

Dzisiaj wybrałem się do miasteczek San Juan de Chamula i Zinacantan. Oba leżą w odleglości okolo 10 km od San Cristobal de las Casas. Mieszkańcy obu z nich przynależą do rdzennej grupy Tzotzil, ale różnią sie bardzo. Tutaj na podstawie stroju można powiedzieć z jakiego miasteczka pochodzi osoba. San Juan de Chamula to miejsce niezwykle oryginalne. To miejsce ciekawych praktyk religijnych. Sami mieszkańcy określają siebie jako "tradycyjnych katolików". Natomiast obiektywnie rzecz ujmując ich praktyki nie mają wiele wspólnego z katolicyzmem. Ich praktyki religijne to mieszanka katolicyzmu i tradycyjych wierzeń indiański z naciskiem na te drugie. Mężczyźni noszą czarne lub białe tuniki wykonane z owczej wełny. Natomiast kobiety białe lub niebieski bluzki bez żadnych wzorów oraz czarne wełniane spódnice. Społeczność jest znana z wytwarzania tkanin wełnianych. Społeczność wywalczy... read more

This is just a quick post with pictures from Mexico. Most are from Tonala, the city we stayed in the night before we went to the beach. I can't remember the name of the beach we were at (I'm sorry!), but it was near Boca del Cielo. The beach was just gorgeous and we were practically the only people on it! ALSO - I'm not sure how to take my pictures from InstaGram and upload them to the blog, but if you really want to see the picture of the lizard poop on the soap (and plenty of other good ones from daily life down here!) the link to my InstaGram is here: http://instagram.com/nikicuster# Besos amigos!!! xxoo... read more