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Published: November 21st 2006
Updating from my favorite Mexican city so far!
I planned on updating just before I left for an 11 day backpacking adventure through the south of Mexico, but things were a little hectic with writing an 8 page final project until 5am last Thursday night, getting the backpack together, and wrapping up (my last semester of) classes in general.
Today would be... day number 5 of my trip, and I am in beautiful San Cristóbal de las Casas in the Mexican state of Chiapas!
I can´t post pics just yet... you´ll have to hold onto your pants until I get back to Monterrey and have time to sort it all out. But I promise it will be beautiful and amazing and everything you ever dreamed in an update from me!
I started out Friday around 4:30 in a taxi from my apartment in Monterrey to the airport, where I caught a plane to Toluca (in Estado de Mexico). There I met my friend Cesar and his sister. We went out to a bar/restaurant for some drinks, great food and conversation. Since Cesar had to wake up around 6am to head to Guadalajara the next morning for a Texan-style rodeo festival, he gave me some travel advice including the name of the hostel I´m now staying at (he had been to basically all the other places I would be traveling), we said goodbye and I had an amazingly comfortable bed in a spare bedroom with about 5 really comfy blankets.
The next morning, around 7:45, his sister, although the bus station is literally 50 steps from their house, drove me to the station so I could get onto a bus into Mexico City. Within the hour I was in a metro station in Mexico City, rode a few metro lines, found Mexico TAPO where I would get my 14 hour bus later that night to San Cristóbal, checked my backpack into a guarda de equipaje, and got in touch with another friend, Alvaro. A few metro lines later, I was at the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts). There are some amazing (and HUGE) murals there, but unfortunately there weren´t any exhibitions open that day. I met up with Alvaro and a friend of his. She knew soo much about the city, its history, and the buildings. Since I didn´t have much time to see all of Mexico City (which I couldn´t have done even if I had had a week), they walked me through the zócalo which was really impressive, the catedral, a few art museums, some markets, and I really got a feel for the city. Despite everything that we hear about violence and crime in the city (and although it does happen), I never once felt unsafe there. It´s important to be streetsmart, to travel as light as possible when you´re walking down the streets, and walk with a sense of purpose. 😊 I don´t have any pictures of Ciudad Mexico because I didn´t want to have to hold onto my camera all day, but Alvaro took some, which I´ll get a hold of.
We ate tacos at the comida section of a great market, then went to another neighborhood to a relaxed little bar for a beer. Around 6pm his friend dropped us off at the metro station and Alvaro rode with me to TAPO. Said goodbye. I boarded my long busride just before 8pm. I had two seats to myself, so i could stretch out to sleep, although it´s really difficult to find comfortable sleeping positions when the bus keeps stopping and going for 3 hours trying to get out of city traffic. I did manage to sleep though, and by the time we pulled into San Cristóbal just after 10am, I felt at least somewhat rested.
I found a taxi, whose driver tried to convince me to pay $200 pesos (just under $20 US) for a hotel a night, but I had my mind made up. I would be staying at the Posada Mexico (Hostel). Its just under $8 US a night, and it´s beautiful! I´m staying in a dormitory-style room (they also have some doubles for a little bit more $), with a shared (private) bathroom. Breakfast is included, free internet, a beautiful garden area, and a great staff. They also work with a local tourism office to hook up their guests with tours of different sites around the area.
As for the town of San Cristóbal, I love it. Have I mentioned I love it? It really has an older Mexico feel, and a sort of hippyish/bohemian vibe. I met someone from Guadalajara and we went to this place that´s a tea house/bohemian-style clothing chop/movie house and more. It had a very relaxed, Luna vibe, but more bohemian. There´s also a large number of foreigners in this city. I could definitely see myself living in this city or staying for an extended period of time (a little bit later on) in my life.
Yesterday I went on a tour of two indigenous villages. Since I arrived in Mexico in July, one thing I´ve wanted to do is this. It was amazing to see how the people in San Juan Chamula live and worship. I´ve talked about sincretismo and blending before, but our tour guide described it as ¨not 50/50, its not half and half Catholicism and Maya religion here. it´s Catholic facade and Mayan beliefs.¨For example, for the Chamulans, Jesus Christ and the Sun God are one, the Catholic Saints ARE the Mayan gods. We were able to go into the church and see some private ceremonies (spiritual healers or shaman at work with their patients-- and also often a live chicken, eggs, and lots of candles). However, we couldn´t take any pictures inside the church, but it was amazing. We learned about a lot of the meanings of symbols within the Mayan culture and religion. I don´t have any pictures of the people in San Juan Chamula-- our guide said that many people there believe that if you take a picture of them you are taking a piece of their soul, so I was extra careful not to steal a part of anyone´s alma. I have a few pictures of the village though. If you ever come to Mexico, San Cristóbal de las Casas and the indigenous villages around it are where you need to absolutely need to come. We also visited another village, where we were able to see a girl and an older woman doing traditional Mayan backstrap weaving and also a girl and a woman making tortillas by hand. We learned about the traditional dress of the people. Pictures to come of those. Also, every different indigenous group basically has their own type of dress. They´re all so beautiful. I have a few pictures of those too.
I´ve met travelers from all over the place in these two nights!! People from Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the U.S., Iceland, Iran, Mexico of course, and I can´t even remember where else. Ohh! Yesterday morning, these 3 women arrived on a bus from Mexico City. 2 women from Slovenia and another women from India. The Slovenians are most likely in their 50s and the women from India has to be in her late 60s. They are such a riot! The girl who slept in the bed next to mine these past few nights, from Germany, and I laughed so much last night! We came back to the dorm, and the Slovenians asked us if we wanted to warm up (yea, it´s FREEZING here right now... not even 60 degrees Monterrey, I´m talking I have 2 shirts, a sweater and a jacket on right now. It must be around 40 degrees outside.). Then one of them pulled out a bottle of schnapps she brought from Slovenia. We each had a very small shot of schnapps which was really strong and warmed us up. She also had a water bottle of water mixed with schnapps so it´s not that strong, which wasn´t too bad either. Apparently when they drove down here on the bus the other morning, the Indian woman was sitting behind them (the buses are soo cold, they keep the air on even when it´s freezing outside) and could smell something (the really strong schnapps) and wondered what they were up to. Those three are probably the most interesting people I have met so far. It´s really fun to hear their travel and life stories and to just laugh and laugh and laugh.
This morning I packed up. Ester (from Germany) and I are taking a bus this afternoon to Palenque, where we´ll stay the night and visit the ruins tomorrow. As I was leaving I got two huge kisses on either side of my face from the Slovenian women. It was almost a sacred sort of experience, blessing me as I went about my travels.
I´m really excited to get to Palenque. All the travelers I have met that have been there recently say it´s warmer than it is here (we´re up in the mountains here), and I´m excited to move onto another hostel and meet more travelers. Oh, and the ruins! I am pumped to see THE Palenque, whose original name wasn´t really Palenque.
After Palenque, I may head up to Mérida and Valladolid in the state of Yucatán. I had originally planned on going straight to Playa del Carmen, Tulúm and Cancún before flying back to Monterrey on Monday morning, but I´ve heard that those are all just touristy/beachy places. Mérida sounds interesting, and it sounds like the people there really have a very distinct culture and attitude. So it´s looking like it will be Yucatán and THEN Quintana Roo (Playa, Tulum, Cancún). It´s an 8 hour bus ride from Palenque to Mérida, so I´m sooooo pumped about spending another night on a bus. 😉
I´ll most likely update again when I get back from my trip, sometime after November the 27th. I hope all is well, and I hope you´re keeping warm! I´ll try to. I can´t WAIT to be on the beach in a few days!!!
Oh, P.S. the route map was my original route, not with the Yucatán stops, FYI.
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James
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Katliiiiiiennn!
Hey I wanted to see how your doin' down south! Now i'm so jealous! I ought to fly down there and poke you in the left eye. No wait - the right eye.. your right handed right? Monterrey is frozen. I had a taco. it was nice. We miss our Irish potato Kathleeeeen.... catch-up when you get back before you leave. peace out (peace in).