Canyons and doing the tourist thing

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Today I took a cheap tour out to Sumidero Canyon - 160 pesos for transport - about an hour away, a 2 hour boat ride in a canyon, and a visit to a small village.

The landscape becomes much dryer heading out of here (towards Tuxla Guitterez) - descending browner mountains with fewer trees, and at this time of year trees without leaves. REalize I miss the green. The canyon was specactular - and quiter which I needed. The cliffs are 100 metres high in places, straight down, and with some interesting formations, birds - crow like, hawk like birds and herons, and saw, from a distance some spider monkeys in the trees and an alligator or crocodile. Also in one open cave was a chapel with the virgin of Guadaloupe, and in one area land hanging off the cliff like mushrooms on a tree. Our boat had the 15 of us on the tour and the only people we saw were about 5 other boats in passing. Only drawback is that up at the top of the canyon near the hydro dam were plastic bottles (coke, water etc( floating in the water - that is what makes up the trash by the sides of roads, in villages etc for there is little else except candy wrappers that is not biodegradable/burnable. Makes me wonder how nice roadsides looked before the invention of plastic bottles. The trip did me good - quieter after the constant sales here.

I was going to go to San Juan Chamula near hear which has a big Sunday Market, and even though it would have been interesting I was glad for nature again. Tommorow I go there and to Zinacantan on another tour - having the San Cristobal experience - doing the tours. Makes me think about the role of tourism and me as a tourist - it's effects on development and life. For instance here, you cant sit down or eat a meal without someone trying to sell you bracelets and blankets and belts. Also makes me think that I am not as daring here - ran into an older couple who I had met on the bus to Palenque - and they took the collectivos to the villages and walked from one to another - still sometimes being a woman alone not speaking spanish makes me a little less daring.

The tour also included an hour in a small quiet village of Chiapa de Corzo - fairly dead on a Sunday afternoon - and hot being at a much lower elevation (we are about 2225 metres here). Had an old church and convent from the 16th century (I am visiting alot of historical churchs), a small municipal market, and a bit open square with little shade.

Now in town, eat dinner - not really into the scene here. Still not sure about my next destination.

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Comments

[Hi]

as u are not sure where to go next, have you considered going to central Mexico? places like Guanajuato (Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Dolores) and Michoacan (Morelia, Janitzio, Patzcuaro are beautiful. In Guanajuato there are good spanish language schools. If you are feeling guilty about the poverty in Chiapas, in Guatemala the panorama is not better, actually its worse, but still its a lovely country. It would say its more ethnic than Chiapas. Safe travels.