San Cristóbal, Palenque and Mérida

---

---

Hi all,

After my week in Oaxaca, I headed to the state of Chiapas to a little city called San Cristóbal de las Casas. I had debated whether to go or not for a while, but eventually, after several different people I met at the hostel in Oaxaca urged me to go, I decided that I would. The reason for my original uncertainty is that I had heard from a lot of people that it is extremely cold there. Indeed, at an altitude of 2,100 meters (almost 7000 ft) the place does get pretty damn chilly. It was for this reason alone that I only stayed 3 days, because aside from the cold nights and mornings (during the day it was lovely and sunny), the city is absolutely wonderful. I filled my days with strolls through the streets, taking in the pretty and colourful buildings, and sipping coffee at the many fantastic cafes and restaurants dotted throughout the town. The hostel I was staying at was pretty good, but it didn't serve breakfast as many other hostels in Mexico do, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it prompted me to go to some of the cafes nearby, all of which served the most delicious fruit salads with yogurt and granola for breakfast. This was so good that, rather than branching out and trying some of the other menu options, I had it three days straight, at three different places. Of all the many things I am going to miss about Mexico, I think that the delicious fruit (particularly the papaya and the watermelon which is just so damn good here) is going to be one of the things I miss the most. Now, while we are on the subject of food, it seems fitting to mention the coffee. I'd heard that the coffee in Chiapas was supposed to be great, and that was one of the main reasons I had wanted to go to San Cristóbal. And thus I can confirm that the region's reputation for good coffee is well-deserved: it was absolutely delicious. Whilst in the city, I also had what I think must be the nicest hot chocolate I have ever tried. The place I bought it from, Kakao Natura, featured in the Lonely Planet, which is usually a good enough reason to avoid it (I've fast begun to distrust that guide!) but I stumbled across it on one of my strolls through the city, and decided I would try one of the hot chocolates out, and am so glad that I did. The following day I popped back in and bought a few of the chocolates on sale there. Feeling that something so yummy ought to be shared, I bought a couple for myself and a couple for a lady I'd met at my hostel, who wasn't feeling very well. It might not work for everyone, but for me at least, when I'm under the weather, chocolate often makes me feel better! The markets around the city were another highlight, whether they were selling fruits and food, clothing or other artisan products. The markets in Mexico are generally very enjoyable to wander through, with all the colours, noises and smells, but I think that some of the markets in San Cristóbal were among my favourite.

From San Cristóbal I took a bus to Palenque, which itself is a boring town with nothing going on, but it is the home of some incredible old ruins. The Mayans lived in the area between around 220 BC and 1120 AD, during which time they built many temples and a palace, and many of the structures have been well excavated and preserved. Set in the steamy jungle, the place offered a drastic contrast to the chilly highlands of San Cristóbal, but I must say that the heat was very much welcomed (although I wasn't such a fan of the mosquitos). The bus I took was extremely cheap (about £5 for a 5-hour journey) but I guess you get what you pay for, as the bus was over an hour late! Luckily whilst waiting at the bus station I got talking to a Mexican guy who works at a high school in Palenque, and he gave me some background information on Palenque and the surrounding areas. I ended up arriving pretty late, so the first evening I did very little other than sleep. I got up early the next morning to try to get to the ruins as early as possible, in the hopes of avoiding some of the crowds (it is, quite deservedly, a very popular place to visit). You could climb on and around many of the structures in Palenque, which was a lot of fun, and provided some great views. What made the place special though, and set it apart from many of the other archeological sites in Mexico, was the gorgeous jungle setting, and a tranquil waterfall on the site, which you could get quite close to by crossing a rickety little bridge. After wandering around the site for a while, I retreated into a shady spot in order to sit back and take in the views for a bit (and eat my jam sandwiches), and I got talking to a lady from Portugal who had au paired in London for several years. She now lives in Germany, and thus is able to speak Portugese, English, German, as well as decent Spanish. Encounters like that are awesome, but it did make me feel slightly inadequate, with my still fairly basic grasp of the Spanish language. It always impresses me when people have such a talent for languages. By and large on my travels it seems that Swiss people are the best with language proficiency, although Dutch and German people often seem to do pretty well too! Having said that, in comparison to us Brits, who, no offense, generally lean back on the fact that most people (in Europe at least) can speak English, are usually fairly bad (or just plain lazy) with languages! That's not to say that I've not met any English people on my travels who can speak Spanish fluently too, but, from my experience at least, we score pretty low on that front in comparison to people from other countries. After I'd seen and climbed on all the structures around the site, I headed over to the museum. When I arrived, I saw a couple of rather agitated-looking people being turned away at the entrance by a security guard wielding a large gun (a common sight in Mexico and thus not one to be alarmed by, but it seemed worth mentioning). Not sure what the deal was, I went over and asked him whether the museum was open. He quite curtly told me it was closed. At this point one of the staff members came near to the door so I called to him to ask why the museum was closed. Now, I'm not normally one to make a fuss, but it was about 2pm and the museum is supposed to be open normal business hours until about 5pm. He offered little explanation as to why it was closed, but after asking where I was from and then having a brief conversation with me, he went off to speak to another staff member quickly. After this he returned and told me I could come in and look around, but I would have to be very quick and would have to be accompanied by one of the workers. I found this a little odd, but I appreciated it nonetheless, so I made my way around the exhibits quietly and rather stealthily. When I was finished, I thanked the staff there as profusely as I could with my limited Spanish, and then took a colectivo (a sort of minivan that functions in a similar way to a bus but with less formal timetables and stops) back to Palenque. As I said, there's very little to do in the town, so after wandering around for a bit, I went to one of the nearby restaurants (which had been mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide) and had what was probably the only bad meal I'd had in Mexico. I'd gone for the chicken, chips and vegetables as the waiter told me it came with broccoli, but he neglected to tell me that the whole dish would be doused in grease and butter. Perhaps that's to some people's liking so I tell you all this at the risk of sounding very finicky, but I found myself trying to swab away the butter with the napkins provided, and, adding insult to injury, it didn't even have any broccoli in the end! As the chips weren't even cooked properly, I at least felt justified in not eating them, but I felt pretty bad about how much of the rest of the meal I had to leave, so I dashed off very quickly after paying the bill!

The next day I left early to catch an 8-hour bus to the city of Mérida in the state of Yucatán. I almost missed the bus, as the jam sandwiches I'd made the evening before had been stolen (yes, stolen!) from the communal fridge (how appalling is that?!) and so I had to make some more. Slightly stressed and red-faced I got to the bus station just in time. Now, I don't know if it was just because I had been reading the Game of Thrones (which has been made into a TV series featuring Sean Bean, which perhaps made my mind quicker to make the association), but I got talking to a guy from Germany on the bus and he looked SO much like Sean Bean, it was uncanny. Fairly sure Sean Bean isn't German though. Anyway, 8 hours later I arrived in Mérida. And it was pretty much all downhill from there. The first evening and the following morning I was feeling slightly dodgy, and soon enough I found myself horrendously ill. After waiting 24 hours to see if it passed, which it didn't, I asked the hostel I was staying at to call a doctor for me, who diagnosed it as a stomach infection and fever. Luckily it was something he sees quite often, so he had the necessary medication with him (antibiotics for the infection and tablets for the stomach pain) so I was able to start them straight away. And so, I don't have much to say about my first 5 days in Mérida, as I spent most of my time asleep or, on the rare occasions that I was awake, in a state of incoherency and pain (think this is a cue for the world's smallest violin again)! Indeed, this was one of the few times that I've been ill when chocolates certainly would not make me feel better! The hostel I was staying at (Nomadas Hostel) was great, and there were some awesome people staying there, but the 10-bed dorm I was staying in was not ideal for the state I was in, so I left there and checked into a lovely quiet little hostel called Casa Chalia where I got a private room to sleep my days away in. Luckily the treatment worked well, and once I was able to be up and about again, I was able to finally see some of the sights that I'd come to Mérida to see. The German Sean Bean guy had been to Mérida before, and on the bus he had shown me some pictures of the main plaza at night which looked beautiful, so I headed down there several times to enjoy the large shady plaza which is surrounded by some incredible buildings and a grand Cathedral. I'd also heard from other people at my hostel, that one of the streets in Mérida, called Paseo de Montejo, was a must-see, as it is a very pictureseque wide street with many grand buildings and mansions. The street is indeed very lovely, although to my amusement, as well as stunning mansions, I also found an Adecco building there as well (I hadn't realised it before, but it seems that there are Adecco's all over the world!) On my last full day in the city I took a bus to the nearby archeological site of Uxmal. The exact dates during which the Mayans occupied this city are not known for certain, but it seems that the city reached its peak between around 850 and 925 AD. With more intricate and detailed carvings on the buildings, including carvings of turtles on what is aptly named the 'Turtle House', I found that Uxmal was one of my favourite archeological sites. As in Palenque, you were permitted to climb on most of the structures, which always makes the experience more fun. And as in Palenque, and as is my custom, once I had walked through, and on, most of the platforms, ballcourts and other buildings, I retreated to a shady bench with a nice view, and ate my lunch (jam sandwiches)!

With two weeks left in the country, I next went to an awesome little town called Valladolid. But I shall talk more about that in my next (and final!) blog. Thanks for reading!

---

Photos

Aaand Another Street in San Cristóbal
With a view in the background of the mountains

Nice Building in San Cristóbal
I think this was the home of a (closed) museum, but I don't quite remember!

Pretty View
From one of the structures in Palenque

Mansion in Mérida
On the Paseo de Montejo street

Uxmal
The Pyramid of the Magician

Comments

[A to the P to the Awesome]

Cheese
Although eating the same sandwiches for lunch everyday should only be admired by any non-savage being, cheese sandwiches are better than jam ones. Possibly this is why your jam sandwiches were stolen. The wise Sandwich God gave you an opportunity to eat cheese sandwiches and you basically blew it...