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Published: August 18th 2006
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Sumidero Canyon
The symbol of the Chiapas region Six months and 13 countries later (all completely new to me except for 10 days in Argentina 2 years ago and a day in Mexico when I was 8), and I've made it to Europe!!!!
MY LAST DAYS IN MEXICO
Day five of my stomach wog and I started taking the 3 day cure-all drug Daxon - don't leave home without it! - and by day 8, my appetite returned and I stopped eating chicken and vege soup, and by day 9 I was back to normal - yippee!! So I could make the most of my last couple of days in Mexico - well, if the night bus from Tulum hadn't arrived in San Cristobal 3 hours late!! Acually, I was completely exhausted when I arrived in the little colonial town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, high up in the mountains in the heart of Chiapas, famous for the Zapatista rebellion staged there in 1994 (a left-wing group fighting for indigenous rights in a region where 1 in 4 people are Mayan). I went to the nearest cheap hospedaje to the bus station, and slept - after booking a tour to the famous Sumidero Canyon the next
day, followed by another night bus to Mexico DF (Mexico City), and quickly checking out the market.
The Canon del Sumidero is pictured on the flag of the region, Chiapas, and we took a 2 hour boat ride through the heart of the canyon, seeing the crocodiles, bird and monkey life it has to offer. I found it rather unfortunate to see one section full of floating rubbish - probably from the multitude of passing tourist speedboats every day. That's one thing you note about Latin and Central America - the people have no notion of environmental conservation. If a child misses when trying to throw the empty plastic bottle out the bus window, be sure that his mother will help by showing him how to do it properly!
On the way back, we had an hour to wander the lovely little town of Chiapa de Corzo. Then I went to the markets in San Cristobal to buy a lovely skirt and top, and on the way back I happened upon an outfit to wear to my friend's wedding in August! What a pleasant change to do a bit of clothes shopping!! 😊😊😊
I seem to be
Sumidero Canyon
In the speedboat unlucky with bus journeys. This time, I had to wait three hours for the bus to arrive - there had been some problem and they had to put us on another bus. I arrived at around 10.30am rather than 6.30am at Mexico DF, to be met by Armando! My delightful friend had 'popped down' on a night bus from Monterrey to see me off! So we headed out to check my bags in at the airport, and spent the day wandering the enormous Archaelogical Museum in Mexico City, detailing all the early civilizations of Mexico, with some fabulous examples of archaeology and artesinal products.
Another teary goodbye and I was on my plane to Spain!
CULTURE SHOCK
Wow, what a culture shock! I went into a restaurant toilet where there was a rubbish bin filled with paper, and automatically dropped the loo paper in the basket rather than in the toilet!! * I'm still not used to the hot showers, so that when the electricity went off for a day in Madrid center, I felt right at home! * I ordered a strawberry batido (milkshake) yesterday and was horrified at the sugary sirop they used rather than
Sumidero Canyon
The 'Christmas tree' - note the Mayan face in the rock above the tree shaped waterfall freshly blended strawberries! * I'm a little surprised each time I realise you can actually drink the water, but I'm not quite used to the idea of so much water being wasted each time it gushes out of the taps here! * And everything is so CLEAN!! Not at all the image I had coming to Madrid from Geneva a few years back! Even the Peruvian restaurant we went into the other day had such clean beautiful toilets! * Then there are the buses - I tried to flag one down on the street and my friends told me you had to wait at the bus stop!! How ridiculous! 😊 * There are no stalls on the side of the road to grab a cheap bite to eat if you're hungry, and everything is 10 times the price! I arrived at the airport and changed my 50 pesos (which could buy a good deal in Mexico) for a measly 2.35 euros!!! Then the computer ate up one euro when it didn't work! I was horrified that half my money was gone, and it would cost more to ring up to complain than the one euro I had lost!
It
Sumidero Canyon
View from under the 'Christmas tree' is certainly strange to be back in 'civilization', so to speak, where people spend their spare time sipping drinks on terraces and shopping in boutiques. Everyone has televisions in their rooms, so they don't congregate in local restaurants to watch the TV while they eat with little kids standing outside looking in. You can't go to the market down the street every day to buy fresh vegetables and fruit that are freshly picked from the garden and brought there that morning in a cloth tied over the womens' shoulders. People don't come onto the bus to sell softdrinks and snacks, or to ask for money, or to give a presentation on the latest chinese medicine.
It's funny to to be 10 hours by plane on the other side of the world, but still be in a Spanish-speaking country! Well, the accent and expressions are quite different. I can't quite get used to using 'vosotros' rather than 'ustedes'! And to think this is the country that conquered the Spanish-speaking Americas and exported their culture, religion and architecture to the 'new world'.
ANOTHER SHOCK
So I arrived at Isabelle's place last Friday, after lugging my bags all around Madrid
(Isabelle came on exchange to my school in Australia). She also had two of her Parisian friend's staying, and they were all getting ready to go out for drinks at the French Consulate. I was all prepared to go, when suddenly I looked down at my legs, no longer thin with small ankles jutting out, but enormous!! I nearly died at how swollen they were, and immediately started imagining the worst - possibly Deep Vein Thrombosis like my father had. I decided to stay home and rest with my legs up, and felt a lot better after talking to my dad for a couple of hours on Skype to hear his symptoms. I think my body was just reacting to the 18 hour night bus followed by a 12 hour night bus one night later, and then a 10 hour plane flight to top it all off!
THIS IS SPAIN!
Well, the next morning (or rather, afternoon - in Spain you don't go to bed before 4 or 5am on weekends, and midnight on weekdays - lunch is eaten around 2 or 3 or even 4 in the afternoon, and at around 11pm people eat a light dinner
of tapas - jobs even have 'summer' hours, finishing at 3pm!) my legs were back to normal and I joined Isabelle and her friends for a bit of shopping before going to meet Puig, who came down specially from Barcelona, and Sonia, who put on a party at her new appartment Saturday night (both friends I knew in Geneva). It was so much fun! Of course, we slept from around 5am until about 1pm the next day! A walk in Park Retiro and a drink on a terrace was about all we could handle before we all returned to sleep (at around midnight). Sonia was complaining that she had to get up at 6am for her new job (finishing at 3pm) - after all, she said 'this is Spain'!
On Monday I finally started to feel normal again - I'm sure jetlag has something to do with it, but after visiting so many countries with no more than an hour's time difference, if that, the thought of needing to recover from jetlag hadn't even crossed my mind! So I have spent the last few days in Madrid, sleeping in, walking in the parks, meeting my friends for tapas on
Chiapa de Corzo
The biggest hamburger you've ever seen!! a terrace... oh, and looking for shoes for the wedding I'm going to in France! As usual, no size 42 anywhere!
Tomorrow I'm back to Geneva, nearly 8 months after packing up my life there! I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again, but I'm sure it will seem like I never left! How nice it is to relax in Europe for a while!
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