San Cristobal...My home away from home

North America » Mexico » Chiapas » San Cristobal de las Casas
November 7th 2006

Published: December 21st 2006

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edgarklng

Hostel Posada 5

The most peacefull place in Mexico

Left Mexico City and took an overnight bus to San Cristobal De las Casas. It took 14 hours altogether and at 5.30am I was knackered and waiting for a nice warm bed.

Joined Rachel from Ireland at Hostal Posada 5, as she arrived a day earlier and found a really nice hostel run by Olivero and his wife, a lovely and hospitable couple. After 6 weeks of being on the road, it was really nice to find a hostel that makes you feel like you are at home. Nice single beds with large windows overlooking the garden and mountains. It was to be the most peaceful place in Mexico for me. I felt so at home there and spent a week exploring around town and relaxing in the hammocks of the hostel backyard.

In San Cristobal you will see pockets of little quiant cafes and restaurants along streets paved with limestones. Although you see travellers around, it doesn´t have that touristy feel and to me that is pretty important.

It was really cold in San Cristobal as we were up in the mountains.
Throughout my stay here, I visited small towns nearby like Chamula, Zinancantan and Ocosingo and

Hostel Posada 5

The dorm overlooking the beautiful skyline of San Cristobal De Las Casas

saw the traditional markets. It was pretty difficult to take pictures as the locals did not like their pictures being taken. Managed to somehow. But in Zinancantan, the children were very entreprising and offered to have their pictures taken for some pesos!

Went on a day tour to see Canon Del Sumidero. A river that is surrounded by really tall canyons.
It was a peaceful boat ride as you get to see some wildlife and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

One of the best nights in San Cristobal had to be when Lily from UK, Ania from Poland, Sebastian from Quebec (my friends from the hostel) and I went to a pub called Revolucion and met a very nice couple who bought us drinks and later invited us to their Mediterranean restaurant Mare Nostrum nearby.
They opened bottles after bottles of red wine and champagne. We had cheese platters, prawns, fish and steak for dinner. The desserts were also to die for!. They then took us to a salsa club and another club thereafter and insisted on paying for everything. Unbelievable but true. The hospitality of these loving couple were amazing and special. We had a fanstastic time and

Hostel Posada 5

finished at 5am!

Took a salsa class with Lily whom I had met in Mexico City. It was real work trying to learn salsa over 2 hours at a school. I had to start off by learning how to swirl a hoola hoop around my waist to learn how to move! Ha ha what a sight to behold. I felt like my body was detached from my head..but it was good fun and I learned some new spiffy moves....

Loved the local mercado or markets. Bought fresh vegetables and cooked quite a bit at the hostel.
The fresh produce from the local markets were so, so, so cheap.
You could have a tasty chicken taco for a mere 3 pesos! Unbelievable.
Organised a small party before I left and we had some cheese, fried rice, salsa and tostadas....and not to mention agua loca, a drink made from Tequila and rice syrup....

Spent my birthday here and hung out with Liz from Australia. We went on a day tour of Ocosingo and I partied the night away at the local bar.

After a week in San Cristobal I knew it was time to go. Reluctantly I bought