San Cristobal

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Suprisingly well rested after our overnight bus journey we reach the sunny skies and friendly faces of San Cristobal at around 10am. We are greeted by Alex who informs us of his new hostel run by he and his mother. We immediately warm to him and his offer and it is not until we have spoken to a few more people that we realise the 100 peso’s is per person rather than per room.

Searching for what turned out to be an overpriced breakfast, we meet Marcos, Alex’s ‘partner’. Marcos has a hostel for 100 pesos a night and we stay there. An interesting place and an interesting guy... Marcos, he informs us, is 65 and a shaman who owns several hostels for indigenous Indians to practice Shamanism (still haven’t figured out why they’re called Indians)!! He has also written two books and is writing his third which he boasts will be 500 pages long. Interesting, as he sits all day long on the sofa smoking cigarettes or cannabis and watching films, occasionally popping to the shop to buy beer (which he complains is making him feel strange).

He has asked James to make a website for him in return for free accommodation, food and drugs for as long as we want. Seeing as we have already paid for accommodation until today, and only have one or two days left, the hostel has a good kitchen and the food here is the best we’ve found (vegetarian restaurants galore) and we don’t want the drugs, we tried to negotiate some free tours along with two free nights’ accommodation. Marcos is taking some time to think on this, while James fixes his computer apparently broken by the maid (I have my doubts)!

San Cristobal itself is refreshingly friendly, the slab streets make clip clop noises like horses hooves as the VW beetles drive over them, and the weather, although interchangeable, is pleasant. Our first day was hot and sunny and beautiful. Yesterday and today are balmy with a chilly wind. The light has an extraordinary blue tint which gives the town something of a mystical aura.

Yesterday we took a tour to Canyon del Sumadero and to the town of Chiapas. The town of Chiapas was much like San Cristobal and un-extraordinary. A speed boat took us racing through the canyon stopping briefly to point out some crocs, cormorants, egrets and pelicans and to pass through the brown gloop held together by bottles, plastic bags and other non-biodegradable waste washed down from the town above. Our guide also pointed out the high points of the canyon walls, death caves, and a point where either the Spaniards or Indigenous people jumped off at either the beginning or end of colonialism. Such ambiguity of fact coloured most of the trip as we tried to comprehend the fast speaking Mexican guide and a friendly Spaniard whose English was only a little better than our Spanish. Annoyingly a posh English bloke piped up at the very end giving a very accurate description of the hydro electric dams which the guide had apparently been describing and informing us that the guide wanted a tip! If only he had piped up earlier I may have been able to describe the canyon a little better.. but then I suppose we wouldn’t have practiced our Spanish so much!

Lunch and dinner made for a very happy Laurena. Vegetarian Quasedilla for lunch and a Menu de Dia Vegetarianio for dinner!

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Photos

Canyon del Sumadero
The image of the region of Chiapas