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Published: February 11th 2009
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San Cristobal de las Casas is one of our favourite cities so far. It is surrounded by mountains, has a great city centre with standard colonial architecture, and has lots of shops and good restaurants. It also has a great artisan's market. Most of the things we have seen for sale in the Yucutan and elsewhere were actually made in the Chiapas (this state), and we therefore waited to buy these things until we got here, as they are several times cheaper (also, it is more likely that the money goes right to the artisans, since you are buying it from their stalls). We went to this artisan's market probably once a day, and wandered around the rows of stalls. There are great jewelery and textiles, mostly, and to get good prices, you really have to bargain hard. We met an Israeli couple in our hostel who tried to give us haggling lessons. Their tips were things like 'You are Canadian, so you are too polite - you have to be rude!' We met them in the market one day, and they shook their heads at our bargaining techniques (the London boys do not seem to be good at being rude,
either). They took us in hand; we walked around the market and they got us a bunch of great deals.
The Chiapas is also the source of much amber. It is found all over the region. You can buy amber everywhere; though one should be wary about buying it in the streets or artisans market, because there is a lot of fake amber. With the cherubs, we went to see the amber museum. From what we could gather, it was very interesting. Lots of stats about how much amber costs and where it was found. We got the gist, but not much more as the museum was all in Spanish. Lorenzo wasn't up for translating. Nevertheless, we saw some amazing pieces and sculptures. We also went to a museum on Mayan medicine. This was very interesting, as it highlighted the influence of the Spanish on Mayan culture. Polytheistic beliefs combined with Christian beliefs in Jesus and God. The influence of both is present in medical practices.
The hostel we are staying in is by far our favourite hostel on the trip. It is called Le Gite de Sol, and is run by a Montreal couple. Among many other
Blair and pony
Actually, this was the biggest of ponys we were given. things, we got a great room for four, extra blankets, and great hot showers. Danny, the guy in charge (nicest guy ever), arranged for us to have a horseback tour of the surrounding mountains.
The horseback riding started inauspiciously - we arrived at the stable, but we were still definitely in the city. Some horses were led out, which looked healthy enough, and we clambered aboard, and proceeded to follow our guide down sidewalks and roads. We walked past a supermarket and gas station. After about 15min of walking through the city outskirts, we found ourselves in the country, which was nicer. This part of the ride was very fun - the guide didn't mind if we cantered on ahead of him, so we did. At least, those of us who could urge our horses out of a walk did. But as one horse moves faster, so do the others, in general, so we all managed some good medium-fast-speed riding. The countryside was beautiful as we wound our way up the mountains. At the top, we dismounted for a break and took a peek at a nearby town on market day. The ride was pretty good, we agreed, although
Simon got the smallest pony
Simon tried hard to take just one picture of the riders behind him. He would stop his horse and turn around, and the horse would immediately move away again. This happened many times. we only went onto an unpaved trail once - that was very fun, but there should have been more of this type of cross-country riding.
We must have eaten somewhere sketchy, because three of us - Laura, Blair and Simon - got a nasty bout of food poisoning. Lorenzo was fine, which was fortunate, because he and Simon had to leave the next day to catch a flight to Equador. This was such a sad parting, not only because we will miss the cherubs like crazy, but because we were all so weak and sick, hugging each other from beds. Simon miserably hoisted his pack onto his back, and they were out the door. The day and night after that were frigid - we (just Laura and Blair, now) spent the time huddled together in one bed. Because of the altitude, it is quite cool here, but it got colder and colder (making us like San Cristobal less and less). We piled eight blankets onto ourselves and ate cornflakes from a box, when we could.
Then, Julius came! We met him in Merida, and he was now travelling in Mexico city and decided to meet up with us
and travel about for a while. So, we stayed in San Cristobal for a few more days, getting healthier, and then left with Julio for Guatemala.
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