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Published: April 25th 2011
The Mayan woman knees down holding some of her handmade crafts. Around her back wrapped in a blanket a child sleeps. She wears a black woolen skirt and and a colorful top with embroidered pattern of her indigenous tribe. She holds up her hands with some necklesses and looks towards me saying something like "It's beautiful, only for 10 pesos".
That's a typical picture of streets life in San Cristobal de las Casas. A town in the middle of Chiapas that I embraced so much that instead of staying here two days I ended up staying here for two weeks! This place has got something, something special. Some people say it's the unique atmosphere, a mixture of indigenous culture, arts, tourists, caf'ês and the mexican music.
The so called "Santa Semana" week is almost over and I had really good time here. Of course I wouldn't have stayed here that long if I hadn't met so many nice people.
First of all, the hostel I stayed at was so amazing! Small, cute, cozy with a beautiful terrace from where you had a view over the San Cristobal with its cathedral and churches. Every morning waking up my eyes
behold this gorgeous view with mountains towering over the town in background.
The best about San Cristobal are the numerous cafês and bars where always something is happening. Every each one has its own atmosphere and style. You can also easily meet people, listen to a live band or watch some artists performing their show.
Just yesterday, that is Saturday, we had a crazy party in our hostel. It was the Easter party. We would eat, drink and dance till midnight. After midnight we would go out with a whole bunch of people (something like 15!) and party till the very morning. I am telling you guys I just love that place! :-)
But besides partying and sitting in cafês I also did some nice excursions. First of all, I visited a Mayan community called Chamula. It's a common touristic place where you can witness some of the indigenous rituals. It was highly forbidden to take any pictures of the rituals. Apparently they enforce the rule so strik that some guys landed in prison for not complying with it.
Another excursion was a Zapatista village high in the mountains where not many tourists go to. For
those of you who are not familiar with the Zapatista movement a short explanation: Zapatistas fight for the rights of indigenous people. They reject the authority of Mexican government and see themselves as independet entity.
Upon arriving to the village we had to present our passports and answer some questions before they let us in. The village itself wasn't special but there were some nice wall paintings of famous revolutioners like Che Guevera and Emiliano Zapata. Also the ride back to San Cristobal was exceptional as we caught a pick up truck to bring us home.
In meantime a strange thing happened in the hostel. As you know there are not many Polish people travelling in Mexico. And suddenly two guys from Poland, independetly, moved in. I couldn't believe it! Both experienced travellers. One older one and a big drinker but the other one was my age and an abstinent. I sort of got closer to the latter one and we are going to travel together from now on.
In addition, there was a hostel just across the plaza where my hostel was located and guess who would be running it? Yes, my friends yes, a Polish
woman together with her Mexican husband! And because another hippie couple from Poland had just arrived, we would be 6 Poles in total. It was funny as people were wondering what a godamn language we would speak to each other and why there are suddenly so many Polish people in San Cristobal.
Except for Chamula and the Zapatista village we also went to another Mayan community called Zinacantan. It was less impressive than Chamula and the Easter ceremony, we went there on Good Friday, was pretty confusing. Apparently the Mayan people have their own tradition, which merges the catholic practices with their own old customs. The whole thing looked really weird.
As I wasn't keen on wandering solely in Mayan communities, one day I decided to visit some of the nearby nature wanders. I am talking now about the spectacular Canon de Sumidero - a must see site if you are in San Cristobal.
This Canon is located only one hour away from San Cristobal close to the capital of Chiapas - Tuxtla Gutierrez. It is an amazing place where a river cuts its way through mountains. The highest cliff reaches 1000 meters (ca. 3300 feet) and
it is very steep. The whole tour takes about two hours and they take you there on a motorboat. Except for the splendid views one could also see some crocodiles sunbathing on the shores of the river.
After the crazy party we had on Easter Saturday the following day was supposed to be a relaxing one. But there was the famous Easter parade everyone was talking about. So we didn't have any other choice than going to the main square of San Cristobal called Zocalo.
The parade I would compare to the famous Rio carneval. There was loud disco music, girls dressed in bikinies and many dance groups. Unthinkable such a think in conservative Poland or even in other european countries on Easter Sunday I guess. I took some nice pictures I will show you later...
And so my adventure in San Cristobal found its end. Today, that's Easter Monday, I am going on a night bus to Zipolite, a small town at the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca.
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