San Cristobal de las Casas

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In San Cristobal (a very cute colonial and clean city in the mountains) we found the"Magic Hostel" (recommended by the Lonely Planet) close to the city center. When we arrived we already felt the cold and we were really tired of all the activities of all the previous days and decided to go to bed early. It was quite strange to sleep under two, three thick blankets and wearing our warmest clothes- instead of the thin sheets that were even too much in Palenque, but we slept long...we obviously had a bit of sleep to catch up on.

The next day we relaxed in the hammocks at the hostel, reading up on activities, and walked in the city for a bit, but mostly relaxed and had a good time with the other people in the hostel. We met an Austrian-Swedish couple who are travelling all the way from Canada down to the southern tip of South America on their motorbikes, in a year and a half...incredible! They also joined us the next day when we went horse riding through the mountains to a traditional maya market in San Juan Chamula.
Krista had only rode a horse once, and got quite excited especially after she found out that her horse was pigheaded and just did what he wanted (walking when the others were standing still...for example). Things worsened when the horse started to trot and Krista kept bumping up and down, because the stirrups were too long. (At this point it may be interesting to add we were not wearing helmets...) Thinking about how hilarious this must all look (combined with fear of falling off) Krista started laughing hysterically. Krista could not stop laughing, OR stop the horse) any more and so Flora started cracking up too...

After the hilarious and bumpy horse ride we "parked" the horses, walked for 30 minutes and finally arrived in San Juan Chamula. Here we saw a totally different Mayan people that we'd seen up to this point. They dress in woolen skirts (men too) and we found they have somewhat strange beliefs (well, to us anyway). They believe that the earth is a cube which is surrounded by pillars! We learn more every day....

Before we visited the church we both needed to use the bathroom, which was an experience in itself. There were 4 stalls and about 15 Mayan women with kids. All the older women got priority so we felt we would never get our turn. At one point an old lady tapped Krista´s shoulder and started giggling (which amused us too), she was amazed by the freckles on Krista's back. She then continued to have a long discussion with her friend about the freckles, saying they were like kisses from God. Finally we got our turn in the toilet, which was disgusting...let's just say it was a smelly and wet room.

In the church we saw quite a different scene. The floor was covered in pine needles and lots of Mayan people (often families seated in circles) were seated on the ground with candles, eggs and live chickens (these were part of their ceremonies) saying prayers, quite an amazing sight. Apparently these chickens are then sacrificied, we didn't witness this however.

After that we had to go back to the horses (to Krista's delight) and rode back to San Cristobal through the hills, beautiful landscapes. The horses got more excited as they realised we were heading back home. The horses didn't listen to any of the signals we gave, mostly just reacted to the shouts of our "guide" (a young boy who spoke 2 words of English). The horses started to trot but this time didn't slow down. More laughter and panic from Krista, and the horse decided to run straight under a branch, leaving Krista to "hug the tree"!! 😊 Leaving her with a lovely scratch on her nose.

The next day we sat in a shuttle bus for 10 hours, a lovely activity when every muscle in your body is aching....!! On top of that sharing a little foldout chair for 2 hours :P

But we both had an impressive day learning about the views and beliefs of the Mayans, and a memorable last day in Mexico for now.

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