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Published: September 16th 2018
Today we’re leaving Cancun and flying to Chiapas! But our flight isn’t until 2:30, so we have the morning to wander around. We decided to check out the nearest market, Mercado 28. Yes, they number the markets. I’d read that Mercado 28 is a good place for real local food and vibe. We left the hotel at 9, because nothing in Cancun opens before that.
It took us just 10 minutes or so to get there, and the first stalls were just opening. We needed breakfast too, so we sat at one of the restaurants there. All very touristy, the kind where they come out to greet you and try to force you inside. But lacking options we just ordered coffee and toast while we waited for the market to open.
The entire market consisted of souvenirs aimed at foreign tourists, A disappointment, to be sure. We browsed around, looked at some stuff (mostly junk), and finally decided that the best thing to do with the couple of hours left until we had to go to the airport was to relax at the hotel, update the blog and order a taxi.
Our taxi arrived early but we were
A guest at the hotel
This female iguana is a permanent guest
at the hotel. They feed her bananas. Apparently there's a male too, bigger and with a beard, but we didn't see him.ready anyway. We got to the airport in plenty of time and stood in line for check-in. While waiting in line we met another young Israeli couple going to San Cristobal, so we offered them a ride into town. We had a chat while waiting in line, traded Mexican travel experiences and in general got friendly. Meeting up with other Israelis while travelling is nice from time to time, but I wouldn’t like to meet them at every turn. When I’m abroad I want to be abroad, ya know?
Viva Aerobus seated us separately and we couldn’t change seats at the check-in, but it’s less than a two hour flight, so we’ll manage.
We got through security easily enough and wandered around the duty-free while waiting for our gate to be declared.
The plane was basically just a flying bus, and it was full. Tamar and I sat separately, both surrounded by Mexicans.
The Ángel Albino Corzo International Airport at Tuxtla Gutierrez is tiny. Just one baggage carousel. So we met up with the other couple we met before, collected our baggage and went to get our car from the rental agency.
Did I mention
that renting a car in Mexico is expensive? The rental itself is quite cheap but doesn’t include insurance and you want full coverage.
We loaded into the car and drove, sans navigation (my phone’s GPS was acting up), out of the airport and towards San Cristobal. Eventually, Tamar found our hotel in Google Maps and we used her phone to navigate. It’ll take a bit but we’ll get this navigating thing down soon!
The navigator took us onto a toll road, which is much better than the free roads. It cost us 51 pesos (yes, 51. Not 50 or 55. That would make sense, you see). Less than $3 US. The toll road was nice. Quite wide and in good repair but just one lane (and the shoulder) in each direction. No solid barrier between lanes. Slow drivers like trucks try to drive on the shoulders to let others pass, but people pass even if there really isn’t enough room. They ‘invent’ another lane and borrow some of the opposite direction’s space. Scary! But I got used to it after a while.
San Cristobal is high in the mountains, averaging about 2,000 meters above sea level, and
was much cooler than the airport.
San Cristobal a beautiful town! Narrow cobbled streets in a grid, despite the hilly terrain between tightly packed colorful colonial buildings, one-way and stop signs painted on the buildings instead of standing on posts. Shortly before we arrived at the hotel we saw a street leading off ours that had decorations and lots of people walking around. We’d have to check that out…
We found our hotel, the Casa Azabache, and took our leave of our new Israeli friends. The hotel is more of a hostel with private rooms, a small courtyard with hammocks and tables, and a shared kitchen. We liked it! The room was basic but we don’t really need much, just a shower, a bed and an internet connection.
It was still early, so we went for a stroll. We quickly found the center of town, that same street with the streamers. What a lively town! Lots of people walking around, shops, restaurants and bars open, and local tribal women selling handmade wool rugs and clothes. Altogether a good vibe.
We went the other way, up the street, and things got even livelier! We crossed the road
at a traffic light (the pedestrian crossing beeps like a child’s toy when it’s green) and came to the central city park, right next to the cathedral of San Cristobal. Lights, music, people, it was great! A band was playing marimbas with trumpets and drums in an outdoor restaurant and we enjoyed the music. Nearby was a huge tent cover filled with food stalls. Stalls selling sweets, empanadas, tortillas, and anything else you can imagine! At one of the stalls selling sweets we asked the girl there about some of them. No Inglese… we’d come back later for sure!
Further up the street I bought a traditionally woven wool sweater. Comfortable, warm and looks pretty good on me. So I wore it. We saw several local guys wearing them too.
We went on and found the craft stalls and saw lots of amber jewelry and other semi-precious stone work. Tamar got a moonstone bracelet.
We returned to the flea-market next to the food tent and Tamar got herself a pullover too, a very nice one!
We ere getting hungry by then, so we got some fresh, hot empanadas. Delicious! We saw how churros are made and
then got ourselves a quesadilla to share. It took a while to make, but we were happy to wait. We were sat at a table with a bunch of locals. Everyone just sits together and shares a table, so we joined the family…
We couldn’t finish our quesadilla it was so big!
We went back to the candy stall. There were so many interesting things there, we couldn’t decide! We finally settled on three; a custard-filled pastry cone, a little bamboo box filled with a sort of jam (I think tamarind), and a coconut-filled peel of lime.
It was getting late by now so we returned to the hotel and asked about the festival. Turns out we just got really lucky. Mexico’s independence day is September 16
th, and the celebrations last all week!
We got back to the hotel and tasted our sweets. The custard cone was ok, the tamarind jam was a bit strange, but the lime-coconut was delicious!
We enjoyed the town so much that we decided to change our plans a bit. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Palenque, the following day to Comitan, and then back here, so we’ll have more time to
spend in town. We both feel we hit the jackpot with San Cristobal.
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