Oaxaca & San Cristobal de las Casas

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We arrived at our hostel and dumped our stuff, freshened up and headed out into town to explore. Instantly I felt more relaxed - the place had a slower feel to it an was nowhere near as chaotic! the main square was full of tarps and tents and people laid out which we later found out was because the elections are due soon and the teachers are on strike - some real political activism it was quite a nice change to the apathy we have in the UK around election time!

We had some great food at a little vegetarian place - by vegetarian I mean we had chicken soup, steak and generally nothing vegetarian at all! The waiter was excellent (and not Indian like Sarah seems to think) who, when we asked for the set menu said it was because we were English and had spent all our money on beer...on that cue we ordered 2 coronas (our first in mexico) and guzzled them down with plenty of fresh lime - it was pretty awesome! We walked home in the rain.

The following morning we went and had breakfast where we met a great Mexican couple (Bernardos and Fernanda) who gave us a couple of good tips on places to visit - one of which was Monte Alban - the most important zapotec set of ruins in the whole region! (more on this later) We were having breakfast and out of nowhere Bernardos pulls out a back of chilli fried grasshoppers, mixes them in with his scrambled eggs and continued eating rather nonchalantly as if this was normal. I know grasshoppers are a bit of a delicacy in Oaxaca but for breakfast?! I had to try a couple nonetheless! They tasted of...(not chicken) grasshopper really...it was kind of like when you swallow a fly on your bike, with a hint of chilli, lime and most of all the plastic bag they were stored in. I don't think I will be partaking in many more insect related culinary experiences...

We decided to take the advice of Bernardos and Fernanda and went a booked a bus to Monte Alban. On arrival, after driving up the mountainside to 7000ft, we walked up to the site and our words were pretty much taken away from us - the site itself is massive. It is all based around a central enormous grassy plain and the temples and various buildings are all off this. The location was spectacular - you could see the whole valley all around including the big rainstorms happening in the distance...by distance I mean they were slowly heading our way, like a curtain of water coming to greet us! When it did it was pretty spectacular but it was warm, so we continued to look around barefoot in the middle of a cloud. Very excellent. When the rain stopped we were dry within half an hour so no complaints there!

When we got back we had a look around a couple more Churches, wandered around the main square, got some tacos and then headed back to the hostel to wait until our bus out arrived.

Following a great time in Oaxaca we decided to head south to San Cristobal de las Casas (about 11 hours South - please see map on my profile). The rain was falling so heavily when we were going to walk to the station that we decided a taxi would be best - the 1ft pavements were nearly overflowing!

The bus was AWFUL, for me at least! winding roads the whole way, mental driver, the seat in front pitched so far back that I'm pretty sure that the person behind me would have been uncomfortable, if I hadn't have been in the way that is. Sarah seemed to find it pretty easy to sleep but being a tad larger it made it impossible. I tried every position you could imagine, including moving seats to a pair on my own, being on the inside/aisle, legs in/out, seat up/down etc - Nothing. I was a bit tired to say the least.

However, on arrival in San Cristobal I was very happy to find that our hostel was lovely, and the people were great too. It was an open courtyard hacienda type of place with lime trees, avocado trees, hammocks, lovely cats and fleabitten dogs - I could go on. We were greeted with breakfast and a bed which is all I needed!

We got settled in and met Derryn, a lovely Aussie guy who was a pretty seasoned traveller who gave us loads of valuable information about being on the road etc, including a 3 hour long Spanish lesson one day for Sarah - Thanks Derryn! We went for some beers but generally did not a lot that day!

The following day we had booked to go on a Canyon tour at the Canyon del Sumidero with Derryn - it was huge - we went on a big powerboat through a canyon that was 1000m high on either side of us - completely sheer sides above jungle lining the shores. We saw all sorts of wildlife - river crocodiles and their babies, monkeys, cranes, pelicans and vultures in their thousands.

That night we went out for some food with Derryn and Bram (a really nice Dutch guy staying in our dorm) and then headed for a bar for a few Jarras of beer - may I take this opportunity to point out that the Mexicans take Karaoke about as seriously as the Japanese - the microphone passes round and round and everybody LOVES their cheesy spanish crooner type songs.

We packed up, said our goodbyes and then went to bed for an early start on what would turn out to be a very long, hot, infuriating and generally not a good day of travelling to the Mexico-Guatemala border...

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