Chiapas and Oaxaca -- the end!

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happy easter from Oaxaca. This will be a short one -- no photos, but we will be back in Michigan the night of the 19th, so there will be plenty of pictures and stories to share in person.
Chiapas: We took an overnight bus from Puerto Escondido to San Cristobal de las Casas, site of the 1994 Zapatista uprising and takeover of the city. San Cristobal is a beautiful, beautiful city -- reminiscent of Oaxaca in its colors and architecture, but with a more Mexican (less European-touristy) feel, though it has its share of tourists and tourism, much more than we had anticipated. And we were not there long enough to get a handle on the current political situation, but it is calm on the outside. While in San Crisobal, we took day trips to an ecological reserve just outside of town (where I swear I saw pipsissewa growing -- any botanists to confirm that?), a little town called Chamula with a bizarre mix of indigenous and catholic religious culture, a gruta, or cave, reminiscent of Carlsbad, just smaller, and we went to the Na-Bolom museum of Mayan culture, specifically the Lacandon jungle cultures-- so many interesting stories there-- though we didn,t make it to the Lacandon this trip.

Then we were off to Palenque for a few days! The ruins and surrounding jungle were amazing! We saw plants that we know as houseplants, as big as houses!!! And two howler monkeys, all kinds of birds, and jungle sounds we never did identify. We spent one day at the ruins, and took another day trip to two waterfalls: one called Misol-Ha, another called Agua Azul, perhaps the most beautiful river I have ever seen -- brilliant light blue, and falling over series after series of waterfalls--we just walked up and up and up and kept finding more pools to swim in and cascades.

Finally we took another overnight bus (ack) back to the city of Oaxaca, where we have been visiting the little craft villages outside of town, sitting in the zocalo, bargaining in the markets, taking photos, writing, and getting ready to head home. The craft villages are quite interesting -- each town is known for a particular art, whether weaving or green pottery or black pottery or fantastical painted wooden animals, etc. And seemingly everyone in each town practices that art! how weird, but cool to visit.

Tomorrow (monday) we head back to Tashirat to say hello and good bye again en route to Mexico City, where we fly out on the 19th. Hopefully we will get to see you all soon (if not this coming weekend) and share more photos and stories.
Con mucho amor,
Michelle y Marty

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