San Cristobal

Mexico

November 2006
3 days

San Cristabol
12th to 14th November 2006

We arrived in this great location just about mid morning and all took some time out to get our backs and necks realigned after a night in a chair.

We were then hit with a monster downpour of rain with Mother Nature just flexing her muscles to show us what she can conjure up in this region of the world.

San Christabol is just the right size and with the right vibe to make you feel at home.... Bars and restaurants in abundance and oh so nice to be eating Al Fresco once the rain had stopped. Excellent markets offering intricate jewellery, and material wristbands in a hundred variety of styles and colours, and some cool art too!

Also up until now we´d pretty much been doing our laundry which sometimes meant standing and waiting for 45 mins for the wash and then another 45 for the drying to make sure nobody stole your best Calvin Klien Knicks! But here, oh no..... here you could dump all your laundry soiled or not and have it returned to you, fresh clean and pressed for about 2 quid! When you´re travelling, even having clean clothes becaomes exciting!! Everything we had went in!!!!

Boat Cruise
The next day was thankfully sunny as we boarded our small boat cruise down the river to see the Sumidero Canyon and its wildlife. Feeling like Gladstone Small in our life jackets, we loved the fresh air and spray of the water as the boat weaved its way along feeling very small nestled in this vast canyon with walls either side tall enough to crick your neck.

Every so often the tour guide would stop the boat, point and jabber on in his local tongue about some creature or markings in the rocks. We´follow his finger and hope to see what he was harping on about..... It was actually a great two hours and we saw monkeys swinging in the trees, crocodiles still as a rock soaking up the sunshine, and an array of cool looking birds.

At one point our boat sped along and straight towards over a hundred birds bobbing on the water..... as they felt or heard our vessel approach they took to the air and it was a spectacular sight to watch them take off in droves, flapping frantically to get away. They were doing the same speed as our boat and gave you a chance to watch them in action.

After a translation we learned that hundreds or thousands of natives had jumped to their deaths off the canyons rather than be caught by the Spanish who were hot on their heels.

That afternoon we were taken to a traditional afternoon buffet where you were plied with local dishes for about a quid. We were warned that those with delicate stomachs should steer clear of the meat and shellfish so that's what we did. It was a Monday afternoon so we were surprised to see so many local in there downing bottles of Dos Equis... must have been pay day! One guy was being a pest dribbling over us all (but especially Kate) and at one point resorted to hiding under a table hoping nobody would throw him out. The local wino!

Culture Shock
The next day we embarked on a tour of two of the local indigenous villages - San Juan Chamula and Zincatan.

We went inside a huge church and were told about the Shamens and healers who controlled the village. Chickens were actually taken to church and sometimes sacrificed as part of the cleansing or healing process. In a weird sort of way we wanted to see this take place but at the same time didn´t.

The village market was vast with every Tom Dick and Harry selling the any feeble looking fruit they could grow... The competition was fierce so not sure how any of them make any money. We were hassled by kids selling postcards, finger puppets or bracelets and we soon learned to say No Gracias! I did also learn how to say sod off brat but didn't use that!

The next village was smaller and we were invited in to homes to see living conditions and to see demonstrations of how the girls weave the most colourful and elaborate fabrics that must take weeks to create a single garment only then to sell it for peanuts.

It was a great day and a real eye opener. We were also told stories by our tour guide of how these Shaman are used much much more than modern medicine in these regions and that except for obvious huge miracles of getting amputated limbs to grow back there are tales of the hundreds of small miracles they work in healing people using nothing but natural ingredients found in plants.

We turned our backs on these people and skidded off in our pollutant of a diesel gussling bus and went back to base to slurp beers and the most superb curry we´d all had in years. No exaggeration, they were the best Vegetable Somosas we´ve had in lifes as they melted in your mouth. Chickens in churches huh.... they belong in a curry!

At dinner we were pre-warned that the next day would be a very long 6 hour drive to Palenque via the most windiest, mountain roads and just to put the boot in they were riddled with speed bumps along the whole route. The Jungle - Bring it on!