We started off the morning seeking out a yoga class for the following day. We found a quaint little shiastki yoga studio where classes cost only (£2), but unfortunately, despite our best efforts at waking early the following two mornings, the first class was cancelled and the second day the studio closed altogether for Easter weekend. We spent our mornings instead exploring the 'award winning' Mayan museum of medicine and climbing gleaming white steps to an amazing overview of the city. The museum consisted of a small collection of statues and plants symbolising how Mayans treat various illnesses, accompanied by a short film which explains Mayan childbirth. The Mayan midwife must wave a live chicken or rooster over the mother and rub a whole egg on the face of the newly birthed child to ward away demons. The placenta is then buried in their home, face up or down, (though how they tell this I'm unsure) depending on the gender they want for their next child. They also believe fizzy drinks are good for the mother as for them burping is a release of the soul and fizzy drinks, naturally, aid burping.
Our insight into this peculiar brand of Mayan religion was further enhanced upon our trip to a neighbouring village, San Juan Chamula. We arrived here by horseback, half a dozen of us mounted horses and with minimal training (our spanish guide indicated holding the reigns left, right and pulling on them to stop), set off on the rocky path to Chamula. Though I seriously doubt that this sort of expedition would have passed any sort of English health and safety assessment, it was a lot of fun and we even got the horses to gallop on the way back. At the tranquil pace of horseback we got to appreciate the mountain topped landscape with fields that seemed to stretch for eternity. Passing a local restaurant, we comically saw one particularly courageous stray dog flee with a mouthful of tortillas.
San Juan Chamula's main attraction is a secretive church which was hosting Easter festivities when we visited. Upon entering we were charged a small fee and told not to take photos. Inside we felt like intruders, unwelcome not because we are foreigners, as one man kindly explained in broken spanish rather than his native Mayan dialect, but because we were not raised in the church's religion. When we asked him further questions he protested saying he'd already told us too much. Despite this however, we were offered to try their holy drink, a very strong, clear alcohol of which one sip was more than adequate.
Another afternoon we headed to a street market in order to buy fresh vegetables to make dinner with a couple of English girls we met at the hostel. The market and main square is swarming with traditional Mayan woman selling hand woven goods such as scarves, purses, belts and bracelets. Beautiful though these trinkets are, we found that after a day we had already purchased one of everything and they continue to pounce at any and even given moment. They even walk around in groups if three or four to try and ambush you into a corner.
Our second evening we headed to the live music open mic night at a bar-cafe advertised in the hostel, which is also attached to a different hostel and a really funky second hand book shop. The opening act was a super hyped up Bob Marley enthusiast and afterwards Katie spontaneously got up with her uke to perform. One guy liked her set so much he bought the four of us girls a glass of wine each! Because of the adjacent hostel, there were lots of hippy types in the bar and I talked to one guy about Reiki whilst another showed us how to manipulate a crystal ball into a dance like trance. Amazing.