I endured the most scenic of all scenic routes on my bus journey to San Cristóbal de las Casas. Not because it was scenic in a picturesque sense, but because for 17-hours we drove anywhere but in the direction of our destination, due to road closures and drop-offs. I swear at one point the bus was so far past San Cristóbal we were nearer to Mexico City. Nightmare!
Anyway, enough of the moaning! Having arrived to the highland town in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Saturday afternoon, I hollered a cab to take me to the Iguana Hostel where I would spend the next three nights.
On arrival, the most noticeable thing was the change in climate.. I wasn't sweating anymore! Not only that, it felt really cold having been fried under 38 degree heat for the previous two days.. it was 20 at best. I actually couldn't believe I was routing to the bottom of my bag to find long pants and a jumper. Was I really in Mexico?!
No sooner had I checked into the hostel I met two great lads, Brendan from South Korea, and Kyle from Colorado in the US. We got straight on the beers.. a sound girl called Ruth from Derby also joined us, and that was pretty much us until midnight.
Ruth's friend, Adele from Israel (who had some, let's say questionable morals) also joined us when we ventured out into the town to grab some food.. a delicious lamb shawarma from a nice Lebanese restaurant. When in Mexico!
A popular wine bar was next, where they bring out free hors d'oeuvres with every drink.. wished we hadn't already eaten! We wrapped things up after one more at a cocktail bar called Revolución, I was pretty wiped out by then following that ridiculously long overnight journey.
I'd booked onto a tour of the Sumidero Canyon the following morning, on recommendation from Liana. Kyle and Brendan joined me for a 9.00am pick-up from the hostel. En route to the canyon we met another sound lad on our minibus called Damien, from London.
The Sumidero is a narrow and deep canyon eroded over time by the Grijalva River, which is surrounded by a national park located just north of the city of Chiapa do Corzo.
From a small port near Chiapa do Corzo we hopped on a speedboat to take us approximately 35km through the canyon to the north end where the The Chicoasén Hydroelectric Dam is situated.
The vertical walls of the Sumidero were spectacular, some of which reached as high as 1000 meters. Cruising through them on a speedboat just made the whole experience that extra bit cooler.
There were some caves and weird rock formations too. One of the most interesting was the “Christmas Tree”, which is actually created by moss hanging on one of the rock faces. As we visited during the rainy season, we were able to see a waterfall flowing onto the ‘branches’ of the tree creating a light mist, which was a God send when it descended on us as we crawled beneath it. It was a scorching day.. 10 degrees higher than that of San Cristóbal, even though it was only an hours drive away.
There was plenty of wildlife knocking around too.. birds, such as herons, vultures, pelicans and kingfishers. More entertaining were monkeys in the trees, and a family of 5 who we saw climbing across a rock face hundreds of metres high. And then a 5-metre long crocodile swimming idly by the river bank not too far from the boat.
Shortly after we disembarked the speedboat we visited the town of Chiapa do Corzo for an hour, which was pretty pointless and just another "tour filler". Really enjoyed the Sumidero Canyon though! Other than that it was a pretty chilled afternoon and evening.
The following morning Kyle, Brendan, Damien, and I, hired bikes to go on a mini adventure to a town several miles away called San Juan Chamula, where virtually the whole population is indigenous and speak an indigenous language.
In such a short distance the scene changed dramatically. From the thriving town of San Cristóbal packed with shops, restaurants and bars, to beautiful, quiet countryside where crops are farmed by old and young.
It was a steady uphill climb from San Cristóbal and poor Brendan, the youngest of us all, was blowing out his ass! He was struggling so much he had to get off his bike and push the thing. Haha amateur! Sorry Brendan lad.
Our main reason for visiting Chamula is because it is home to a church unlike any other, though you wouldn’t know it from the outside. The picturesque, centuries-old Iglesia San Juan has whitewashed walls and a brightly painted entrance that looks out upon the town square. Inside, however, worshipers engage in unique rituals that involve Catholic saints, moonshine, outpourings of emotion, and animal sacrifice.
I have no particular interest in churches but I do like to experience the unusual.. and unusual it was! On entering the church the aroma of incense and smoke from thousands of candles was overwhelming, as was the heat they produced.
The walls were lined with statues of saints adorned with mirrors to supposedly warn off evil. There were no pews.. fresh pine needles carpet the otherwise empty floor from front to back.
Small groups of worshipers were spread out around the church with their own assortment of candles stuck directly to the tiles. They allow the candles to burn completely during and after their personal ceremonies, leaving behind puddles of multicolored wax.
Worshipers pray aloud in Tzotzil (their indigenous language), repeatedly making the sign of the cross, and drink the likes of Coca-Cola and "pox" (the regional distillate), and burp with the intention of evacuating malicious spirits.
You can't take pictures in there. If you do, and you're caught, the guards will beat you with a stick. Needless to say, the iPhone remained firmly tucked inside my pocket!
A few of the worshippers had live hens with them which they repeatedly hovered above the candles and waved over their heads. This went on for quite some time, but it was weirdly captivating wondering what was going to happen next..
Well you guessed it.. the hens big day out came to an unfortunate end when the worshippers broke its neck. It was pretty freaky seeing the bird still beating its wings while laying dead on the floor. Cruel and graphic I know, but this is their culture, and who are we to tell them it's wrong?
It felt odd us being allowed to witness all this.. I certainly wasn't comfortable, and we definitely didn't belong in there.
Outside in the main square was also an eye-opener. Fully grown men of all ages were scattered around absolutely smashed.. some paralytic and it was barely midday. Combine that with children working as vendors selling fruit makes the whole scenario seriously messed up. Locals were just walking by as if everything was normal.. I think this is the norm here though. Very unusual experience!
The four of us were all going our separate ways the next day so we met up in the evening for what was our last night in San Cristóbal. Brendan had found a Korean restaurant in town which turned out to be superb.. ramen and sushi! When in Mexico aye?! Stick your taco's!
We had a scoop or two in a small boozer on the main strip where all the restaurants and bars are situated off the main square.. followed by a few more in the wine bar.
Of the four of us, I was the last to leave the next day since my bus to Oaxaca wasn't until 8.00pm, so I said farewell to the boys as they left. I had a wicked 3 days with Kyle, Brendan and Damien.. great set of lads!
I had a very chilled Tuesday walking around the town, through the markets and squares, as well as another visit to the Korean restaurant.. when in Mexico!
Persistent loud bangs are a constant here, some so ferocious they sound like car bombs. I never got used to it.. was jumping out my skin for the 3 days I was there. I'm told it's the locals celebrating the Saints.
The overnight bus to Oaxaca was next for me, and it was luxurious, an absolute dream in comparison to my previous journey. I arrived around 9.00am and made the short taxi ride to the beautifully modern Hostal Chocolate.
Oaxaca, pronounced "Wa-ha-ca", is a city in central Mexico known for its colonial buildings and having its own version of Mexican cuisine. Although there are other attractions to see outside of Oaxaca, such as the ruins of Monte Alban and cliff side hot springs, I remained inside the city exploring for 2 days.
An easy going pace of life combined with beautiful, clean, colourful streets made it a joy to walk around.. the markets were a bit livelier mind!
I visited a few of the colonial buildings, in particular the Church of Santo Domingo, which to be fair was pretty stunning. And the Museum of Culture which is located in the temple connected to the church.
The museum was really beautiful to walk around in, and massive!! With everything explained in Spanish I obviously found it a bit of a struggle, but I persevered. I ended up spending quite a bit of time in there, not because it was exceedingly interesting, but because the place was so big and maze like, I kept getting lost! Ha
Having some traditional local ice-cream once I'd escaped the museum was a nice touch in the midday sun.. tequila flavoured - very moorish!
I also tried some of Oaxaca's Mexican cuisine that it's famous for. Tlayuda is Mexico's version of a pizza.. a large, thin, partially fried or toasted tortilla covered with a spread of refried bean and some other junk, a meat of your choice, and a topping of various salsas. The one I had was yuk! Maybe it was down to the place I bought it from, or the fact I can't stand the taste of refried bean. However, the "pozole" I tried was delicious.. a soup/stew with plenty of spice and heat depending on which one you choose.
My next stop was Puerto Escondido which I'd arrived to on another, and thankfully my final overnight bus in Mexico.. this time setting off at 1.00am, but didn't actually arrive to pick me up until 2.30am!! Argghh!
Anyway.. Puerto Escondido. Another one of Liana's recommendations, who has turned out to be my trusted travel guide throughout Mexico.
The port town and resort on Mexico's Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca is known for its many beaches, buzzing nightlife and being a magnet for the world's best surfers who visit regularly to compete.
Zicatela Beach supposedly has the third largest waves in the world.. at midday, when at its calmest, the waves were still crashing down, probably the biggest I've ever seen.
There's not a whole lot to do here other than relax on one of the beaches during the day, which was fine by me since it was so damn hot!
I had a 2-night stay at the Puerto Dreams Hostel (another of Liana's recommendations) where I had a great time and met some cool people, namely.. my room mates Eda from Durham in the UK, and Hannah from Switzerland, who were a bundle of energy and a lot of fun. And an English couple from London called James and Lily.
I met James and Lily during my first night on a bioluminescent tour to Laguna de Manialtepec, where a natural phenomenon occurs at night when the water illuminates.
Microorganisms known as "noctiluca scintillans" are part of the plankton in the lagoon, so when they detect 'threatening' movement nearby, they produce a chemical reaction that projects a cold light, creating a bioluminescent effect over the water.
It wasn't noticeable when we were sat inside the boat.. I thought we'd been stitched up. But once we entered the water things began to sparkle.. all over your skin and in the surrounding area. It wasn't as luminous as they portray in the pictures I'd seen beforehand but it was still pretty cool.
A huge thunder and lightning storm overhead added to the theatre of the tour, especially when one of the loudest cracks I'd ever heard hit directly above us which shuddered the warm water of the lagoon.
We returned to the hostel and got straight on the booze before a big group of us from the hostel went out just after midnight to Bar Fly in Zicatela. Was a fun night into the early hours!
I checked myself into a hotel for my final night in Puerto Escondido as I have an early flight to Mexico City in the morning.. my final stop in Mexico!
Caio Caio xx