San Cristobal de las Casas was the source of news headlines in 1994 when the Zapatista movement led an armed uprising and took over the town in response to the Mexican Governments´ attitude to the rights of the indigenous people. The leader, Sub-Commandante Marcos famously apologised to the tourists for any inconvenience explaining ´this is a revolution!´ Nowadays the town is quiet, bustling with locals dressed in traditional garb and Marcos is something of a folk hero; you can buy postcards, dolls and t-shirts of him!

We signed up to explore a local village on horseback. We were all piled into the back of a pick up truck, boosted onto our horses and set off with just two kids as guides. The ride was lovely, over rocky wooded terrain and with fantastic views over the valleys. The highlight of the village visit was the local church which is a random combination of catholic and mayan beliefs. The inside of the church is covered in thousands of candles and the floor is strewn with pine leaves. Everywhere you look local people are conducting ceremonies involving rubbing hens eggs over ill people and strangling chickens as offerings to God. A very bizarre sight... The trip finished with Mark falling off his horse much to Kim´s amusement!

The following day we headed off to the Sumidero Canyon and zoomed along the river by speedboat, spotting crocs and vultures and admiring the dramatic 1000 meter cliffs. Despite the heat of the day we decided swimming wasn´t a good idea due to the growing crocodile population!