Saludas, hombres!

Our latest travels in Mexico meant a 10 hour overnight bus from Oaxaca which got us into Tuxtla in Chiapas state at 5.30 in the morning. We were apparently travelling on the Pan American Highway that runs all the way from Alaska down to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America, not that we saw any of it. We're not keen on overnight travel as you never get a decent night's sleep and often arrive so early the next morning that it's best to wait at the bus terminal until it gets light and there's a chance that the next hostel will let us check in early. However, we had no choice on this one so had to get on with it. We were also lucky as our lovely clean hostel let us check in at 7am without charging us extra and we even had some free breakfast.

Chiapas is in the bottom right hand corner of Mexico and is the furthest south that you can go before reaching the border with Guatemala. We also dropped down to a height of 500m, the lowest we'd reached since arriving in Mexico more than two weeks ago. The state has 8 indigenous tribes, all with different languages, beliefs and customs. As you'll read later, our timing was good and we were lucky to see one of these tribes close up.

From our base in a large town called Tuxtla we went by colectivo to Chiapa de Corzo to see the Sumidero canyon. We went through the canyon on a speedboat for more than 20 miles on the river which became progressively narrower with sheer sided rock walls towering above us. Our fellow passengers were all Mexicans who were out for a good time and who thoroughly enjoyed bumping and crashing over the water at high speed, spilling their beer and taking photos of each other at the front of the boat.

We had planned originally to return to Tuxtla after the boat trip but we'd read on the way to Chiapa de Corzo that a two week festival had just started and that we were there on one of the three days when the locals would be wearing traditional dress, the ladies in circular, embroidered and multicoloured dresses, the men in colourful ponchos, domed straw wigs and wearing masks apparently imitating the Spanish conquistadores who invaded the area during the 1500s. So we stayed on until the evening to see the celebrations and took up position at a conveniently located bar to watch the locals flooding into town. We also met a Dutch couple who had retired and who had been travelling for two years in a camper van which they'd shipped out to the US from Holland.

Back in Tuxtla we visited the zoo to see an incredible amount of birds and animals that are indigenous to this area. The animals included jaguars, panthers, tapirs and coyotes; the setting was lovely and their conditions a lot better than some other zoos we've been to. Some deer, spider and howler monkeys and coypus had escaped their enclosures and were happily wandering around the other areas of the zoo.

After two days in Tuxtla we moved on to Palenque, 6 hours to the north and on the way to the Yucatan peninsular. As we travelled we left the cacti behind and have now entered the jungle; it's usually more than 30oC here but the temperature has dropped this week to the low 20s as the edge of the low pressure front from the US, the one that's been causing ice storms there, has moved south. It's a lucky break really as it's now very comfortable during the day but a bit chilly at night again when we have to wear all our warm layers.

We stayed in a thatched hut in the jungle about 5 miles away from the nearest town; there's no glass in the windows, just wire mesh to keep the mozzies out, and we could hear the noise of frogs, howler monkeys and assorted birds and insects all night long; it's all quite magical and you never know if a jaguar has been sniffing around while you sleep!

Palenque has one of the best excavated and preserved Mayan ruins in all of Mexico, inhabited from 600 to 900AD, so we set off early to beat the tour buses and crowds, so early in fact that the ticket office hadn't opened so we had to wait. We were the first in and for a few minutes had all of the early sights to ourselves. The other ruined cities that we've seen have been quite dusty but Palenque was surrounded by green jungle which gave it a special atmosphere.

The next day we took a popular tour to Misol-Ha and Agua Azul, both water features high up in the jungle. Whenever we see tour destinations like these we always try to get there independently; it's more of a challenge, without time restrictions and always considerably cheaper. However, this time it was too far out of town and no public transport went there so we had to be "packaged". Both places were amazing; Misol-Ha was a big waterfall with a 35m drop and with a rocky path leading behind the thundering water (we got soaked from the spray in a matter of seconds) whilst Agua Azul was a series of smaller but wider waterfalls and cascades with a track leading past them for about a mile.

On our last night we had our first rain in Mexico, in fact the first for about a month when it hammered down in Cuba for a few hours. We were, we'd read, in the wettest part of the country and so it wasn't a surprise. At least the rain came at night but it was loud enough to wake us up; we didn't mind, it was like camping when you know it's horrible outside but you're safely tucked up and just hope that there are no holes in the roof! As we write this blog the next morning, on the bus that will take us into the Yucatan peninsular, the sun is shining and the rain is forgotten.

We've also just seen the Gulf of Mexico for the first time, pelicans are perched on wooden poles sticking out of the sea and we are looking forward to some fresh fish tonight!

Love from Tony and Linda xx

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Comments

Gary Hi Guys In complete contrast we've just had our first dry day since xmas last Sunday , the sun isn't shining and I spent 10 mins de-icing the car this morning. Nice to hear someone is getting some good weather. Keep the updates coming Gary & Shirley xx Jan 21, 2014

Celia These blogs are fantastic and what an adventure you are having. All well here and now expecting 3 days for showers and possibly a rainy day but weekend should be better - let's hope! Jan 21, 2014

Yvonne Really enjoying reading your blog and looking at the amazing photos. As always, sounds as though you are having a great time. Enjoy the rest of your fantastic holiday, Von x Jan 21, 2014

Adrian Just joined the blog for the first time & is a great read. Very jealous. Photos are fab too......love the facial hair Tony. Jan 22, 2014

Eunice Parfitt Hola, I have just returned back to work after a week all inclusive in Spain & I felt rested until I read your blog!! It rained all day on sunday, our new house had a pond but it was a lake when we returned!! We all love looking at the pictures & reading the blog - keep it up, and enjoy the rest of your travels Jan 27, 2014