San Cristobal de las Casas

02/27/2018

I decided to abandon the plan of staying in Palenque after the horrible night. I just wanted to get away from the disgusting room and didn't feel like looking for a new one yet. So I went to San Cristobal de las Casas with Michal. Arriving in San Cristobal in the late afternoon, the world looked completely different again. The city is really beautiful and we quickly found a suitable hostel.

02/28/2018 - 03/02/2018

The next few days were rather uneventful. At the hostel, I met Linnea and Isaac, a Swedish and an Australian, whom I spent the next few days with. We went on an amazing free walking tour of the city, tried out a few (cheap and often vegan) restaurants. We chilled a lot, went on a small hike in the Huitepec Reserve, and went out in the evenings.

I quickly realized that San Cristobal is a place where I want to stay for a while. Apart from the cold that sets in (around 8 degrees Celsius) as soon as the sun goes down, since we are at an altitude of over 2000m, it's really great here. The atmosphere is very alternative and hippie, which is also noticeable in the selection of vegetarian/vegan restaurants. There is a lot of street vendors, selling homemade jewelry, pastries (including 'space cakes'), and there is also quite a bit of street music.

Before the trip, I had already signed up with 'Workaway', a platform where you can find jobs in exchange for accommodation and often meals while traveling. For San Cristobal, there are only multiple options for volunteering at a standard hostel. The hostel of my choice offers accommodation and breakfast as well as lunch 6 times a week and dinner 4 times a week, and they also offer free cocktails on two evenings. Sounds good. They are currently looking for someone and faster than expected, I am scheduled to start as a new employee on March 3rd.