13.10.-21.10.2021 San Cristobal de las Casas & Oaxaca

On the first day in San Cristobal de las Casas, I joined a "Free Walking Tour". These tours are available in larger cities around the world, where you are guided on foot through the city and give as much money as you want at the end. During the tour, we were taken to various restaurants and shops and tried various local drinks and sweets. In the city, like in all the cities I have been to, there is really cool street art on the walls of the houses.

About COVID in Mexico: in San Cristobal, hardly anyone from the indigenous population wears a mask, as there is no trust in medicine or anything related to the modern or western world. For a long time, the people there resisted large chains like Walmart, Oxxo, or Burger King, but they are still there now. The temperature is measured and disinfectant is provided in large stores and at the bus station. In the next city (Oaxaca), it felt like everyone was wearing a mask both indoors and on the street, which was less fun. The assumption is that people are more afraid due to lack of insurance and vaccinations.

In San Cristobal, there are also a lot of restaurants with vegan meals on the menu.

Encounters while traveling alone:

In the hostel, while I was blow-drying my hair in the bathroom, I met a girl who was hanging over the toilet because she had eaten something bad. We became best friends during our time in San Cristobal.

In the evening, I went out for dinner alone and sat next to an older American man, with a Mexican girl sitting next to him. So we all went out for dinner alone and in the end, the three of us had a conversation - I love these random encounters while traveling.

I took a trip to two villages with the Mexican girl one day: Chamula & Zinacantan.

In Chamula, I visited a church that is Catholic but different. There are no benches in the church, there is kind of dry grass everywhere, and people make small spaces on the floor and light many little candles. It's also very crowded because of the many people, but there was no reason to worry about fire. Usually, there is a ceremony in the church where people drink cola and expel evil things by burping, and a chicken is also sacrificed. Fortunately, we missed the ceremony.

The women in Chamula & San Cristobal traditionally wear black hairy skirts.

In Chamula, we were totally ignored as tourists, but in Zinacantan, 3 women jumped in front of our car as we entered the town. We had 2 choices to continue: go with the women and let them show us how they make the traditional clothes and give them money for it, or just give them money directly and leave, we chose the latter. The people in the whole village were so pushy, so we left quickly. Interestingly, even though the town is only 15 minutes away from San Cristobal, the people there wear completely different, colorful, and flowery clothing.

On the last day in San Cristobal, I took a trip to "Cañón El Sumidero" with the Dutch girl I met in the bathroom. It was so beautiful and impressive, first from a few viewpoints above and then by boat in the canyon. At the highest point, it is 1 km deep and there are also crocodiles, monkeys, and pelicans.

In the evening, I took the night bus from San Cristobal to Oaxaca (13 hours - €36). We were checked 4 times by the police during the journey (immigration police, as someone told me). My seatmate was "asked" to leave the bus because of a false ID, and he, along with a few others, did not come back. Also, on every bus ride, you are filmed once for "security reasons".

When I arrived in Oaxaca, there was a roadblock by protesters, there seems to be a lot of demonstrations there because the government does very little for the city and people.

The hostel I booked was also suspicious to me, so I got my money back and switched to another one.

I joined another Free Walking Tour. One of the specialties to try here was grasshoppers.

On my last evening, there was a Mezcal tasting in the hostel (for me, it's just strong, disgusting stuff like Tequila). After that, we went out to party with people from the hostel. On the way home, one of the hostel guests was asked less kindly for his money, he just responded "no hablo español (I don't speak Spanish)" and kept walking, and that was the end of it - lucky.

I then continued to Puerto Escondido by night bus, where I am currently lying on the beach and watching the relatively high waves.