San Cristóbal de las Casas

A night bus takes us from Puerto Escondido over a well-paved but very curvy road to Chiapas, the neighboring state of Oaxaca. Our destination San Cristobal de las Casas is located in the central highlands of Chiapas. Similar to Mexico City, the town is situated at an altitude of over 2000 meters.

Similar to the city of Oaxaca, San Cristobal has a well-preserved and interesting colonial architecture. However, it is the residents of the town who give it its special charm. Especially Tzotzils and Tzeltals, both belonging to the Mayas, live here. In particular, the Tzotzil language is widespread in San Cristobal.

After our arrival, we have breakfast with the traditional Tamales, a type of corn cake cooked in a corn husk. Then we stroll through the city and let ourselves drift a bit. In addition to the Mayas, some artists and hippies have also settled here... which is always good for the vegetarian-vegan food offerings of a city 😘 Besides the colorful houses and colorful costumes of the women, the market is once again a highlight. Few travelers find their way here. Our best bargain so far: 5 mangos for 25 cents. No haggling, normal price because it's mango season. 1 euro for 8 small avocados is also not bad. I wouldn't have thought possible, but we are slowly getting tired of avocados, who would have thought that 😆 An absolute feast for the eyes are the handicrafts of the indigenous women. If I had space in my backpack, I would already have at least 5 new shirts, 3 new scarves, and a few bags. But space is scarce, so just look and stay strong. Not quite as tempting are the still alive chickens, which may partly end up on the plate, but certainly also serve as offerings for Maya deities.

Here in Chiapas and probably also in Oaxaca, indigenous traditions and customs are still the most lived and preserved. It is said to be different in northern Mexico... more influenced by the USA with the usual big chains, etc. We have indeed seen Coca Cola-drinking and smartphone-owning Indios here, but the tendency is clear 😉 More value is placed on local organic cultivation and fair trade here. This can be seen in all the small shops and indigenous cooperatives. The revolutionary movement of the Zapatistas was also born here in Chiapas, which advocates for the rights of indigenous people. In the mountainous surroundings of San Cristobal, there are supposedly still quite original communities that even live without money and are self-sufficient. But we don't know if that's really true...

In San Cristobal, we participated in a Free Walking Tour for the first time. This is basically a donation-based city tour with a local who shows you places worth seeing from his perspective. We tasted delicious coffee from the region and fantastic chocolate liqueur! We also visited an art and cultural project. Overall, it was quite good and we really liked San Cristobal!

After finishing our surf course with quite a bit of body pain ☺, we set off on an overnight bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, a small city located in the state of Chiapas. The architecture of the city is in a beautiful colonial style with many colors, and somehow resembles the city of Oaxaca, which we visited a week ago.

But what stands out the most is the presence of pre-Hispanic culture here. The Tzotzil and Tzeltal languages, spoken by the two Mayan peoples living in this region, are widely heard in the streets, and many, especially women, dress in their traditional costumes in their daily lives. In addition, the Zapatista revolutionary spirit is very present here, both in murals on the streets and in the small shops that fill the city. The city is also quite touristy, but I think it has managed to preserve its charm.

I think what we liked the most was the market, full of people and stalls of all kinds and no tourists, which makes you feel like you're living a very authentic experience. And the food here is super cheap, and since it's mango season, they're almost giving them away, at about 1 peso per unit (20 pesos is 1€). And I never thought I would say this, but we're a bit tired of eating avocados! There are also many stalls selling clothes, crafts, and regional jewelry, where we would have bought something if we had space in our backpacks 😂

On our second day here, we decided to do a free tour of San Cristobal, and it was a bit long but quite cool. We were guided by a guy named Claudio, who showed us some quite curious and somewhat hidden corners of the city. He took us to local art galleries, coffee tastings (which I have to say tasted very good, even though I'm not a coffee drinker) and liquor tastings.

Now we are heading to Palenque, where we want to see some interesting and beautiful Mayan ruins!