March 19, 2006 San Cristobol de las Casas
We left Merida just a week ago but it seems like a faraway place and a long time ago. We’re now in “travel mode” which is very different from the comfortable long term stay we had in Merida. We’re on the move and not making the same connections with our hosts that we made in Merida. But, we’re seeing some incredible country!
From Campeche to Palenque we were blessed with our first ever Stephen Segal blood and guts bonanza on the bus. The body count was outrageously high, even by Mexican bus cinema standards. Fortunately, it was great to watch the changing scenery out the window as we drove along the Gulf coast for a bit and then started heading up into rolling hills and ranchland.
We spent the night near Palenque at El Panchan which the guidebook describes as: “The trippy epicenter of Palenque’s alternative scene, and home to a bohemian bunch of Mexican and Western residents and wanderers.” It was our first taste of gringos making handicrafts and selling them at tables next to the locals. (San Cristobol seems to be full of them also.) It was a funky jungle outpost that had nothing to keep us there. Though at breakfast in the groovy open air restaurant, the other family from Vermont strolled in. We hadn’t seen them in several weeks and now we’re together again in San Cristobol. All of our kids even did some math homework together the other day!
From El Panchan we caught a tour van to the ruins at Palenque (awesome)
and onward up into the mountains stopping at a huge waterfall at Misol Ha and a large set of cascades and falls at Agua Azul, though the day we got there the water was brown from heavy rain. In the van, we enjoyed the company of a young Chinese couple who now live in Delaware. They had both worked for IBM for 5 years in China before the husband (boyfriend?) went for an MBA at the University of Michigan. He now works in international marketing for DuPont. They were sharp folks who remind us that maybe Miles and Jill should be learning Chinese instead of Spanish.
The mountains between Palenque and San Cristobol were beautiful and endless though we were glad to be going up and down and through them in a van instead of a bus. We’ve met a few folks who have gotten sick on the bus on that windy road.
San Cristobol is a beautiful, mid-sized city surrounded by verdant mountains. We’re a little jaded though because it looks a bit like Vermont, or the Mount Washington Valley in NH, or the mountains around Evergreen, Colorado. It does get cold at night, and Ruth, the profesional ski instructor from New England, has had to put her long johns on to beat the cold!
Vermont was well represented at the hostel the other night: our family of 4, the other family of 5, a single guy from Burlington who works around the corner from ReCycle North, and 2 recent Middlebury grads.
We went for a wonderful horseback ride yesterday from San Cristobol up to a nearby small town. The family-run horseback outfit was outstanding. For $10 a head, they picked us up downtown, drove us out to thier stables, guided us up to the town and back, gave us cold drinks when we got back, and put us on a bus back to town. We were gone from about 9 a.m. til 3:00 with about 3 hours on the horses riding up through some beautiful country. Other than the fact the saddles were made of bare wood, it was a blast!
On the language front: Miles delivered a very funny monologue in Spanish the other night in the room. He did a convincing impersonation of a street vendor. I was almost ready to buy something from him!
Ruth is dealing with a stomach bug today – her first for the trip – and we are deciding whether to roll out of here tomorrow or not.
Monday - March 20: I've been trying to get some more photos posted with this entry but San Cristobol doesn't seem to have the bandwith to support my efforts. There are many computer labs to choose from with prices ranging from 60 cents to $1.00 an hour. I managed to get the existing pictures up in a quiet moment, but inevitably, someone else in the lab starts a voice-over-internet phone call, downloading itunes, or who knows what and kills the bandwidth. Time to pack and leave town tomorrow. (Small bandwidth equals leave town. Reminds me of the Italian friends we met in Merida. As soon as their coffee maker broke, they moved their return tickets up several weeks.) Tuesday - March 21 Tuxla Guiterrez: scored some decent bandwith here and finished putting the photos up!
We left Merida just a week ago but it seems like a faraway place and a long time ago. We’re now in “travel mode” which is very different from the comfortable long term stay we had in Merida. We’re on the move and not making the same connections with our hosts that we made in Merida. But, we’re seeing some incredible country!
From Campeche to Palenque we were blessed with our first ever Stephen Segal blood and guts bonanza on the bus. The body count was outrageously high, even by Mexican bus cinema standards. Fortunately, it was great to watch the changing scenery out the window as we drove along the Gulf coast for a bit and then started heading up into rolling hills and ranchland.
We spent the night near Palenque at El Panchan which the guidebook describes as: “The trippy epicenter of Palenque’s alternative scene, and home to a bohemian bunch of Mexican and Western residents and wanderers.” It was our first taste of gringos making handicrafts and selling them at tables next to the locals. (San Cristobol seems to be full of them also.) It was a funky jungle outpost that had nothing to keep us there. Though at breakfast in the groovy open air restaurant, the other family from Vermont strolled in. We hadn’t seen them in several weeks and now we’re together again in San Cristobol. All of our kids even did some math homework together the other day!
From El Panchan we caught a tour van to the ruins at Palenque (awesome)
and onward up into the mountains stopping at a huge waterfall at Misol Ha and a large set of cascades and falls at Agua Azul, though the day we got there the water was brown from heavy rain. In the van, we enjoyed the company of a young Chinese couple who now live in Delaware. They had both worked for IBM for 5 years in China before the husband (boyfriend?) went for an MBA at the University of Michigan. He now works in international marketing for DuPont. They were sharp folks who remind us that maybe Miles and Jill should be learning Chinese instead of Spanish.
The mountains between Palenque and San Cristobol were beautiful and endless though we were glad to be going up and down and through them in a van instead of a bus. We’ve met a few folks who have gotten sick on the bus on that windy road.
San Cristobol is a beautiful, mid-sized city surrounded by verdant mountains. We’re a little jaded though because it looks a bit like Vermont, or the Mount Washington Valley in NH, or the mountains around Evergreen, Colorado. It does get cold at night, and Ruth, the profesional ski instructor from New England, has had to put her long johns on to beat the cold!
Vermont was well represented at the hostel the other night: our family of 4, the other family of 5, a single guy from Burlington who works around the corner from ReCycle North, and 2 recent Middlebury grads.
We went for a wonderful horseback ride yesterday from San Cristobol up to a nearby small town. The family-run horseback outfit was outstanding. For $10 a head, they picked us up downtown, drove us out to thier stables, guided us up to the town and back, gave us cold drinks when we got back, and put us on a bus back to town. We were gone from about 9 a.m. til 3:00 with about 3 hours on the horses riding up through some beautiful country. Other than the fact the saddles were made of bare wood, it was a blast!
On the language front: Miles delivered a very funny monologue in Spanish the other night in the room. He did a convincing impersonation of a street vendor. I was almost ready to buy something from him!
Ruth is dealing with a stomach bug today – her first for the trip – and we are deciding whether to roll out of here tomorrow or not.
Monday - March 20: I've been trying to get some more photos posted with this entry but San Cristobol doesn't seem to have the bandwith to support my efforts. There are many computer labs to choose from with prices ranging from 60 cents to $1.00 an hour. I managed to get the existing pictures up in a quiet moment, but inevitably, someone else in the lab starts a voice-over-internet phone call, downloading itunes, or who knows what and kills the bandwidth. Time to pack and leave town tomorrow. (Small bandwidth equals leave town. Reminds me of the Italian friends we met in Merida. As soon as their coffee maker broke, they moved their return tickets up several weeks.) Tuesday - March 21 Tuxla Guiterrez: scored some decent bandwith here and finished putting the photos up!
posted by The Lambersons at 6:06 PM
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