Hotel Jardines del Centro San Cristobal de las Casas

... Zapatistas in 1994 overtook the city in oppostion to NAFTA. Today, their presence in the town is limited to hats with their logo, EZLN, across the top in red so the threat seems under control by consumerism but I am told that the EZLN is hidden in the mountains somewhere
Anyways, I also paid a visit to Musuem of Mayan Medicine. I got to see a Mayan child birth (video) and saw some statues of Miguel ...

... solo mothers get benefits which are higher for the more children that they have. She also said she knows of an indigenous person who drives a Hummer around the narow streets of San Cristobal. The Zapatista still run some "autonomous areas" of Chiapas, where they have their own government systems. This is not seen as a threat by the Mexican government, the army has many posts in the area now. We went on a horse trek to a small town called San Juan ...

It was our first stop inland and it surprised us how chilly it was. Made for a nice change to be able to wear socks and shoes, pants and even a jacket and for the babies, a toque (Tyler,Josh). San Cristobal is definitely worth the stop, with lots of artisan and food markets, good places to ...

... blues and whites and that was just the buildings not to mention the colorful way of dressing by the native population. Yes, San Cristobal is a kaleidoscope of color cleverly put together in such a way as to entice the visitor into a mysterious and even mystical world.

As my next blog will show, the region around San Cristobal takes on a mysterious dimension that is foreign and awe inspiring. We did not experience this in any other part of Mexico ...

... of gold (yet) despite lots of trying and that having more than a few words of Spanish is a definite advantage... Also enjoying having the time to read, sleep, and, well, it's amazing how quickly the days go when you have a full agenda of reading a sleeping. We started off in Playa Del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast, we'd thought it would be a Spanish style Barbados but it's more of a Costa-Del-Yucatan stretching from Cancun all the way down to Tulum. Concrete creeping ...

... before all the vendors ...and the tourists, even woke up. A camera crew was there filming a movie under the morning light and for a second I had the impression that the entire ruins was from a movie. It is crazy to think that thee ruins had originally been occupied around 100 BC, developed during the 7th century and then abandoned around 900, then remained hidden in jungle until its discovery at the end of the 18th century! In the afternoon, I ...

... colonial town, very similar to andalucian towns of Spain, and its full of old sorts of restaurants, bars, shops (even newspapers and books!) and lots of museums and walks to do. In order to celebrate the alternatives we had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant (great price and food) and indulged in a bit of happy hour drinking (2 beers for $3 dollars). We will definetly be here a few days and enjoy the change. Cheerio for now.

... that contains vast oil deposits as well as supplies Mexico with most of its hydroelectric power. The region is also one of the poorest. Not only do the Maya continue to experience systematic oppression, but they do not benefit from the richness of their own land. Instead, they are displaced.



Among the many oppressed indigenous groups throughout the world, the Zapatistas stand out as a group that has consistently refused to relinquish power. They demand 11 things: work ...