The overnight bus from Oaxaca wasn't the best ride I ever had (I'll never tell which was) and added to the fact that the remake of the Italian Job was the movie (Italian Jobbie, more like)I arrived a little grizzly in San Cristobal. Fortunatley, Elizabeth had arrived a day before and had given me the heads up on which hostel to head to. Silly girl actually told me where she was staying. Backpackers Hostel (it doesn't always have to be original) for about 4USD a night and they also got a fire on the go in the evening where most people congregated to socialise. Jared and Jason (archaeologists) would tell us about their finds during the day, Billy would tell of riding freight trains in the US and I would delight Noa by giving her the lowdown on Scottish cuisine and how the deep-fat fryer is held in higher regard than the wheel there. As if to prove the point, we were walking through the market in Chamula when we bumped into a couple from the hostel and Mark offered me some food-
"Do you want an ant?"
"Er, No thanks" "They're fried" "Oh, OK then" The market in Chamula isn't all that special, but the church there is home to a pretty bizarre sight. The floor is covered in pine needles and the people praying pray to fizzy drink bottles. Apparently the believe that when they burp, they are casting out evil spirits. It's only a matter of time before Pepsi get in there with "This exorcism brought to you by....." sloganeering. San Cristobal is in the Chiapas region which is the centre of Zaptista guerilla movement- the EZLN is a peasant group who are fighting for the rights of the indigenous Mayan people. In the Market outside Santo Domingo you can buy EZLN balaclavas, T-shirts of their leader "Sub-Comandante Marcos" and various other Zapatista trinkets that travellers of a certain political hue lap up like baby on ostermilk.
I took a trip to the Sumidero Canyon- there are various tour companies that offer the trip for about 16 USD- I decided that I wanted to go too late to book one, so did it myself for 17 USD and the joy of trying to hail a collectivo back to San Cristobal from what was essentially a motorway slip road. Dick. It did mean however that I had a bit of time in the town Chiapa del Corso (the embarkation point for the river trip) so I've almost convinced myself that it wasn't completely stupid. The canyon is pretty spectacular, with crocodiles on the banks of the river, monkeys in the trees and amazing rock formations. Travel Tip # 5402, make sure you recharge your spare batteries before undertaking trips, this means you can take lots more photos. Actually I´m moving that from the "Travel" section and into the "Avoiding General Twattish Mistakes" file.
Where I stayed:
Backpackers Hostel
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