San Cristobal our last town in Mexico

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  San Cristobal, Mexico
Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The bus took 4 hours but we finally arrived in San Cristobal. Its dark and we need to get to the hostel. Once off the bus we a bombarded by people who want us to stay at their hotel. Kay grabs a few fliers and we head off up the street to the hostel we had scoped out in the book on the ride down. We team up with a nice Kiwi named Lisa and all head in the same direction. After way too many blocks and a nice long uphill we arrive at the hostel. Were in luck NO ROOMS! LOL. Luckily Kay notices that one of hostels on the fliers she grabbed is around the corner. Off we go.

We end up spending the night at The Garden. It is nice but only has one shower for the entire hostel. We will only be spending one night.

We get woken up by what sounds like a rooster fighting a dog

Iglesia de Santa Lucia

. I'm not sure but I think the Rooster won. We switch to the Posada Mexico, the place we wanted last night, and check into a private room. While walking to our room we run into David from Merida. (David we hope your arm is doing well) It is a very small world when you travel this way. We chat for a while and after we throw our stuff in the room agree to go with him and a couple of others on a hike outside of town.

The hike is in a nature park with lots of tress and natural stuff. The hike is tough and we take lots of breaks along the way. After the hike the group decides to head to a town not far away called San Lucia Chamula. The town is famous for a church where patrons burp to show their faith. Not kidding! To get there we flag a combi but there is not enough room for all of us so Chris, a 6 foot 3 Aussie, and I hop in the boot of the van. Its about the size of a foot locker and our knees are in our faces the entire way. We do get a good view though. The worst part is the speed bumps the size of couches that seem to be about every quarter mile along the route.

We pour out of the van and head over to the church. When we get there we are told to go to the tourism office and buy a ticket. OK..we will. As we are standing around looking at the place someone lights off what sounds like a stick of frickin dynamite right near us

Templo de Santo Domingo

. It scares the crap out of Kay and makes me deaf in one ear. We turn around and there is a crazy looking old man laughing at us. We cross the square to get away from him and get our tickets for the church.

At this point my expectations are pretty low as a church is a church after a while. When we get in I'm truly amazed. There are no pews or chairs in the church at all. It is filled with tables that have statues of saints within clear cases and the church is filled with thousands of candles. You will have to take my word for it as they do not allow you to take photos. After a couple of minutes we get the courage to venture deeper in amongst the patrons that are chanting and lighting candles. (Part of me feels wrong for intruding on their religious practices) Along the way we notice offerings of wine, soda, food and even dead chickens in front of some of the saints. Sure enough there are people drinking soda and burping at various places within the church. It is somehow part of their belief system but I do not really understand it. Even though it is cold outside it feels hot because of the candles and the ceiling is completely black with soot. It really is an incredible experience.

Later that night while walking around town we run into Jessie and Steve from Campeche (told you it was a small world)and we join them and a couple of their friends, Dan and Leslie, for some drinks

The Gang

. Some drinks turn into 3 bottles of wine and we have a great evening.

The next day we wander around town and check out a few Churches. While sitting just off the square we spot Guillaume and Sebastian, our friends from Quebec, off in the distance. We decide to run up behind them and give them a scare. We run up behind them and grab their bags and they both spin around. Sebastian is ready to throw a punch and Guillaume is frozen like a deer in headlights. We all get a good laugh and catch up but they have to run and catch a bus because they fly home tomorrow. Good luck in classes boys.

We were actually going to head out of town today, January 18th, but decided to stay in town and take an organized tour to some lakes and waterfalls. When wandering around we found a nice hotel with a private bath that is cheaper than our hostel so we moved again. We actually are pretty good at the moving thing by now.

Today we had lunch at a place called "El Calder" which is sort of Mexican Pho. They have 8 different types of soup on the menu and they all sounded great. The place was really cute with only 6 tables and was very clean. It appeared to be run by a mother and son team. She cooked and he did everything else. The food was great and we recommend it to all. We spent the rest of the day wandering around checking out the little stores and picking up a few things for Bella's Birthday (Kay's niece who is turning 2).

We finally stumble along a bar called Antigua (means old) that is playing live music. We walk in and grab a little couch in the back. The bar is dark with cool art and 3 excellent musicians playing local music. The vibe and look of the place is cooler than any place we have been to in DC. We sit and listen to the band for 2 hours and enjoy a couple of glasses of wine before heading back to our hotel.

For the rest of San Cristobal please see the next journal...it needs its own...really keep reading the best is yet to come!

-Frank

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