Partying In San Cristobal de las Casas

March 31, 2013: Sunday*** We slept in the bus the whole night from Oaxaca de Juarez going to San Cristobal de las Casas and I have no idea what were happening outside because I was totally knocked out and was tired from our whole day tour around Oaxaca. It was a smooth ride I think for we had arrived in San Cristobal in whole and healthy piece. Hehehe. Honestly, I kind of like this night traveling lately and might probably do a lot more of it in the future. It was just very exciting to have done it in the first place.

Honestly, in all of the ten-hour trip I was really unconscious and do not have any idea at all what had happened for the whole night. I woke up at 0600H feeling my tummy growling because I was still having some loose bowel movement ever since we left Taxco. We had arrived at San Cristobal de las Casas which is a very charming place, very tired and sticky because frankly we hadn't had time to change our clothes yesterday because we had just dropped off our luggage at the hotel lobby then rapidly hopped in the tour bus for a whole day tour, after we had arrived in the city Oaxaca from Taxco, Guerero.

It was as well frigid and nippy there in San Cristobal when we arrived at 0730H and the sun was already happily brightening up and gradually spreading it's yellow rays at the whole town. We had arrived there just fine and the place was all sunny and bright despite of the cool morning breeze and the thick blanketing fog. We tiringly went out of the bus terminal and laconically hired a taxi which my boyfriend had an one-on-one talk about the best hotel to stay. The driver had brought us to a hotel near the Centro and there we asked for an available double bed for us to rest but apparently there were no double bed instead we were placed in a one bedroom wherein the wi-fi was not that very receptive as what the receptionist at the front had told us. We politely declined the room and patiently decided to wait until 1200H when some of the best room will be vacated.

We paid the double bed room that will be available at noon in advance and decided to leave our luggage there at the hotel's storage, just like what we did in Taxco and Oaxaca, while we were excitedly roaming the whole town appreciating its morning beauty and glory devoid of the rush of the traffic. Before we left we reminded the receptionist that we might be probably going back at night time because we were planning to go to Tuxtla de Gutierrez and Chiapa de Orzo to see the Canyon de Sumideres which was really famous in Chiapas state aside from the Palenque pyramids which we will be seeing tomorrow.

After leaving our luggage at the storage and paying the room in advance for tonight's respite, we were now ready to tour the whole town since it was still early in the morning. It was about 0800H that time when we left the hotel. We had no idea where to go, but since we are right in the Centro we decided to stroll there first then may be look for a tourist bus later once the town is fully awakened. By that moment the town was still half asleep because it was still early.

We hopped in at a taxi near the hotel entrance then politely asked the driver where to find a place to inquire where to tour the beautiful and fascinating places of San Cristobal. The driver had told us that there were not enough sceneries here in San Cristobal except the town itself and he advised us to go to Tuxtla and see the Canyon de Sumideres and maybe go to Chiapa de Orzo after that. He recommended us to go to the bus station and inquire there personally. So we asked him to drop us off at the bus station so that we can inquire there when we got there.

We alighted in fornt of the bus station but the town was still blanketed with a cold fog. When we got there at the bus station the travel agency was not yet open so we decided to walk around from there looking for good and interesting sceneries like old churches or some quiet placitas we could sit and talk. While walking at the sidewalk I felt that my tummy was been cramping heavily so I asked my boyfriend if we could buy some Immodium so that my diarrhea could be abated. When we found one pharmacyb at a corner we immediately inquired inside if they are selling Immodium and the charming pharmacist had told us that they have it in generic, with the name of Loperamide, so we asked for five tablets but they sold it in twos so I bought six tablets for me to take in three doses.

After coming out of the pharmacy we continued ambling towards the Centro, because it was just walking distance from the bus station. We stopped at the first church which was painted in immaculate white and bordered with a ciel blue paint on the sides and it's corners. It appears very immaculate and captivating at a distance. Although it was a small church, when I went inside it was very clean and beautiful. I just can't stop taking pictures of it internally and externally. The outside placita was very spacious and there were few people practicing there for a choir.

We went out of the church and decided to look for a coffee shop and fortunately we spotted one just in front of the church. It looks like they were brewing their own coffee at the shop and we can't resist in ordering one. It tasted palatably good and authentic wherein we enjoyably sipped the tasty coffee with much gusto and gleefully enjoyed our intimate moments at the shop. The coffee was even magnificently good compared to the commercialized Starbuck's. It was very refreshing and we even thought that it can compete with Starbuck's in America if they put up a branch there.

After enjoying our coffee at the cafe we went back to the bus station thinking that the travel agency was opened already and a few stalls down the coffee shop we accidentally spotted a travel agency while strolling back to the bus station. We went inside to inquire about the tours they're offering and my boyfriend had told me that they tour the canyon and also goes to Chiapa de Orzo afterwards. We bought two seats and then patiently waited for the van to arrive to pick us up. Few minutes later the small bus arrived then we excitedly hopped inside and then left off going to Tuxtla. We were the last ones I think because the bus did not tour around the town to pick up for more passengers.

The drive to Tuxtla was about a boring fifty minutes on a serene and smooth highway and the bus was quite jampacked. We arrived in Tuxtla safely and from there the driver had gathered us at the parking lot and told us that he will get us the passes and the life jackets then we will be boarding a speed boat to tour the canyon.

We went down at the office beside the lake then waited for the driver. Few minutes later he gathered us together and gave each one of us an orange bracelet, individual tickets, and pointed us to the guys whose fitting the passengers with customized life jackets. We selected and grabbed our individual jackets then went in line for the boat at the entrance. Ten minutes later everyone of us was in the boat and then we left off for the long tour of the canyon.

The boat speeded gently until it reached to an opening wherein a very fascinating view of the towering mountains and the steep ravines, that had split the canyon into two, had given us some unexpected "oohs" and "aahs" and a magnificent view of the blue skies. It was overwhelming to see those beautiful gorges of gargantuan mountains and the tranquil waters of the lake was very captivating rocking the speed boat as it travels rapidly going south of the lake. In the mixture of the nature laden site were a wide array of faunas that habituated the lake and we have seen various kinds of animals distinct and unique to the place like the feisty black condors sitting at the edge of the lakes as well as the mighty alligators and the towering white cranes and the blackish to brownish pelicans and the loud cormorants graciously fishing on the surface of the deep green waters. It was very beautiful to look at.

The speeding boat had blasted our faces with the cool breeze of the misty air wherein we didn't even feel the scorching heat of the sun burning our skin already into a red hue. All the passengers were really in awe of the beautiful site laden in front of us and the scenery of the oddly shaped gigantic mountains had appeared like splitting trees in our midst while we were heading into the inner bowels of the elongated lake. It was very stunning from a distance and I just can't stop clicking my camera to capture more pictures for my collections. There were a lot of land formations we saw and the lush green trees we saw at the side of the mountain were very beautiful and natural as well. It was a very captivating trip we had at the lake. It took us less than an hour to go one way and another less of an hour in going back.

At the end of the lake, near the border of Mexico and Guatemala, we stopped quickly for a little while, where we saw an electrical plant that was powered by the lake, supplying electricity within Tuxtla and it's nearby communities. After stopping at the border for ten minutes we went back to the entrace where we parked earlier and it took us another less than an hour drive with the speed boat. All in all the trip at the canyon was very fascinating and beautiful. It was the best trip I've ever had I think (well, all the trips I've had was very fascinating anyway). I didn't even knew that I had a sunburn on my face already not until we were on the bus where I felt that my face was burning and hurting. My boyfriend had told me that my face was entirely raw read. Well, it was a good remembrance I think for this lovely trip.

After perusing the canyon for two hours we disembarked off the speed boat and gathered at the parking lot where the driver had accounted us rigidly. It was already 1130H and it's almost lunch time. The driver told us that we will be having lunch at Chiapa de Orzo. The drive in going there was only thirty minutes but it was already hot at that time of the day. It was almost noon when we arrived at Chiapa de Orzo and we decided to parked near the zocalo where we can see the famous crowned gazebo at the center of the placita which was the symbol of Chiapa de Orzo. Our driver had given us one hour to tour the place to have lunch and then we will convene there for our trip back to San Cristobal.

Me and my boyfriend had disbanded with the group and looked for a restaurant to eat because I was already terribly starving at that time. We found a very nice restaurant and we ordered chicken fajita where we savoured it with much gusto. After eating our lunch, it was still hot outside so we decided to go to the mercado and browse something to buy as more memento for my friend back home. The mercado was quite crowded at that time, because of the tourists roaming around there, but we were able to squeeze and blend in to see and browse the area. There were very nice potteries and woven cloths everywhere and the smell of the local food had emanated all over the place.

After doing a tour at the mercado we decided to go back to the placita and waited for the others to convene in the bus. Once everybody were been accounted, we left twenty minutes later going back to San Cristobal. We arrived at San Cristobal at around 1400H and we then went back to the hotel and rested there for a while. My face was kinda baked already from the scorching heat of the sun maybe from the lake tour and it hurts grandly. I dabbed it with cold water and waited till it gets numb.

We got ready at 1600H, after an hour rest at the hotel, and then got ready for the weekend party tonight. We were lucky there was a festival at the town's plaza and a television program was being televised at the front of the municipal hall. When we went to the zocalo the church was teeming with people attending the Sunday mass. There were also some indigenous people or Mexican Indians dressed in their native costumes standing outside the church waiting for some tourist like me to approach them for a picture memento. I myself could not resist asking the guy and have a picture post of one of the Indian dressed in white feathers and headdress holding a real human skull. He looks spooky and crazy as well scaring me of the bony skull he was holding.

After paying homage to God inside the church we then went to look for the main street and joined the crowd in browsing the opened bars and restaurants, joining them in the party. We walked from east-to-west and west-to-east crazily squeezing ourselves among the crowd just to bask in the essence of the merrymaking and also to observed the townspeople and the revelers celebrate the weekend parties there. There were amateur and professional musicians singing on the streets competing each other whose the loudest and the best. I can also see some depraved vendors approaching tourists to buy their items and also some upbeat gypsies walking in colorful clothes. It was chaos there on the street but it's fun and faciful.

We then decided to look for a restaurant and eat for our dinner. I wasn't actually hungry at that time, so I decided to just eat some "caldo de res" which was very delicious. The restaurant we chose to eat has a bar lounge and at 2000H the lounge opened. There was an in-house singer singing beautiful songs in English and Spanish and enetertained the customers like us very well. We stayed there for few hours and ordered drinks and then enjoyed the beautiful songs that the professional singer had magnificently delivered to us and his audiences.

We left the bar at 2300H and the town was still up and alert for a more louder party. I was extremely tired at that time due to our whole day tour we had this morning and I tought I was already buzzing because I admit I drank a lot at the bar earlier. We had sipped margaritas and martinis alternately and coupled it with beers in between. It was a nice and enjoyable party we had at San Cristobal that time. We went to bed at almost midnight because we have to leave at 0800H going to Palenque. Whatever happen in Palenque will be quite a surprise to us, just like the rest of the places we've been, because we both don't know what's still in store for us there.

But for the meantime we have to sleep off our drunkenness, get sober, and then brace for another great adventures in the beautiful place of the Mayans in Palenque. I can't wait to get ahold of the place but I have to rest assure of myself because I already booked a hotel there for us to stay because I know the trip going there from San Cristobal is almost five hours so we have to waste one day for the trip and spend another night there. Hopefully Palenque will give us more thrills compared to what we have experienced in San Crisobal. I can't complain for more because all of my trips have given me a once in a lifetime experiences that I will never trade as well as some good lessons to learn. Thanks to my very handsome and very gentleman confidant.

San Cristobal was a very beautiful place and captivating place. Tiny as it is but full of magic and promise. I just couldn't forget it's rustic ambiance and it's smiling indigenous people. I am so blessed to have come here and experience a lot of unforgettable stunning places that I never dreamed of going and exploring. Thanks a lot for the hospitality, the welcoming ambiance, and the vibrant spirit and of course I will surely come back here again and dreamily scour more of the interesting, magnificent, and beautiful places I've never been. From the abyss of my beating and loving heart, gracias a todo amigos!