Crossing Tabasco - Chiapas Mexico - 2016

Crossing Tabasco to Chiapas by bus after visiting the Mayan Ruins at the Palenque National Park Archeological Site and the waterfalls of Agua Azul and Misol Ha is not a fast ride.

We slowly, slowly make our way to the town of San Cristóbal de las Casas which is located in the Central Highlands region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. As much as I had read, before we left I hadn't realized how the roads were laid out. Our trip into Chiapas took us through Tabasco heading west towards the city of Tuxtla Guetierez and then back inland to San Critstóbal.

The day is long, the drive is long and the narrow road winds back and forth through mountainous terrain. When you look out the window you see a long way down. I remind myself that the driver does not want to die as he passes double trailer-ed semi trucks at speeds I am not comfortable with on these roads. I just know this is not where I am going to die.

We stop in, I don't know where and everyone is told to get off the bus. My husband decides it is a most excellent time to use the bus bathroom. The driver thinks he has gotten everyone off the bus and unaware he proceeds to back the bus out of its boarding stall and over to fill it with gasoline. I along with about 10 other non-Mexican travelers are wondering what the hell is going on. All we know is that the bus driver said "diez minutos". My confidence wanes when I no longer recognize anyone. I'm a little worried my translation skills have failed me. I felt fairly certain the bus would return because everyone's packs and luggage were still on board. Then bay 10 filled with colectivos but I hovered anyway. The young French guy with the man bun comes to tell me that my husband is on the bus, which I already knew. I stand around anxiously for about 10 minutes and the bus returns to bay 9, which is close enough for me.

We keep making our way ever so slowly along winding, narrow roads. The bus that was already an hour and a half late when we got on it, is taking a lot longer than we had been told for it to reach our destination. It is not the drivers fault, these roads are crazy. Everyone is tired. After 8 hours or so, we arrive in San Cristóbal, at the bus station. It is colder than expected and dark. The town is much larger than imagined. Fortunately there were helpful people at the bus station who pointed us in the right direction for our lodging. We think we are grateful we have already booked a room for our entire stay, but that is another story. A story that involved a few emails to the booking site.

San Cristóbal sits in a small valley surrounded by mountains. The architecture is colonial with red tiled roofs and cobblestone streets. It is very picturesque. A walk outside the tourists streets will provide an opportunity to see a community rich in history, culture with a strong indigenous population. A short walk from the center shows you the poverty of the locals. We are walking ATM's to the people who live here although we will be spending very little money as we travel. Women are everywhere carrying heavy loads of woven shawls and trinkets to purchase. Along the edge of town you can gaze out onto nearby farmland, see people working the dry land and witness the impact of deforestation.  

It wasn't just the Zapatista that rallied and fought for a better life. We had two rather grim hostel experiences here in our first couple of days. The first place had some pretty glowing reviews and I had booked it for 6 nights. Lesson learned. We discover it is filled with artists who are living there and that is the good part. There were several mural projects going on and I enjoyed seeing people happily making art. The place is was kind of a mess. It was hard to look past the overflowing garbage, really dirty kitchen and saggy old furniture. I tried to ignore my first impressions but reality won out. Our room was stinky with sewer gas which we hadn't noticed at first. They had no other room to move us to.

That evening, we head out to visit another hostel run by a guy who helped us with directions earlier in the day. He shows us the three private rooms with shared bath and we pay him ahead for the next night to hold one of the rooms. We eat dinner and return to stinkyville. We close the bathroom door to let the sewer gas vent out the bathroom window and sleep with our room window cracked open even though the air is cool. Sleeping sucks for a variety of reasons and I am up at 6 am ready to check out. Fernando who was really very very nice, asks how we slept and I said not too well. We cancel our remaining days and head to the next place.

We are filled with new hope and go to our new room at the other hostel down the street. We think it is cleaner and the room much better. It has a view of the surrounding hills and we can see some impressive red tiled roofs. The kitchen area while a bit shabby is not nearly as bad as the other place. The bed is another story but we don't find out until later when we try to sleep. 

Up early again to problem solve and we head down the street to check out a couple of hotels. We settle on one that is new, super clean friendly and has new beds. There is no one there which is strange. We are happy with our courtyard view sitting area and clean surroundings. It's cold but we have a wool blanket and layers of clothes to keep us warm. It is raining on and off and the night air is cool.

Back in Palenque town, one of our credit cards got compromised after I used it at a restaurant. A gentle reminder in Mexico where we usually use only cash. Fortunately I was able to report it right away but that resulted in the card getting canceled. I had recently purchased airline tickets with that card to fly us out of Tuxtla Guetierez instead of riding a bus for 18 hours back to Playa del Carmen. With the airport two hours away and the compromised credit card we thought we best just keep with the plan and not try to change of flights.

We waited out our time in San Cristóbal de las Casas cold as we were and made the most of a bad situation. I am so happy we made this journey, even with some minor disappointments. Yes we were cold and missed the Caribbean Sea but we got to see a place where I treasure the handwork done by the local women.

Many lessons learned. 

• Do not take photos of local market stalls as there is nothing worse than getting yelled at by a very old woman.
• Never eat chile rellenos in combination with a fruit smoothie. I know I said, "No leche por favor". It tasted really good but my belly blew up and my stomach turns still, just thinking about it.
• Never go where it is very cold with only one pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. 
• You can never take too many pictures of Volkswagons.