San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico

We have arrived to a place that is recognizable, familiar, and comfortable. It is not home, but it is soothingly similar. After 33 days of travelling through 6 unknown lands Max and I have entered our 7th and final foreign country: MEXICO.

Although we stood on our own two feet, internally we both were crawling toward the Mexican border. It took us 4 chicken buses under a rainy afternoon in order to finally set foot in our intended destination. We inherently knew that the trip would get a much needed final boost of energy upon entering the country of our ancestors. Mexico to this point has certainly been just that.

Our first stop was the puebla of San Cristobal de Las Casas in the state of Chiapas. Chiapas is where the revolutionary guerillas Zapatistas originated, so there is still an aura of pride in the distinctive qualities of the state. One can also find a fair number of international hippies scattered around.

In previous posts, possibly prematurely, I compared Central America´s aesthetically esteemed cities to those of Mexico. My observations were confirmed while walking around San Cristobal; That is, Mexico has the most tranquil, culturally saturated, and gorgeous pueblas from Latin America´s waist up.

We spent two full days wandering around the cobble-stoned town. Each store is painted with a unique pigment. What would be considered an eye-sore to some neighborhood communities (cough...cough... Irving, TX) back in the states is cultural expressionism here.

Tacos are back. I know it may sound a bit odd to some, but not all Latin Americans consume tacos. Mexico is actually the only Central American country that offers them.

Since this would be our last stop in what was previously land occupied by the Maya, Max and I bought tickets to a play with a plot based on Mayan mythology. The dialogue of the work was performed completely in Quiche, so we understood very little. However, the elaborate constumes and the scantily clad love interest were more than entertaining.

We generally spent our days as one should in the beautiful pueblas of Mexico. We shopped for artesanias, sipped coffee at the outside cafes, read in the parks, and lounged the time away in the zocalo. Of course, filling the gaps with internet stints for blog posts.)

At the end of our 2nd and final day in San Cristobal we entered an 8pm bus for a 12 hour ride to Oaxaca - the location where we would add a new traveller to our journey.