From Oaxaca we went south to Huatulco for a last look at the Pacific coast...for a while, at least. We read in our (old) guidebooks that these beaches were "pristine" and barely developed, but when we arrived we found resorts galore! The first night we spent in a parking lot near the beach, but when we went to the beach the next day, it was packed with restaurants and people. We swam for a bit, and then we headed farther up the road to an area that was less "touristy"; it was a beautiful spot - lots of surfers but not so many people on the beach.
When we left the beach, our next destination was the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, but we ended up passing by the Canon del Sumidero, so we went to take a look. The canyon was beautiful. It looks like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but the river at the bottom is bigger. We were hoping to be able to do some hiking, but unless you take a boat tour, you can only go to the lookout points.
Moving along, we made it to San Cristobal de las Casas in the late afternoon. As we entered the city, we saw a man selling what looked like the world's tiniest hammocks. Intrigued, we rolled down the window and asked him what they were. Indeed, the man responded that they were hammocks. "But what are they for?" Ricardo asked. "Basura", the man responded...trash. Wouldn't the trash fall right through? As we laughed about the possible uses for this foot-long hammock (...a hamster hammock? ...do you buy two to prop your feet up? ...maybe the guy was being completely honest and there's no real use for it, it just goes directly into the trashcan), we felt compelled to buy one as a souvenier from San Cristobal de las Casas.
We went out that evening in the city. This is now our 2nd favorite city in Mexico (after Guanajuato). It was pretty, lively, and a good city for walking. Being mid-December, many places were lit up and decorated for Christmas. It was a fun place to be!
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| City Hall lit up with Christmas lights |
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| San Cristobal by night |
We found a great bar where they were playing live music. We stayed for a while, listening to this group. They played a mix of Caribbean and Latin American music - the music was fantastic.
In the next couple days that we spent in San Cristobal de las Casas, we found that there was lots to do. We visited the market, the cafes, and several museums in the city (there are lots!) We tasted some more chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) - even better than the Oaxacan chocolate in my opinion!
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| Cathedral |
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| Picture from the Mayan Medicine Museum, explaining traditional Mayan medical practices and medicinal plants. |
From San Cristobal we headed north to Agua Azul and Palenque...that post coming soon from Ricardo :)
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