Arriving in Mexico

San Cristobal is another stunning colonial town and it was here that rad and I would be meeting up with my mum and sister Elisa!  

They were driving down from Mazunte and we would explore this part of Mexico together. We arrived the night before them so explored the town in the morning with a friend from Spanish school and his cousin, before they picked us up at our hostel to take us to our beautiful Airbnb. 

We spent a few days in San Cristobal wandering the towns streets, the market, hiking a view point and going to a amber museum. 

We visited a town nearby with an unusual church where they have combined the outside and nature with the religion. The floor in the church in covered in grass and candles (bad combo) and they use chickens as blessings and offerings as well as leaving bottles of coca cola. I did not understand the coke bit in the slightest. 

From San Cristobal we were due to drive to Palenque with a spot at some waterfalls on route. Unfortunately about halfway the car decided it needed a break blowing a tube in the engine. Rad and Elisa had to try and trace down a mechanic on public transport, not easy as half the region were participating in a pilgrimage where they hop in vans in groups and each take turns running with a flame. They would do this for a week or so and we kept driving pass them on the roads. Mum and I stayed with the car and after a few hours Rad and Elisa had found a mechanic and gone to the nearest town to buy the part for him to attach. Finally a few hours later we were on the road again, we made it to our hotel not long after dark but had to miss the waterfalls on the way. 

In our couple of nights in Palenque we visited an ethical zoo that housed rescued animals and the Palenque Mayan ruins.  

The ruins really were impressive set in the jungle on a hilltop with views of the valley. We had a local guide a descendant of the Mayans who gave us a lot of information of the buildings and some old Mayan customs.  

He also took us into the forest to show us some of the ruins that had not been explored or excavated. Here the forest and the trees had totally taken over and we couldn't even tell that we where on the top of a temple, it just seemed like a hill. 

On our reverse journey we did stop at the waterfalls, unfortunately as we now had to do them all in one day we could only visit two of them and not for as much time as we would have liked. 

The first one Misol Ha. 

And Agua azul. 

Our next stop the cute little town of Chiapa De Corzo had lots of the pilgrimages sleeping in the square on there various routes to different churches. It was also the closest town to visit the Cañón Del Sumidero.

The canon was deep in the mountains with the tallest cliff point being 1000 meters in height. 

After a couple of nights in this little town it was time to head for Mazunte and the house. Our base for the next 3/4weeks over Christmas and New year.