Mexico - San Cristobal de Las Casas

Our visit to San Cristobal was divided over 5 days with a brief weeks foray into Guatemala inbetween. It has been heralded as one of the most beautiful towns in Mexico which immediately strikes fear into the heart of any traveller trying to avoid throngs of tourists. Thankfully, the town is large enough to not get trampled to death by the ensuing hordes as is unfortunately the case in Trinidad (Cuba).

The city is a charming blend of colonial architecture and indigenous culture. There are many ornate convents and temples to explore, some dating over 400 years and it is difficult not to get lost on the mazy cobbled streets - which are apparently laid out in a simple grid system. The numerous zocalos are a great place to watch life unfold with cart hauling vendors selling bacteria laden ice cream (Becs is as I write laid up in bed nursing a sore stomach) and indigenous people trying to earn a living by selling exquisite hand-woven handicrafts.

the good and the bad in equal measures

The fine examples of needlework are exemplified by the numerous sometimes comical effigies of the Zapitistas. It is possible to buy a Zapitista key ring, Zapitista doll, Zapitista doll on horse, Zapitista gang in the back of a truck, Zapitista cuddly toy and so on. I sometimes wonder if other freedom fighters across the globe missed a marketing trick.

If you venture (and it is well worth it) along Av General Utrilla you will stumble across the less surreal facet of life in San Cristobal. This is of course where the resident townsfolk come to shop with freshly squeezed orange juice for sale on the kerb, next to birds in cages and new born chicks in boxes. For a split second you just stop and look around you at all the visual stimuli, your nose alive to the whiff of sizzling tortillas on humongous frying pans. Sadly the noises are less stimulating as the heckling and chatter is drowned out by the repetitive beats emanating from the beatboxes in wide boy cars....alas not a Mariachi in sight.